Quality of Care: an imperative for current healthcare systems

Abstract

Despite unprecedent health achievements in the last centuries,
the total number of annual deaths globally will grow in the decades ahead, because of population growth and population ageing, along with persisting inequalities. It is imperative to double down on efforts to go beyond classic public health measures. Current evidence shows that health care is often inadequate, and poor-quality across conditions and countries, with the most vulnerable populations faring the worst. The United Nations Agenda 2030
set Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as sustainable development target. This transformative shift in health policy design and implementation places quality of care at the heart of the global health agenda. Indeed, health improvements can remain elusive unless those services are of sufficient quality to be effective. Transformation of health care will require an unprecedented commitment to quality improvement, but it will not be possible to continue using the methods and approaches of the past. With the global momentum of UHC as a backdrop, combined with the previous decades of work on healthcare quality worldwide, the time is ripe for advancing high-quality healthcare systems that optimize health care in a given context by consistently delivering care that improves or maintains health outcomes, by being valued and trusted by all people, and by responding to changing population needs. Quality of care must be a political priority. Quality of care policies need to evolve by prioritizing UHC, investing in high-quality systems, engaging in continuous learning and improvement, adopting tracer indicators to reorient health systems towards outcomes that matter to people, and leveraging digital tools for a data-driven culture and reducing health inequalities.