Yul Lopez’s Discussion
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is a crucial undertaking for patients who are undergoing treatment in healthcare institutions (DeBourgh, 2012). Whereas healthcare professionals are mandated to provide basic scientific care, patients are also in a position to be part of the care program by partnering with care experts.
Doctors and nurses are well endowed with both scientific and experiential skills while taking care of patients. Nonetheless, patients are also conversant with the medical conditions they are facing. In other words, patients possess experiential knowledge specific diseases affecting them. Hence, shared decision making is one of the ways through which patients can be involved in CQI. In particular, patients diagnosed with terminal conditions and have ailed for a long time are in a better position to share their experiences with medical professionals and be part of the decision making team regarding their treatment procedures.
Second, patients can be productively engaged and taught how to take care of themselves using therapeutic approaches as part and parcel of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). For instance, they can be advised on eating habits, sleeping patterns, physical exercise and administering self injections whenever there is need (Pomey, Hihat, Khalifa, Lebel, & Neron, 2015). Other methods of involving patients in CQI include attentive listening, learning more about the diseases affecting them, and improved communication between parents and experts. Joint Commission recommends that patients should be continuously educated concerning the medical conditions they are facing. Patients should be allowed to interact freely with other patients and medical staff.
In terms of comparison, patient satisfaction can be generated by a well-organized CQI whether the latter is carried inside or outside a hospital setting. Contrastingly, Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) may not necessarily lead to patient satisfaction especially if primary care offered at a healthcare institution is poor or ineffective. Basically, patient satisfaction can be realized easily if proper diagnosis and prescription are done at the initially stage. The main contribution of social marketing in CQI is educating the public on healthcare matters especially when it comes to prevention.
Lina’s Discussion
Promoting product structure transparency is a core regulatory measure to safeguard the interests of consumers and businesses. Markets have several competing options that consumers are supposed to choose. However, unregulated markets are often engulfed with accountability challenges related to charges, product structure and pricing. Market competition can be swiftly increased if transparency is exercised. Besides, consumers and entrepreneurs are in a better position to make informed decisions in a market that has a transparent product structure. In the long term, consumers, investors and the entire financial market are bound to benefit if businesses are compelled to display their product structures.
Controlling conflict of interests is yet another regulatory measure that has been put in place to mitigate against distribution follies. Much of the advisor’s income has been originating from investment advisor’s commission (DeFond, Hung, & Trezevant, 2007). This implies that independent advisors rarely offer genuine opinion in order to generate more revenue. In order to eliminate misalignment between the above market players, new distribution structures are now being sought by regulators. For example, after a product has been sold, the commissioned earned is barred. The latter approach is prominently used in European countries.
Financial market regulators are also striving to prevent aggressive practices that jeopardize consumers and investors. For example, the US administration has instituted explicit code of conduct so as to realign aggressive practices such as issuance of credit cards and mortgage origination. Stiff restrictions are currently operational to the cost of using credit cards issued by independent financial operators. Debit cards are also not allowed to charge overdraft fees as it used to be sometimes back.
Rating agencies have also not been spared by the regulator. The independent rating agencies have for a long time provided independent rating for financial systems across the world (Campbell, Jackson, Madrian, & Tufano, 2011). However, these agencies led to massive drop in supply for mortgage-backed securities among others. The agencies have contributed towards inherent moral hazard in the financial markets and unless they are regulated, major economies may face financial turmoil in the future.
References
Campbell, J. Y., Jackson, H. E., Madrian, B. C., & Tufano, P. (2011). Consumer financial protection. The journal of economic perspectives: a journal of the American Economic Association, 25(1), 91.
DeBourgh, G. A. (2012). Synergy for patient safety and quality: academic and service partnerships to promote effective nurse education and clinical practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 28(1), 48-61.
DeFond, M., Hung, M., & Trezevant, R. (2007). Investor protection and the information content of annual earnings announcements: International evidence. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 43(1), 37-67.
Pomey, M., Hihat, H., Khalifa, M., Lebel, P., & Neron, A. ( 2015). Patient partnership in quality improvement of healthcare services: Patients’ inputs and challenges faced. Patient Experience Journal, 2(1), 29-42.
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