Defining the Future of Healthcare Policy in Practice
Access to care, cost of care, and quality of care: what do they have in common? As you’ve learned, they are dimensions of performance used to assess a healthcare system (e.g., addressed in Assignment #2), which also makes them an important policy issue. In your Learning Resources this week, Barr (2016) states that “the conundrum of U.S. health care [is] that all three [exist] simultaneously and that attempting to remedy one [will] inevitably affect the others” (p. 355). For example, if we try to control costs, then we either have to decrease access to care and/or compromise quality of care. With this in mind, what do you think is the best course for healthcare policy to follow in the future?

You have spent much of the last five weeks examining how others have created the current state of healthcare policy. In this final Discussion, you will assume the role of policy maker and create a policy that addresses access to care, quality of care, or cost of care. Recall that some of the performance dimensions have multiple indicators. For example, patient safety is an indicator of quality of care. Similarly, having medical insurance is an indicator of access to care.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review this week’s Learning Resources. Pay particular attention to the Learning Resources that discuss trends in healthcare policy and/or practice.
Review Healthcare policy in the United States (Ballotpedia, n.d.) in Week 1 Learning Resources.
Select a specific setting (e.g., any healthcare setting, workplace, prison, etc.)
Create a healthcare policy that you would like to put into place within this setting (e.g., providing health insurance to all employees, offering health screenings to prisoners).
Frame the policy using at least one dimension of performance (or an indicator, such as patient safety) and be sure the policy is realistic and complies with current law.
BY DAY 4
Post a comprehensive response to the following:

Summarize your healthcare policy. Be sure to indicate which dimension(s) of performance or indicator(s) was used to frame your policy.
What is the setting where the policy will be implemented? Why did you choose this setting?
Who are the stakeholders of the policy? What role do they each play?
What are the goals of your policy? In other words, what are you hoping the policy will do or accomplish?
Who will be affected by the policy?