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If there is one industry that requires perfection and quality services, it is the Medical industry. This industry is the baseline of all human life and a single mistake can cause serious consequence/adverse events. There is always a certain image and standard that has to be managed by these healthcare companies and hospitals because they are technically dealing with the human life and that above all is a very crucial aspect of the industry itself as a single mistake can cost them their entire career or license of practice. Auditing paves a way towards minimizing these mistakes and also can help improve the way the facility runs and manages their operations.
1.Tax auditing
It is not a secret on how many hospitals and healthcare facilities have been reported to have invaded tax and in the end have ended up in trouble. The first and foremost thing to keep clear in any industry is the tax and financial documents to avoid any income tax raids which not only lower the reputation of the facility but also make patients lose trust in the services provided regardless of how good they may be. Another reason to getting a financial audit is to check if the officials in charge are on the right track or not, in short to sniff out the corruption and deal with them in a suitable manner. Keeping finances in check is the base of any industry and this also helps the government as the tax received from these firms can help build and develop a nation, its infrastructures and most probably help improve living conditions of the people in the said nation. These audits not only help catching the bad but can also show how the money flows in the firm and can help figure out how and where to invest if need be to improve the conditions under which patients are being treated as well as to provide the best possible services.
2.Quality auditing
This is mostly done to ensure that the medicine and the firm itself are hygienic and done under certain standards and environments. These auditors are known as health inspectors and are responsible to check all health-related aspects of the places where healthcare practices are done. They ensure that the medication, premise and all equipment used to treat patients are sterilized, hygienic, valid and secure. If such is not the case then they have all the rights to have the license of the firm terminated for ill practices and mismanagement. Having these auditors give the green light not only provides relief of reputation to the management of the firm but also builds a sense of trust amongst the patients who are being treated by the firm.
Furthermore quality auditing allows for problems to be identified and solved. If there happens to be an issue of medication not being of good quality or injecting the expired medicines being provided to the hospitals without their knowledge then this can be identified and the dealers or the staffs can be held accountable for their malpractice and punished. There could be the bad practice of dispensing the expired vaccinations or medicines to the innocent populations by hospital staff. The same works for the equipment used, if a fault is found then it can be replaced on immediate notice so as to continue with the provision of quality services.
3.Management audit
This can be compared to checking the work and quality of the staff. If there is any bad staff or a staff that is highly exceptional at their work then they can be identified and punished or rewarded accordingly. The management audit monitors the health workers and their practices. These people ensure that the health worker is fit to do the job and if not then a solution can be derived on what to do. A popular example is from a movie called Kabir Singh; the doctor was caught and reported practicing while under influence. Now this particular doctor is gifted and yes did manage to save the patient’s life but a single wrong move from his side could have had disastrous results. He is then presented in front of the health board management where they charged him guilty and suspended his license of practice. Now you must be wondering why not cancel his license instead? Well he was an exceptional doctor who was rarely wrong when it came to his diagnosis and such people are valuable even if they do make mistakes. In Kabir Singh’s case, he being under influence is clearly another matter of discussion but due to his exceptional qualities as a doctor no one lodged any complaints against him but he did his duty well and hence was suspended not canceled. However in reality this kind of situations can result in the end of the health workers career. This shows how important it is to know what the health workers are up to in the firm and if such cases arise then how they can be dealt with.
Now what does all this auditing have to do with the improvement of quality hospital management? This works the same way as removing weeds from a farm. If the farmer keeps the weeds and does nothing then they may ruin the crops but if he removes these weeds then the crops grow to be the best ever. Similarly with auditing, the weeds of the hospital industry are being removed which automatically creates room for improvement and quality services. Another example of why auditing is needed can be taken from another instance. Where the hospital charges baseless fees for a patient who had died hours ago and how they (the corrupt health workers) were uncovered by the main character.
Auditing allows for such cases like in the above mentioned cases to be avoided and to get people to trust the healthcare services around them to help improve the standards of living and to increase life expectancy of the very needed skilled population of the world. As without a healthy nation there is no way the nation can be wealthy and without a wealthy nation there is no nation to serve.
4. Settings that may benefit from Audits and Compliances:
-Hospitals
-Durable medical equipment suppliers
-Laboratories Services
-Nursing facilities
-Home health providers
-Physicians and physician groups
-Hospice providers
-Third-party billing companies
-Healthcare Insurance Providers
-Ambulance suppliers and Services
-Pharmaceutical manufacturers
-Public Health Service research organizations
-Professionals
