Mercy Medical Center has been named the best hospital by women’s choice, Healthgrades for outstanding patient experience award, top places to work for 2018 and 2019, and the region’s top recognition for high-quality healthcare and the highest safety (Endeshaw, 2020). Despite all of these accolades, Mercy Medical Center still has to make significant progress in a number of areas, including underachieving state and national standard metrics for diabetic care and interventions. Analyzing environmental elements that lower the metric results is one of the suggested adjustments in tactics and policies. Support from the community and stakeholders will be essential to the success of these new initiatives.
Mercy Medical Center’s deficiencies for diabetic screening were noted in the 2019 health dashboard. Mercy Medical Center developed an objective benchmark consisting of 600 HgbA1c tests and 300-foot assessments (NHS FPX 6004 Assessment 2). The public health dashboard indicates that MMC did 174 HgbA1c tests and 145 foot exams in 2019, which fell short of MMC’s target(Gero et al., 2020) .
Not only must the hospital educate one patient at a time, but it must also find ways to involve the community and inform people about the significance of not only getting these tests done, but also about ways to enhance community education programs for chronic illnesses like diabetes. This is one of the top priorities in order to increase the benchmarks.
In addition to having an effect on the individual, chronic illnesses also place a strain on the government, communities, and healthcare system . Research has indicated that a lack of community support might exacerbate the effects of chronic illness. Additionally, there is a decrease in community involvement in studies to have a greater risk of illnesses and death . Minorities have the lowest rates of foot and HbgA1c testing, according to the MMC standard.
This research highlights the importance of community engagement. Medicare fee-for-service data indicates that minorities are more likely to experience diabetes-related complications and lower-quality care. Minorities are also more likely to be obese, have trouble controlling their blood sugar, and not exercise (Huq et al., 2020).These illnesses and death rates raise the demand for hospital resources, which raises healthcare costs and has an impact on patient care budget. Additionally, this will result in a decline in hospital efficiency.
Mercy Medical Center may maintain a valuable relationship with the community by meeting hospital goals. The community health improvement process, or CHIP, is one method for enhancing community health (NHS FPX 6004 Assessment 2). This is a method of keeping an eye on general health issues that deal with particular health problems. To verify that efforts are having the desired effect on the health of the populations being served, this procedure monitors activities and the actions taken by parties.
In order to achieve those aims, CHIP also supports planned, coordinated community health improvement goals. Community involvement in the education of diabetic care through engagement is required in order to be eligible to use the CHIP method Harris (2019). In order for the community to be aware of this information, MMC leaders will need to establish clear expectations for both MMC and the community.
MMC will upgrade staff procedures and regulations and create better teaching resources. With these policy changes, patient appointments will be bundled to facilitate diabetic management at each scheduled visit. Throughout the visits, all MMC employees will encourage involvement in education. Additionally, in order to be able to offer services for improved health outcomes, MMC plans to hire more staff members, such as social workers and dietitians. The most recent policy modification will include electronic medical record reminders to help staff remember any impending patient care requirements (Joseph et al., 2021).
The most crucial element in the management of chronic diseases is personnel protocols and education. Extended appointment hours for patients will be provided as part of the new policies and procedures, which will enable a one-stop shop for annual physicals. Nurses can inform patients about the value of preventative exams for diabetes during these physicals. In addition to recruiting social workers and nutritionists, community events like free cooking courses at parks and community centers will help raise awareness of diabetes in the community. Patient web portals that include test results together with necessary follow-up appointments and useful information on how to enhance test results and lead healthier lives.
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