Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay
Policy Brief Part 2
Name
Institution
Introduction
Policy briefs communicate the healthcare issues and solutions to the government. This paper acts as a continuation of the policy brief that sought to resolve the problem of healthcare costs which is a disparity in healthcare delivery. The alternatives recommended for the healthcare cost include the presentation of data to the consumer. This intends to promote transparency and sharing of the information needed by the consumer in a personalized and user-friendly manner which assists in increasing accountability of financial resources in the healthcare system and also in reduction of costs. Another alternative resolution identified is the creation of regulatory reforms that promote healthcare transparency. This involves the creation of databases to allow the comparison of prices, for particular procedures and health plans.
Global Factors Associated
The presentation of medical data is associated will increasing transparency in the hospital billing. This is associated with the global economic factors in that the management of healthcare costs in the US will set an example to the global environment. The overall costs of healthcare will go down thus enhancing global accessibility of medical services as well as promote prevention. National health status affects the global stability of disease management. Citizens of outside countries seek medical attention from the US health facilities and thus they benefit from the lowered costs related to accountability and transparency (Rushefsky & Patel, 2016). The presentation of medical information also helps the global population to demand for similar initiatives to help reduce the economic burden of healthcare. Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay.
Creation of regulatory reforms is associated with the global political factors. Change in policies is an initiative of the government in collaboration with the healthcare sector. As such, the American system sets a global example in developing policies that reduce the cost of care that could be applied by international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) which promote the global healthcare access. Different states are able to advocate for reforms associated with insurance premiums, conduct comparisons and create effective regulations that promote the wellbeing of the people through reduced costs.
Final Recommendation
The continued increase of healthcare costs has become a global concern not only in the United States but also in the global setting. The final recommendation is to implement the proposed resolutions in order to resolve the cost of healthcare issue. The two alternatives enhance transparency and accountability in the health sector as well as encourage effective regulations through reforms that reduce healthcare wastage, exploitation and cost. Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay. However, legislations tend to be more effective and universal and therefore, the creation of regulatory reforms that promote healthcare transparency is the best possible recommendation for resolution of this issue.
Implementation Plan
The policy should be implemented. The implementation plan will consist of the initiation, planning, implementation and closure phase. It will begin with the determination of the structure of the organization, promotion and project monitoring. Next, the review and refining of the action plan will take place followed by preparation for implementation. Consequently, a preparation for evaluation using models and methods will be done. This step will determine whether the goals of the policy have been met. Based on the evaluation results the next step in the implementation plan will be to make the mid-course corrections. This follows the development of a communication plan for the implementation and ends with the dissemination of information.
Communication Strategy
Communication plans for policy implementation are significant in organizing the reporting of the process and progress of the project to the community. The frequency of communication, format, leadership and the involvement of the partners and the community is considered during the development of a communication strategy. For the communication of the policy reforms media outlets will be the most effective channel of reaching the community. This will involve televisions, radio and social media platforms that are easily accessible to most of the country’s population (Bekker, 2007). The central message of communication is the management of hospital costs through policy reforms and legislation.
The target audience for the reforms includes the hospitals, insurance payers, providers, billers consumers, the government, health organizations and officials and the general population. The hospitals are the biggest stakeholder in the implementation of the policy reforms and their involvement in the reforms is notable too. The providers include nurses and pharmacists who write the medical records and note the services provided. Accuracy in recording is essential in effecting the proposed resolutions. Billers generate bills for the patients and payers and thus eliminating of errors in their work is a strategy of accountability and transparency in the hospital. Consequently, insurance providers are involved in the reforms as they provide data regarding their premiums to allow comparison by the community which is the core consumers. The support organizations involved in the implementation of policies include the World Health Organization, the non-governmental health related agencies and the health advocacy groups. Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay.
Information dissemination involves the generation and effective spread of research evidence among policy makers. Dissemination will involve the publishing of policy briefs in the public platforms easily accessible to all citizens. A presentation in the national health meetings and conferences of healthcare professionals as well as the local community groups will be done. Moreover, program materials such as guides, flyers, DVDs and pamphlets will be distributed and also, social media publications will enable information sharing across a large population. A press release is an essential tool of information dissemination for the policy reforms too.
Evaluation Plan
Evaluation helps in monitoring the progress of the reforms. As such, they facilitate the revision and improvement of action plans for implementation of changes. The evaluation will begin with the definition of outcomes. In this case, the outcomes will be based on the feedback and numeric form. The outcomes will be the anticipated changes which will be reduced cost of healthcare. Moreover, transparency and accountability through information sharing to the public will be an essential outcome Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay. The plan to evaluate the outcomes will result in changes in indicators, strategies and objectives. The plan will focus on the measurable and observable results of the process.
Notably, the evaluation plan will involve the quantitative approach. This will be characterized by observation of measurable outcomes including the cost of implementing the reforms, the cost saved for hospital services and the patient feedback regarding the changes. Monitoring of the cost will be done using the monitoring and updating systems. These systems assist in monitoring and sharing data and results and they include community-balanced scorecards, Web-based dashboards, software and databases among others. The systems are customized to capture the costs and analyze according to time in order to generate quantitative data results on the cost changes. The National Association of City and County Health Officials, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the government and the healthcare laws provide standards that must be met by policy reforms in healthcare (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2019).
Accreditation standards by the above entities ensure ethical practice. This helps prevent ethical conflicts associated with the autonomy of the patients which ensures that they are involved in decision making regarding their treatment plans. Reduction of hospital costs through policy reforms upholds beneficence (Wirt, 2012). However, the confidentiality of medical records is affected by the presentation of information to the public as well as sharing of databases for transparency. In this case, coding of information to prevent the exposure of personal client information will be done to retain the privacy of the sensitive health information. This will resolve the ethical conflict and ensure accountability and transparency. Finally, the results will be reported through a press conference, social media and streaming media as well as presentation in healthcare conferences and meetings as well as the local community meetings Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay.
Conclusion
Policy briefs are essential in imposing changes in the healthcare sector through communication. Change in policies allows the implementation of best possible evidence based approaches towards improving the health sector. The increase in health costs has caused health disparities related to economic status which has discouraged the access to medical services. Therefore, implementing reforms that seek to improve accountability and transparency as well as inform the population on the pries of insurance premiums and average costs for services promotes positive changes related to reduction of prices, discourage exploitation of consumers and occurrence of billing errors and also create awareness to the public on the costs. Policy reforms are emphasized by legislations and hence are universal. Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2019). 2016 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report. Retrieved from https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqdr16/index.html on Saturday 31,2019
Bekker, M. (2007). The politics of healthy policies: redesigning health impact assessment to integrate health in public policy. Eburon Uitgeverij BV.
Rushefsky, M. E., & Patel, K. (2016). Politics, Power and Policy Making: Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s: Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s. Routledge.
Wirt. S. (2012). Association of rehabilitation nurses health policy tool kit. Retrieved from https://rehabnurse.org/uploads/membership/hptoolkit12_full.pdf on Saturday 31,2019 Policy Brief Part 2 – Cost disparity in healthcare delivery essay