harkness2e chap03 ppt

Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer • All Rights Reserved

Chapter 3: Health Policy,

Politics, and Reform

Chapter Highlights

• Healthcare policy and the political process

• Healthcare finance and cost–benefit in

relation to health policy

• Access to healthcare and insurance facts in

the United States

• Healthcare workforce diversity and its

effects on the quality of healthcare

• Nursing’s role in shaping healthcare policy

2Copyright © 2016 Wolters Kluwer • All Rights Reserved

Chapter Highlights (cont.)

• Quality of care and evaluation

• Information management facts

• Equity in healthcare access

• Ethical consideration in health policy

• Health advocacy and healthcare reform

• Health services research application to

healthcare policy


Healthcare Policy and Political Process

• Policies: set of principles that govern an action to achieve a given outcome, or guidelines that direct individuals’ behavior toward a specific goal

• Public health policy: decisions made in regard to the health of the individual and the community

• Health policies: impact on the health of an individual, a family, and a population or community


Question

Is the following statement true or false?

Health policies impact on the health of an

individual, a family, and a population or

community.


Answer

True

Rationale: Health policies impact on the

health of an individual, a family, and a

population or community.


Involving Politics

• Process of influencing the allocation of resources needed

to enable policy and involves the strategies needed to

achieve the desired goals.

• Policy-making takes a great deal of effort, time, and

commitment.

• Setting an agenda

• Policy formulation

• Policy adoption

• Policy implementation

• Policy assessment

• Policy modification


Access to Care and Health Insurance

• The U.S. healthcare system is a unique

system of both independent and

collaborative power and action by both

federal and state governments.


Healthcare Finances and Cost-Benefit

• Economics is the study of how individuals, groups, organizations, and society allocate and utilize resources.

• When a policy is evaluated for its effectiveness, there is an interest in keeping the cost of a specific health program within reason, and it is critical to consider the overall costs and benefits of an existing program when a more efficient and effective service is identified and adopted.


Question


The U.S. healthcare system is a unique system

of both independent power and action by the

federal government.


Answer

False

Rationale: The U.S. healthcare system is a

unique system of both independent and

collaborative power and action by both

federal and state governments.


Quality of Care

• Safety

• Effectiveness

• Patient centeredness

• Timeliness

• Equality

• Quality of care is defined by the Institute of Medicine (2001) as

the degree to which health services for individuals and

populations increase the likelihood of desired outcomes, and are

consistent with current knowledge.

• It is extremely difficult to evaluate the complexities of the

quality of care for the U.S. population.


Nursing’s Role in Shaping Healthcare Policy

• Nursing has a rich history as a unique

profession, with its own values, ethics,

respect, integrity, and responsibility.

Nurses’ contributions to the policies are

unlimited; there is a need for greater

coordination of action to ensure that

nursing is actively supported and involved in

influencing and shaping health and

healthcare policies.


Healthcare Workforce Diversity

• Healthcare issues of racial and ethnic minorities, low-income

individuals, and the uninsured overlap. Community health

agencies play an important role in providing access to

healthcare for those who are underserved, whether from

uninsured or low-income communities.

• The United States has an increasing healthcare professional

immigration from other countries.

• There is an increasing need for a diverse workforce of

healthcare providers who can provide culturally competent care

for the accelerating minority population.

• The less diverse the workforce, the less representative and

influential will be the impact of the healthcare providers on

healthcare policies.


Equality in Healthcare Access and Quality

• Because of the vast disparities in healthcare

access and quality, President Obama has

made healthcare his top priority, promising

affordable and adequate healthcare

insurance for all Americans.


Question


Equality is healthcare that does not vary in

quality because of gender, race, ethnicity,

geographic location, or socioeconomic

status.


Answer

True

Rationale: Equality is healthcare that does

not vary in quality because of gender, race,

ethnicity, geographic location, or

socioeconomic status.


Information Management

• U.S. policy-makers have made the

adoption of health information

technology a priority so that health

records can be kept electronically,

assisting patients, providers, and

insurers.


Ethical Consideration

• Healthcare is closely linked with ethical

issues and decisions, and has implications

for patients, providers, and healthcare

leaders.


Health Advocacy and Healthcare Reform

• Although most politicians agree that

reform must take place, many cannot

agree on what the change should look

like.

• Healthcare reform in the United States

has been a long political battle for quite

some time.


Health Services Research

• Research continues to be an influencing

power by documenting the need for

accelerated reform in order to achieve

quality care, proper information

management, insurance for all, and

equity of access.


harkness2e chap03 ppt

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