Policy-making process

Policy-making process

Policy-making process

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The first policy-making process implicated by the issue is identification or setting of the problem. The process is implicated in the case scenario because the health facility is required to identify what problem it faces due to the state withdrawing its assistance. The problem identification policy is one that arises from the need to provide quality services or to comply with certain laws (Birkland 2014). For example, identifying that the hospital is faced with the challenge of maintaining medical recorded is a policy-making process which comes from the need to provide quality healthcare. The other policy-making process influenced by the issue is the formulation of the policy process. Since the situation facing the hospital is challenging, then there is need to formulate policies that can help solve the situation.

The policy formulation process implicated by the case requires that policies be made that directly solve the problem. In the given situation, policy formulation would, for instance, entail making strategies that assist the healthcare facility in raising revenue for to cater for its services which the state will be no longer be giving for free.

Another policy-making process that is implicated is adopting the formulated policy (Drummond et al. 2015). The hospital is challenged in many ways ranging from increasing revenue, improving population healthcare, training of personnel and record maintenance. Therefore, the situation implicates that the health care must adopt the formulated policies so that it can solve its problems. Additionally, the case scenario implies that the formulated policies to be implemented. The situation implicates this policy-making process since it the process is not implemented then the problems facing the health facility will not be solved. The implementation process is very critical since it contains specific parameters addressing how the challenges will categorically be resolved (Wallace et al. 2015).

Health institutions continuously develop health programs that are aimed at improving the population health. The focus of these programs may vary from one hospital to the other depending on the objectives set. Some of the goals that an institution would like to achieve in population health programs are improving the life quality and healthcare for the community, reducing differences in health outcomes within and among different health groups, and reducing costs. One of the population health programs related to the case scenario is health education. Policies and educational programs are crucial public health programs. There is a close relationship between health and education.

Furthermore, population health education is a critical determinant of the public health outcomes. Here is need to promote health education programs which bridge the education gap between low and high-income earners, and minority and majority populations (Nash et al. 2015). Population health education policies are implemented through the collaboration of health practitioners and public health policymakers. Health education can be directed towards health conditions that require prioritizing and includes a large population. Health education is best achieved if delivered to specific setting-based designs. The setting for such programs can be done in schools, residential areas, markets, and workplaces while taking into account the complicated health issues, practices and beliefs in the settings being addressed.

Population health is related to the case scenario since the health department serves members of the public on different levels, the health facility serves children the aged adults, and even offers behavioral health services. It is found that health education is fundamental to improving health outcomes and patients health. It, therefore, means that health education could help the hospital cut down its health care bills spent in treating patients since they improve personal health care.

Another population health program related to the case scenario is the integration of clinical networks. The integration of healthcare services is a growing health strategy aimed at promoting the adoption of evidence-based practice that improves delivery of healthcare. The program is a pool of healthcare providers who form a network that observes set protocols to improve healthcare quality and reduce costs (Bachireddy et al. 2014). These strategies offer a shift from the traditional hierarchical healthcare organization structure to a better model which incorporated the engagement of physicians in the development of improved healthcare models. The situation presented in the case scenario relates to the program since Wall county health department is seeking to cut down costs while improving its healthcare provision. Joining a network of other health providers will boost the quality of services offered.

The financial health of an organization is affected by its budgeting principles. A health organization will fail in service delivery if sound budgeting principles are not applied. Being conservative as opposed to being optimistic is the first principle of budgeting (Dunham-Taylor & Pinczuk 2014). The scenario facing the health department requires that the institution underestimate its income and overestimate its expenses. The situation implicates the principle in this manner so that there will be room for contingency expenses.

Additionally, another way to look at how the scenario has implicated this principle for budgeting is through finding out whether the hospital had set aside some revenue for unprecedented events such as being cut out from free services by the state. Another principle of budgeting implicated by the scenario is teamwork and consultation. In budgeting, working as a team is a fundamental concept. As much as one individual may bear the duties of compiling the whole budget, they should not be responsible for doing all the budget work. The presented issues demand that the Wall county health department utilizes this principle in planning its budget since it is faced with a difficult task of managing limited funds and thus consultations will be immensely needed. Managing budgets requires that tasks are split to persons with great expertise in the field. Following this principle will make the budgeting process slow, but the outcome will be more accurate.

In strategic planning the first principle implicated by the situation is accountability. The scenario requires that the involved department leaders become more accountable in handling funds and distributing the institution’s resources since they have become scarce. Accountability principle is not an optional duty and thus cannot be delegated to any other person but only the managers. Another implicated principle is corporate strategic planning principle. The corporate principle is incorporated because it deals with the overall performance of the organization. Given the challenges facing the health department, this principle must be in play when looking at how to improve the quality of healthcare.

There is a wide range of factors which affect the health of a population. They may be from within or outside the health system. Such factors include personal behaviors environmental, social and economic factors. There are healthcare strategies which are developed to improve the population health, and they include; understanding and setting specific objectives on the desired population health improvements. The strategy involves including the public in understanding health issues as well as studying the health needs of various population groups. The strategy is applicable in the case scenario since the health department deals with providing healthcare for the whole population and thus understanding the needs and setting specific objectives is vital to improving the health outcomes.

References

Bachireddy, C., Soule, M. C., Izenberg, J. M., Dvoryak, S., Dumchev, K., & Altice, F. L. (2014). Integration of health services improves multiple healthcare outcomes among HIV- infected people who inject drugs in Ukraine. Drug and alcohol dependence, 134, 106- 114.

Birkland, T. A. (2014). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts and models of public policy making. Routledge.

Drummond, M. F., Sculpher, M. J., Claxton, K., Stoddart, G. L., & Torrance, G. W. (2015). Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford University

Press.

Dunham-Taylor, J., & Pinczuk, J. Z. (2014). Financial Management for Nurse Managers- Merging the Heart with the Dollar. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Goetzel, R. Z., Henke, R. M., Tabrizi, M., Pelletier, K. R., Loeppke, R., Ballard, D. W., & Serxner, S. (2014). Do workplace health promotion (wellness) programs work? Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56(9), 927-934.

Nash, D. B., Fabius, R. J., Clarke, J. L., & Skoufalos, A. (Eds.). (2015). Population Health. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Wallace, H., Pollack, M. A., & Young, A. R. (Eds.). (2015). Policy-making in the European Union. Oxford University Press, USA.