How Organizational Culture Impacts Quality Care

Feb 21

by Christina Onolaja, MHA

Does the culture of a practice impact the quality of care a patient receives? Research shows it does. It is well known that engaged employees are more productive and have greater job satisfaction.

Let's look at how culture can help an organization achieve higher quality care for their patients.

According to Merriam-Webster, culture is "the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization." If a practice is solely focused on volume and revenue with no regard for the providers and team, the result is likely a negative culture with burnout and high turnover rates.

A negative culture also extends to patients and the quality of care they receive. By establishing a culture focused on patient safety, team member safety, and quality outcomes, team members feel empowered to take the time to address patient concerns completely and effectively versus rushing from patient to patient to meet volume expectations.

How can an organization transform to this type of employee and patient engaged culture?
The first step is to listen. Understanding what the issues are by talking to team members will produce a more accurate understanding of where to start.

Leadership should ask team members for ideas for how to improve. They do the job every day and may have wondered why things are done the way they are.

Culture should be guided by the organization's mission, vision, and values. Further, leadership must fully embrace and embody them if they expect their team to do so as well. Marlon L. Bayot, Prasanna Tadi, and Sarosh Vaqar in their book, Work Culture, discuss how total team alignment with the vision of the organization makes it easier to work as a unit to care for patients.

Building culture requires more than words, it requires action. Every part of the team needs to understand their role in creating a positive culture. Leaders can encourage this by creating a shared purpose and regularly communicate that purpose to the team.

Any changes implemented should tie back into that purpose. Each individual should feel empowered to voice ideas, concerns, and questions and know they are heard and respected.
When each member of the organization is engaged in their purpose, they will prioritize quality care for patients and will advocate for whatever is needed to achieve a positive outcome. In a value-based care world where quality care = incentive money and a lower total cost of healthcare, quality > quantity!