Explain how governmental policies related to the health and/or safety of the community affect the coordination of care. Provide examples of a specific policy affecting the organization or group. Refer to the assessment resources for help in locating relevant policies.
National, State, and Local Policy Provisions That Raise Ethical Questions For Care Coordination
Medicare and Medicaid patients are normally more likely than privately insured patients to receive delayed treatment. Research shows that Medicaid has greatly lessened the cost of care for patients, but at the same, it has also lowered the quality of care that patients receive (Allen et al., 2021; Hsiang et al., 2019). One of the most significant ethical dilemmas in healthcare today is how to provide quality healthcare at a lower cost. Physicians have often cited low payment rates for Medicaid and Medicare (Holgash & Heberlein, 2019). This often affects the quality of care offered as well as the acceptance of these services among healthcare practitioners. With lower payment rates, care coordination can be impacted as the willingness to provide care also tends to lessen.
Healthcare reforms have brought about major positive changes in the US society. As stated earlier, creating a balance between quality and low-cost care is a major ethical issue. Affordable Care Act and patient protection as stipulated by HIPAA are some of the government policies that bring about major ethical questions. For instance, ACA tends to leave out the majority of people who are covered, and this would prevent access to care. Furthermore, ACA is likely to increase the national debt, given the number of people covered under it (Mauldin, 2016). Consequently, the health budget is also likely to be affected in the long run, and this is likely to impact the coordination of care. For instance, with increased number of people covered and fewer healthcare practitioners who suffer from problems like burnout and stress, there is a likelihood that care coordination will be highly negatively impacted. Physician burnout is linked with increased medical and medication errors and is also likely to negatively affect communication between healthcare practitioners, thereby preventing better quality and coordinated care from being offered to patients.
The Impact of the Code of Ethics For Nurses on the Coordination and Continuum of Care
Ethical codes are the instructions that shape ethical behaviour and also determine which beliefs and values should be accepted (Bijani et al., 2017). These codes are the practical guidelines in the nursing field. The various codes of ethics in nursing tend to bring about ethical conflicts. These codes could have both positive and negative effects. Whereas the codes provide moral standards for nurses, which are considered non-negotiable, they are not all-inclusive of all situations, and this tends to limit moral decisions for nurses. These codes of ethics enable nurses to provide quality care as they facilitate increased evidence-based care through consultation and communication with other interdisciplinary teams, hence increasing care coordination.
Factors That Contribute to Health, Health Disparities, and Access to Services
There are various factors that contribute to health disparities, such as poor quality of care, access to care, genetics, community factors like poverty, inadequate access to healthy foods, violence and limited personal support systems, and environmental conditions such as poor air quality, and unpolluted and uncongested environment. Health behaviours and language barriers also play an integral role in health disparities. According to Healthy People 2020, some of the major influences on health for most Americans include the availability of as well as access to nutritious food; safe and decent housing; health insurance; non-polluted air and clean water; reliable and affordable public transportation as well as culturally sensitive health care providers.
Social Determinants by Healthy People 2020
Healthy People 2020 has made various provisions for the social determinants of health in an attempt to create an environment that is safe and healthy for the general population. A range of environmental, economic, social, and personal factors majorly contribute to population and individual’ health. For instance, individuals with quality education, safe neighbourhoods and homes, stable employment, and access to preventive services tend to be healthier in their lifetime. On the other hand, poor health outcomes are made worse by the association between individuals and their physical and social environment. Social determinants are partly responsible for the avoidable unequal differences in health status between and within communities. Some of the social determinants include the availability of resources to meet daily needs like job opportunities, healthful foods, and living wages; exposure to social disorder, violence and crime; socioeconomic problems like poverty, public safety, transportation options, quality schools, exposure to mass media and emerging