In his presentation, Dr. Denis Fischbacker-Smith presented on patient safety in the hospital, and the organizational and operational systems in place that can contribute to adverse patient safety events or prevent them (2017). He concluded his lecture by asserting patient safety can be achieved by understanding and distilling the relevant intricacies within and between systems that impact patient safety, and developing approaches to address or support the organization in preventing adverse events in light of this information (Fischbacker-Smith 2017). In much the same way, it is our responsibility as health care administration students to develop an interdisciplinary knowledge of the environment in which we work and identify meaningful approaches …show more content…
Over the course of the semester, we have discussed the definitions of public policy, and policymaking (what are they and how did they come to be?), the practical and political origins of the health policy landscape (voluntarism and community), and the role of public sector in health care policy (how did Medicare and Medicaid come to be and how and why have they been reformed?). This information imparts a broad perspective on the regulatory tools, and market and individual forces that shape the US health care domain. As management is the practical implementation of the health care system, understanding the policy of health care has direct implications for the management of organizations that facilitate the health system. So, while health care management is distinct from health care policy, the two spheres are related (P6530 Lecture …show more content…
While Medicare and Medicaid are diametric and “reflect two distinct political philosophies” (Brown and Sparer 2003), each program poses its own challenges and has implications for the future shape of the health care sector. This is important for managers to understand. Medicare is largely a stable and popular federal program, as it was formed to be (Brown and Sparer 2003), but, “it has developed a complex politics as ideological, institutional, and political processes interact” (Beland and Waddan 2014) (Vladeck 1999). As such, Medicare has its own challenges and several policies have been proposed to “get (Medicare) under control” (P6530 Lectures 4, 6 and 2). These include system reorganization (e.g. ACOs), or a fundamental change in how payments are made (e.g. moving from a defined benefit system to a voucher program). While Medicaid was structured to be a very different program (a poor program for poor people) and evolved to be more stable than expected at its inception (Brown and Sparer 2003), it too faces unique challenges. Medicaid policy fixes have been proposed and include reconfiguration of the delivery of care (e.g. managed care, long-term care) or the integration of health care and social services. In the cases of both Medicare and Medicaid, understanding the policy context in which they were conceived and operate is essential to identifying management challenges and opportunities they pose. Further,
Orlando Regional Healthcare, Education & Development. (2004). Patient Safety: Preventing Medical Errors. Retrieved on March 2014 from world wide web at http://www.orlandohealth.com/pdf%20folder/patient%20safety.pdf
Today, Medicare Part D is the most approved federal program celebrated as a government success. It is favored by federal programs in the United States of America and is said to be well under budget. Part D has its own advantages and disadvantages. This paper discusses the various stakeholders and their influence on the outcome of Medicare Part D, along with particular strategies and implications that were used to support this Medicare Part D legislation. It also focuses on the specific proposals that can invigorate the program to the low-income subsidy, transition from Medicaid to Medicare, the use of formularies and utilization management tools, Part D and long-term services and supports, and program quality (Kendall, D., 2013, November 05).
Davidson, Stephen M. Still Broken: Understanding the U.S. Health Care System. Stanford, CA: Stanford Business, 2010. Print.
Although many people refuse to see it, the foundation of universal healthcare is built upon socialistic ideas. In an industry where talent and intellect is required, value will no longer be placed on the expertise or skill of a doctor. There will be no profit incentive for medical providers if they are compensated the same regardless of the quality of treatment they administer. The two government-run health insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid, are a perfect example of this. Medicare determines which doctor the patient sees, and what treatments are appropriate. It also determines the duration of the treatment, and compensation of the doctor. Financially speaking, these programs are bankrupting our government. According to the Objective Standard, “These two federal insurance programs compose nearly 20 percent of the federal budget, and the percentage keeps rising.” (Zinser, “Moral Healthcare vs. Universal Healthcare”). Doctors are paid far less from treating Medicare patients because of the insufficient funding of the program, and therefore have to turn away a lot of new Medicare patients. This is an example of what public healthcare will look like if this was prov...
In our organization we have had many revisions to our safety process. Originally, it was at our hospital that the 1996 well known “Willy King” incident, about the amputation of the “wrong” leg occurred. As a response to the incident, we were required to develop a root-cause-analysis and develop a plan to avoid similar situations in the future. We were one of the first hospitals to establish a “safety process” in the surgical environment. Through inter-disciplinary collaborati...
Safety is a primary concern in the health care environment, but there are still many preventable errors that occur. In fact, a study from ProPublica in 2013 found that between 210,000 and 440,000 patients each year suffer preventable harm in the hospital (Allen, 2013). Safety in the healthcare environment is not only keeping the patient safe, but also the employee. If a nurse does not follow procedure, they could bring harm to themselves, the patient, or both. Although it seems like such a simple topic with a simple solution, there are several components to what safety really entails. Health care professionals must always be cautious to prevent any mishaps to their patients, especially when using machines or lifting objects, as it has a higher
Safety is focused on reducing the chance of harm to staff and patients. The 2016 National Patient Safety Goals for Hospitals includes criteria such as using two forms of identification when caring for a patient to ensure the right patient is being treated, proper hand washing techniques to prevent nosocomial infections and reporting critical information promptly (Joint Commission, 2015). It is important that nurses follow standards and protocols intending to patients to decrease adverse
Medicaid is a broken system that is largely failing to serve its beneficiary’s needs. Despite its chronic failures to deliver quality health care, Medicaid is seemingly running up a gigantic tab for tax payers (Frogue, 2003). Medicaid’s budget woes are secondary to its insignificant structure, leaving its beneficiaries with limited choices, when arranging for their own health care. Instead, regulations are set in order to drive costs down; instead of allowing Medicaid beneficiaries free rein to choose whom they will seek care from (Frogue, 2003)
Healthcare Policy has been through many ups and downs over the years. The first United States legislature to involve healthcare dates back to 1798, when “The Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen” was adopted. This approach is not very different in how healthcare works today. The act called for a 200 cent tax on seamen in order to pay for their health care. But it wasn’t until 1912, when President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned on a platform to adopt a single national health service. Finally a program called Medicaid was adopted to insure low income families, and in 1966, Medicare was adopted, guaranteeing health care for those over the age of 65 who paid into the system. Finally, The Affordable Health Care for America Act was introduced in 2009, and while it has changed and been revised a few times since then, it is th...
Patient safety one of the driving forces of healthcare. Patient safety is defined as, “ the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of healthcare or as the prevention of errors and adverse events caused by the provision of healthcare rather than the patient’s underlying disease process. (Kangasniemi, Vaismoradi, Jasper, &Turunen, 2013)”. It was just as important in the past as it is day. Our healthcare field continues to strive to make improvement toward safer care for patients across the country.
The two major components of Medicare, the Hospital Insurance Program (Part A of Medicare) and the supplementary Medical Insurance program (Part B) may be exhausted by the year 2025, another sad fact of the Medicare situation at hand (“Medicare’s Future”). The burden brought about by the unfair dealings of HMO’s is having an adverse affect on the Medicare system. With the incredibly large burden brought about by the large amount of patients that Medicare is handed, it is becoming increasingly difficult to fund the system in the way that is necessary for it to function effectively. Most elderly people over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, but for a quite disturbing reason they are not able to reap the benefits of the taxes they have paid. Medicare is a national health plan covering 40 mi...
Explaining Health Care Reform: Questions About Medicaid’s Role. (2010). The Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved August 20, 2010 from http://www.kff.org/healthreform/7920.cfm
Patient safety is the basis of quality health care in the hospital. Works applied to patient safety and practices that have not prevented hazard have focused on negative outcomes of care, such as mortality and morbidity. Healthcare employees are important to the surveillance and coordination that will reduce such adverse effects.
The rate of errors and situations are seen as chances for improvement. A great degree of preventable adversative events and medical faults happen. They cause injury to patients and their loved ones. Events are possibly able to occur in all types of settings. Innovations and strategies have been created to identify hazards to progress patient and staff safety. Nurses are dominant to providing an atmosphere and values of safety. As an outcome, nurses are becoming safety leaders in the healthcare environment(Utrich&Kear,
Keeping patients safe is essential in today’s health care system, but patient safety events that violate that safety are increasing each year. It was only recently, that the focus on patient safety was reinforced by a report prepared by Institute of medicine (IOM) entitled ” To err is human, building a safer health system”(Wakefield & Iliffe,2002).This report found that approx-imately 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur each year due to medical errors and that the majority was preventable. Deaths due to medical errors exceed deaths due to many other causes such as like HIV infections, breast cancer and even traffic accidents (Wakefield & Iliffe, 2002). After this IOM reports, President Clinton established quality interagency coordination task force with the help of government agencies. These government agencies are responsible for making health pol-icies regarding patient safety to which every HCO must follow (Schulman & Kim, 2000).