Excellence is a necessity, not a luxury

• Published in: Frontiers of health services management 2007, Vol.23 (4), p.29-32
• Main Author: Royer, Thomas C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accountability; Ambulatory care; Benchmarking; Chief executive officers; Data collection; Evidence-Based Medicine; Excellence; Health administration; Health care industry; Humans; Information technology; Leadership; Literacy; Organizational Culture; Patient satisfaction; Process Assessment (Health Care); Quality Assurance, Health Care - organization & administration; Quality Indicators, Health Care; Quality of care; Social Responsibility; Success; Teams; Texas; Transparency
• ISSN: 0748-8157; 2475-2797
• DOI: 10.1097/01974520-200704000-00004

Healthcare is complex, so the energy received from celebrating the incremental victories is essential to continue on a journey to excellence. Healthcare leaders must firmly embrace the belief that excellence is not a luxury, but a necessity. If all physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers were completely honest, they would admit that using evidence-based treatment protocols is the best way to ensure that a positive outcome will be achieved for each and every patient. As technology permits more hospital care to be done in less invasive ambulatory care settings and prevention of illness to occur in sites distant from the acute care campus, quality care and service delivery measurements must be collected and nurtured in each and every part of the process. Each life entrusted to healthcare providers deserves excellence driven by evidence-based medicine built on accurate diagnostic data and monitored with current outcome measurements.