In the recent past, the idea of patient advocacy has become an important topic in the healthcare industry. Since patients come up against healthcare challenges like comprehending new diagnosis, interpreting medical terminologies, the need for preventive care, prompt patient advocacy is essential. Patient advocacy involves an array of interventions not limited to elaborating healthcare options, explaining healthcare goals, and directing patients towards certain procedures and treatments. Following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, patient advocacy is needed exploration to keep the nurse-patent association intact.
How I will contribute to safe practice of Affordable Care Act and Patient Advocacy
Although the Affordable Care Act has faced criticism, both from the Republicans and insurance industries which are struggling, much can be done so that safe practices can be promoted in the healthcare industry. First is the establishment and maintenance of nurse-patient trust. Trust among nurses is essential in any healthcare facility. In these hard times when debates are on-going about scraping off the Affordable Care Act, that is said to overburden the taxpayers, a good working relationship between nurses and patients is needed. This is because trust will make patients feel that someone cares for them ( Choi, 2015) . Second, patients can be able to follow their medication promptly. This is because nurses can provide the necessary education and support relations that can motivate patients to take their medication.
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The other safe practice that I can contribute is to assist in recognizing individual patient needs. Staying close to patients helps to identify the needs of every patient in our healthcare facility and to regard facilities will be required to employ sufficient medical staff, who will record every detail of the patients they are hosting so that they the right medical practitioner is sent to take care of them.
Another critical way of promoting safe practice is by ensuring that patients are active in making healthcare decisions. Patients will not benefit a lot through Affordable Care if they are not participating in making healthcare decisions. This is because when patients are involved, their health is improved, and they will enjoy a quality life, and assist in the delivery of effective and appropriate services. Patients who are allowed to be active partners in healthcare easily monitor their healthcare processes and also follow their care carefully.
My role and how I will advocate for the Healthcare Consumer
Regarding the Affordable Care Act and Patient Advocacy, I serve as a client advocate. Client advocacy is a field of specialization in healthcare associated with support of survivors, patients, and caregivers. I work directly for institutions that offer patient care. Other roles that I supervise include patient rights, privacy issues, confidentiality, patient representation, awareness, and support programs to carers.
As a client advocate, will advocate for a palliative care approach to be mainstreamed in the healthcare systems in the U.S will cater for all patients. This implies that any patient with a life-limiting disease will receive any medical attention that is receptive to their comprehensive needs, advances personal satisfaction and trust, which is given by professionals. Never again should access to palliative care be restricted to patients with a disease or be accessible just to patients who are admitted to hospice and palliative care units alone. Patient engagement is another area where nurses must dwell on. Through applications embedded in smartphones and cell phones, nurses can be able to improve medication adherence. For instance, programs like Messaging can assist diabetics and patients with other chronic diseases. The program included day by day instant messages inquiring as to whether they have taken their endorsed pills as prescribed. Adding versatile applications to serve patients in hospitals could be valuable for greater engagement.
For all the time I have served as a client advocate, I have active participated in improving access to palliative healthcare since I could not be identified with values of a wellbeing framework that disregard and underestimate patients who cannot be cured. I have seen patients who are struggling with life-limiting infections such as treacherous and indefensible. My approach to pain and symptom will be the beginning for hospice and proper care practices in our healthcare systems. All nurses will be alert and take the right action in handling patients. Instances of neglect, incompetence or unethical practices will not be condoned in our healthcare facilities. Nurses will also work with patients as the profession stipulates and without compromising the patients’ rights, informing patients about their medical conditions, respect and support patients decisions regarding their health.
Communication in healthcare is the greatest challenge. As the client advocate, I will endure that patient advocacy has been extended to the provision of effective therapeutic communication with patients, identify patient cultures and share a common humanity with patients. Research done by World Health Organization (2017) demonstrated that patients from different cultures enter the human healthcare facilities with several issues including therapeutic doubt, financial discrepancies, and lacking wellbeing education. These issues may obstruct great wellbeing results. Furthermore, patients who are new to healthcare systems might be overpowered by healthcare complexities; as a result, I will ensure that all patients regardless of their cultures get the best treatment they need since the Affordable Care Act caters for all patients.
How my future Role will change as a result of Policy Changes
The Affordable Care act exchange rates continue to increase; more emphasis has been put to expand the Medicaid. Before 2010 when The Affordable Care was enacted, Medicaid was operating reasonably well, but it was not a universal health cover. As the Supreme Court is planning to make a ruling on the expansion of Medicaid, my role as a client advocate is likely going to change ( Lathrop & Hodnicki, 2014) .
Many people have proved that the Affordable Care Act is becoming an expensive medical cover despite its vast role in alleviating healthcare disparities particularly to those patients who have pre-existing medical conditions. The new policies on the act demanded payers to pay preventive services for patients like cancer screening, annual examinations, and immunizations. On top of this, adults of up to 26 years can remain on their parents' covers. This means that payers have to meet all the demands of these policies without failure.
As a customer advocate, my advocacy will now be directed towards accountability. Rather than expanding the Medicaid, I will initiate programs that ensure all the taxpayer's money are channeled in the right direction and non goes to waste. I will ensure that patient advocacy is initiated as the patient arrives at a healthcare facility. To advance this, the nurse will offer a foundation of trust while attending to patients. All hospitals will be required to be honest about the type of treatment they have provided to patients since it has been noticed that most figures sent to payers are extrapolated and unreal.
Another role I will play is to build capacity through patient advocacy. I will ensure that all nurses to develop guiding strategies that guide their actions engage advocacy and form partnerships. All these strategies will allow patients to receive the best medical services that cater for all that they pay as contributions. I will also assist nurses in how to plan and use the available resources presented to them. I will advise payers on the appropriate patient outreach in healthcare facilities such as to convey emails that help patients to remember vital doctors 'visits and remaining testing. Price transparency will also play a critical role in great patient engagement. Pricing strategies used by healthcare providers such as cash payments, premiums and deductibles must be transparent to the Affordable Care Act to function effectively.
How I see my role as a client advocate changing
It is hard to predict how the Supreme Court will rule; whether to hold onto the current Affordable Care or expand the Medicaid. If the Affordable Care Act is retained as the sole medical cover for Americans, I will continue serving as a client advocate despite all the challenges and competition but this time round; I will work towards perfection. I understand that working in one profession particularly in a revolving profession like client advocacy will not be easy. To stay checked in my job, I will do the following:
I will advance patient Safety and empower rights. As an advocate, I will teach patients about their rights inside the human services framework, security, discharge directions methodology and medications, expenses, and protection inclusion. As a client advocate, I am tasked with displaying this information in a straightforward and significant way to help the patient completely understand their decisions.
Second, I will find out how healthcare is funded. This is a vital area that I did not create interest in learning before. A client advocate is supposed to help patients to explore the upsetting medicinal bills. This incorporates instructing patients on repayment, billing, and financing choices. Likewise, as an advocate, I should have a comprehensive understanding of how insurance plans and their coverage mechanisms work to protect patients from exploitations and unnecessary bills. If the Medicaid is expanded, I will perform this role and many more, but under the county levels.
References
Choi, P. P. (2015). Patient advocacy: the role of the nurse. Nursing Standard (2014+) , 29 (41), 52.
Lathrop, B., & Hodnicki, D. (2014). The Affordable Care Act: Primary care and the doctor of nursing practice nurse. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 19 (2).
World Health Organization. (2017). Patient safety: making health care safer (No. WHO/HIS/SDS/2017.11). World Health Organization.
