The healthcare industry has come under tremendous pressure in recent years. From labor shortages to fighting a global pandemic, providers face an increasingly uphill battle to maintain and improve high-quality levels of care across patient populations in their practice. 

Improving patient safety and quality of care is often approached from the perspective of inpatient care in large hospital settings. These efforts are absolutely crucial to the well-being of patients, but other settings that require additional attention for improving patient care are:

• Primary and preventative care settings
• Rural care settings
• Caring for disadvantaged patient populations 

Let’s take a look at strategies for improving patient safety and quality of care in some of these traditionally underserved populations and how technology (like IRIS’s digital retinal imaging software) can be used to address them.  

Challenges of Patient Care in Underserved Communities 

Several factors hinder efforts to improve patient care, including a lack of affordability and lack of access for patients facing healthcare disparities. While these challenges are very real, primary and in-home health providers can turn the tide for increasing preventative healthcare measures for their most vulnerable patients. Funding is a concern that most healthcare providers face, but there are also financial benefits of improving patient safety and quality of care. 

1. Limited Resources

In rural or underserved areas, populations are often faced with limited healthcare resources. Roughly 15 million people live in Medically Underserved Areas, which are designated by the HRSA as having a shortage of primary care providers. 

In these areas, receiving proper care comes with additional roadblocks due to travel time and/or lack of transportation. Healthcare specialists are even rarer and more difficult to access in underserved areas. 

The issue of improving patient safety and quality of care is compounded for uninsured or underinsured patients. For example, a 2021 CDC study found that people aged 18-29 with diabetes are:

a) less likely to have insurance than older cohorts

b) more likely to report missing medical care during the past 3 months. 

People in underserved areas don’t just miss out on care, they also miss out on vital patient education that could help them prevent and manage illnesses more effectively. For these reasons and more, improving equity among underserved populations is becoming a key focal point for quality improvement in healthcare initiatives. 

2. Shortage of Providers

Poor access to care isn’t driven solely by distance and cost challenges. The truth is that there simply aren’t enough providers to meet demand. 

It’s estimated that by 2030, demand for primary care services will outpace the supply of physicians. Higher rates of chronic disease and an aging population are key contributing factors. The shortage is expected to become particularly acute among lower-paying positions, such as medical assistants and nursing assistants. 

COVID-19 has exacerbated this shortage, and attrition in the medical workforce has become a major problem. One survey conducted post-COVID found that roughly 20% of physicians were likely to leave their current practice within two years, and one-third planned to reduce their work hours within the next 12 months. 

3. Increased Life Expectancy

As the Baby Boomers continue to age, the over-65 population is expected to grow by 48% by 2032. Older patient populations often require more specialty care connected to chronic diseases and weakened overall health.

Strategies for Improving Patient Safety and Quality of Care

Despite these obstacles, there are proven solutions that enable providers to succeed at quality improvement strategies in healthcare organizations of all kinds. 

If you are a healthcare provider in an underserved area, it may feel as if the financial strain of improved care initiatives will be too much for your practice to manage. While these challenges are very real, primary and in-home health providers can turn the tide by increasing preventative healthcare measures for their most vulnerable patients. Funding is a concern that most healthcare providers face, but these concerns are often outweighed by the financial benefits of improving patient safety and quality of care.

Some steps that can be taken for quality improvement are: 

1. Provider Retention

Attracting and retaining talent is of utmost importance in healthcare – the more capable providers in the workforce, the more patients that can be served with quality care. 

Many organizations implement workforce development programs to make healthcare jobs more attractive and keep employees engaged once they’re on the job. Pathway programs provide clearly articulated career paths for all employees and aim to introduce people to healthcare jobs at an earlier age to generate interest. 

Programs like Health Careers for All in Seattle increase the likelihood that participants will complete healthcare training programs and find work in the industry.

The cost of education is a major obstacle for many who want to pursue a career in healthcare. Through scholarships, loan forgiveness, and repayment programs, healthcare professionals receive education funding relief in exchange for working in underserved areas. These programs have been proven to retain healthcare workers beyond their initial commitment. For example, 87% of participants in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) loan repayment and scholarship programs continued to practice in underserved areas two years after service completion. 

2. Provider Knowledge/Education 

New advancements in healthcare made it an exciting and challenging time to practice in the field. Continuing education training and resources are important for keeping providers up-to-date on new ways to diagnose, treat, and communicate patient needs. 

Education also enables providers to improve patient safety and quality of care. For instance, ongoing education can arm providers with the tools necessary to educate patients on examination procedures. This can support quality improvement strategy initiatives by making patients feel more comfortable with the process.

With technology and the right education partners, training doesn’t have to be time-consuming or costly. For example, our work at IRIS is focused on early screening for diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy screening equipment used to only be available from specialist providers, but it is now available to primary care and in-home health providers, opening pathways for increased service and life-saving preventative screenings for patients with diabetes. 

We offer two different training options based on budget, space, and scheduling:

• Onsite Training: IRIS sends a trainer to the site for one full day to meet with staff and educate them on the fundus camera, the process, and workflows. 
• Virtual Training: This live virtual training was incredibly popular with COVID-19 travel restrictions and continues to allow us to deliver an equally valuable training session for remote learners. 

Regardless of the format chosen, IRIS provides tools to set providers up for success, which in turn sets up patients for success.

Through IRIS University, participants watch video modules that educate them on the importance of diabetic retinal exams, the anatomy of the eye, basic camera functions, and the use of IRIS software. 

3. Expand the Scope of Practice

Many providers are expanding the scope of their practice as part of their quality improvement strategy initiatives and revenue growth strategies. Expanding scope often involves working in collaboration with a range of health professionals to meet the healthcare needs of a particular population or area. 

IRIS helps providers increase successful collaboration by enabling general healthcare providers to take images of patient retinas, which are then reviewed by the IRIS reading center’s board-certified retina specialists and ophthalmologists. Trained healthcare providers can use the IRIS program to capture photos which are then enhanced and diagnosed for diabetic retinopathy by a licensed professional within two business days.

4. Telehealth

Telehealth was growing in popularity before the pandemic, but the 2020 healthcare crisis sent that popularity into the stratosphere. Telehealth is a useful way to increase access to care for those in rural, remote, and/or underserved areas. 

Telehealth is a crucial element of improving patient safety and quality of care. Telehealth frees up time for providers to increase their number of patients, as well as providing access to patients who may not have the ability to travel to an appointment. 

Opportunities for Improving Patient Care

Our healthcare system may be under tremendous stress, but there are many ways to improve the patient experience and expand access to care among the populations that need it most. As providers address quality improvement in healthcare, access to new strategies, processes, and technologies will lead the way to improving patient care. 

That’s what we do at IRIS—connect providers with the tools to improve patient care. From retinal cameras to the specialists who review the images, we make it possible to serve diabetic patients more effectively and reduce preventable blindness by detecting it before it begins. 

If you’re a provider who wants to reach underserved populations, find out how IRIS can help by reaching out today.

 

FAQs

What are ways to improve safety and quality of care for patients?

Expand your practice’s ability to serve patients by: 

• Focusing on retaining high-quality providers
• Investing in continued education for your staff 
• Prioritizing your practice’s treatment capabilities through offerings like diabetic retinopathy screenings
•  Capitalizing on telehealth to reach patients in rural areas 

How are rural communities underserved?

Rural communities often face challenges related to a lack of sufficient health insurance, a lack of specialists within a reasonable distance, and a lack of education surrounding preventable health conditions.

How can rural communities be better served?

When primary and in-home healthcare providers can provide specialized care for rural communities, more patients receive care they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. If your practice can take advantage of things like teleretinal screening equipment, you will be able to serve the patients in your area and increase your practice’s capabilities.

 

---

 

SM 126, Rev B