Although many healthcare organizations aim to measure care quality by using patient-reported outcomes and EHR data, many of these programs have become an assembly line process — allowing the connection between patients and providers to suffer, argues Tom Bartol, a family nurse practitioner with Waterville, Maine-based HealthReach Community Health Centers, in a Medscape perspective piece.
"Many of these programs have become more akin to 'report cards,' evaluating the clinician rather than the tools to measure or achieve high-quality health outcomes," Mr. Bartol wrote. "Patient care has become more like an assembly line — a one-way process, with scripted questions and processes designed to achieve 'quality measures.'"
As a result, providers lose the opportunity to improve care quality through meaningful interactions with patients — learning about each patient's unique needs, goals and desires to build stronger relationships. "It's harder to measure this because there is no check box in the EHR," Mr. Bartol wrote.
Although this part of care is more difficult to measure than data-based outcomes, it is vital for improving care quality, Mr. Bartol argues. "Inquiring about family, activity, job, pets or even the latest book they have been reading helps to build a connection between patient and clinicians and can lead to better health outcomes."
In this way, healthcare quality measurements must be used to learn about patients and improve their individualized care rather than simply grading processes, Mr. Bartol argues. "Healthcare is a dynamic interaction, something we do with patients, not to them," he wrote. "Any tool that measures this care must be adaptable, not standardized, to meet the diverse population of patients we serve."