The health care policy in the United States has been faced with some changes in the recent past. These changes are aimed at improving the general quality of health care in the country thus improving the well-being of the people of the state. (Obama 2016)The success of the health care system is as a result of the contribution of various stakeholders such as providers, suppliers, payers and consumers who ensure the continues running and maintenance of this system. Regular changes in policies and procedures need to be implemented in the health care system to ensure it complies with the current changes in technology.
Health policy development process
It involves setting the environment for the health policy. (Dimick & Ryan 2014) This entails evaluating the health care structure governing the system such as decision-makers , stakeholders and media in use. Through this, a critical decision can be made in the making of policies that will suit the organization or will require a change in the current procedures in use. The media has a great impact in the setting of policies since some policies may require the complete change of the media and hence may lead to various challenges within the organization . Such changes may be high costs of acquisition, installation and maintenance of new media of which the cost might be too high and as a result, have a negative impact in the management of healthcare systems.
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Additionally, methodical considerations are a major consideration in the health policy development. It mainly involves the political and social climate within a country. Once these aspects are put into consideration, the policies being made will be regulated, and as a result, it will reduce the possibility of conflicts between the policy formulators and the stakeholders within the healthcare system. Notably, challenges experienced from the past are a major consideration in policy formulation. They act as a guide on various aspects to avoid and lay a basis of the aspect to dwell on more to come up with a successful health care policy.
Role of stakeholders
Regulators and policymakers . These are the major group of stakeholders in the healthcare system. They determine the direction in which the healthcare is supposed to take and hence have a great influence on its success. By using the information provided by various agencies, they determine the course of action to take towards the running of the health care. Additionally, payers are another group of stakeholders . This includes the financing agencies as well as the users of the healthcare system. Financing agencies may be the government or non-governmental agencies. They provide finances for the health care to cater for their needs such as the acquisition of resources, payment of workforce as well as the maintenance of the existing systems and facilities.
Additionally, providers are a major group of stakeholders in the healthcare facility. They include health practitioners, hospitals as well as nursing homes. They act as an accommodation for the health practice. They offer services to the other group of stakeholders that is the consumers. Through this interaction, they complete the chain of the healthcare department. Moreover, suppliers also form the group of stakeholders in this system. They include medical equipment companies as well as pharmaceutical companies. They provide the resources needed in the healthcare facility to cater for the smooth running of the system.
Key health policy issues
Affordable care act. This policy has a great impact on the general running of activities in the healthcare system. Equality and equity are essential for all the potential users of the health care. They may be both the high class and low-class rank of people that’s why it is important to implement the affordable care act. This issue has a major impact on the continued growth of the healthcare system in the United States.
Additionally, prescription drug pricing is a key health policy issue which focuses on the increased prices of drugs in the health care system. It may be as a result of poor budgeting of finances and hence becoming an overload to the consumers. ( Gonzalo 2017) This may have a negative impact on the health care system, and thus appropriate remedies have to be taken into consideration. All budgets should be well evaluated to ensure that adequate funding is set aside for the drug pricing section.
Notably, pandemic and all-hazard preparedness is a key policy that should be highly put into consideration in the United States. This can be made more effective by creating awareness among the public concerning any epidemics that might occur and preventive measured towards such incidences. This helps in the easier management of hazards since they may end up affecting a small number of persons which can easily be managed . Through this, the health care department becomes more successful.
Health care policy impact in the distribution of resources
The healthcare policies are of great importance in the allocation of resources. The pandemic hazard preparedness, the financing institution is able to make a quantitative decision on the number of resources to allocate to this section. This will be predetermined by past experiences and challenged and thus the ability to make an evaluated decision.
Additionally, the target to an affordable care act aspect can be used in decision making and finance allocation as well as the distribution of resources. Some healthcare facilities require more service providers compared to others and hence more resources and are allocated to them. Evaluation of available resources is also an important aspect of the equal distribution of resources.
In conclusion, the health care policy is an important aspect of the general development of the United States. It should be given priority especially in resource allocation and monitoring in order to become a success. Non-governmental organizations can also indulge in facilitating this department as it’s the major stakeholder of country development. N ew policies developed should be focused on its continued development, not degradation.
References
Dimick, J. B., & Ryan, A. M. (2014). Methods for evaluating changes in health care policy: the difference-in-differences approach. Jama , 312(22), 2401-2402.
Gonzalo, J. D., Haidet, P., Papp, K. K., Wolpaw, D. R., Moser, E., Wittenstein, R. D., & Wolpaw, T. (2017). Educating for the 21st-century health care system: an interdependent framework of basic, clinical, and systems sciences. Academic Medicine , 92(1), 35-39.
Obama, B. (2016). The United States health care reform: progress to date and next steps. Jama , 316(5), 525-532.
Stroumsa, D. (2014). The state of transgender health care: policy, law, and medical frameworks. American journal of public health , 104(3), e31-e38.
