Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper

Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper

Write a 4-6-page policy proposal and practice guidelines for improving quality and performance associated with the benchmark metric underperformance you advocated for improving in Assessment 1.

Introduction

In advocating for institutional policy changes related to local, state, or federal health care laws or policies, health leaders must be able to develop and present clear and well-written policy and practice guideline proposals that will enable a team, a unit, or an organization as a whole to resolve relevant performance issues and bring about improvements in the quality and safety of health care. This assessment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

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As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you have a valuable viewpoint and voice to bring to discussions about policy development, both inside and outside your care setting. Developing policy for internal purposes can be a valuable process toward quality and safety improvement, as well as ensuring compliance with various health care regulatory pressures. This assessment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes.

Propose organizational policy and practice guidelines that you believe will lead to an improvement in quality and performance associated with the benchmark underperformance you advocated for improving in Assessment 1. Be precise, professional, and persuasive in demonstrating the merit of your proposed actions Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

Requirements

The policy proposal requirements outlined below correspond to the scoring guide criteria, so be sure to address each main point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, be sure to note the requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence.

• Explain the need for creating a policy and practice guidelines to address a shortfall in meeting a benchmark metric prescribed by local, state, or federal health care policies or laws.

• • What is the current benchmark for the organization and the numeric score for the underperformance?
  • How is the benchmark underperformance potentially affecting the provision of quality care or the operations of the organization?
  • What are the potential repercussions of not making any changes?

• • • What evidence supports your conclusions?
• Recommend ethical, evidence-based practice guidelines to improve targeted benchmark performance prescribed by applicable local, state, or federal health care policy or law.

• • What does the evidence-based literature suggest are potential strategies to improve performance for your targeted benchmark?
  • How would these strategies ensure performance improvement or compliance with applicable local, state, or federal health care policy or law?
  • How would you propose to apply these strategies in the context of Eagle Creek Hospital or your own practice setting?
  • How can you ensure these strategies are ethical and culturally inclusive in their application?
• Analyze the potential effects of environmental factors on your recommended practice guidelines. Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper

• • What regulatory considerations could affect your recommended guidelines?
  • What resources could affect your recommended guidelines (staffing, financial, and logistical considerations, or support services)?
• Explain why particular stakeholders and groups must be involved in further development and implementation of your proposed policy and practice guidelines.

• • Why is it important to engage these stakeholders and groups?
  • How can their participation produce a stronger policy and facilitate its implementation?
• Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.

• • Proofread your proposal, before you submit it, to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your proposal.
• Use paraphrasing and summarization to represent ideas from external sources.

• • Be sure to apply correct APA formatting to source citations and references.

Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like: Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper

• Assessment 2 Example [PDF].

Policy Proposal Format and Length

It may be helpful to use a template or format for your proposal that is used in your current organization. The risk management or quality department could be a good resource for finding an appropriate template or format. If you are not currently in practice, or your organization does not have these resources, many appropriate templates are freely available on the Internet.

Your policy should be succinct (about one paragraph). Overall, your proposal should be 4–6 pages in length.

Supporting Evidence

Cite 3–5 references to relevant research, case studies, or best practices to support your analysis and recommendations.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze relevant health care laws, policies, and regulations; their application; and their effects on organizations, inter-professional teams, and professional practice. Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper

• • Analyze the potential effects of environmental factors on recommended practice guidelines.
• Competency 2: Lead the development and implementation of ethical and culturally sensitive policies that improve health outcomes for individuals, organizations, and populations.

• • Recommend ethical, evidence-based practice guidelines to improve targeted benchmark performance prescribed by applicable local, state, or federal health care policies or laws.
• Competency 3: Evaluate relevant indicators of performance, such as benchmarks, research, and best practices, to inform health care laws and policies for patients, organizations, and populations.

• • Explain the need for creating a policy to address a shortfall in meeting a benchmark metric prescribed by local, state, or federal health care policies or laws.
• Competency 4: Develop strategies to work collaboratively with policy makers, stakeholders, and colleagues to address environmental (governmental and regulatory) forces.

• • Explain why particular stakeholders and groups must be involved in further development and implementation of a proposed policy and practice guidelines.
• Competency 5: Produce clear, coherent, and professional written work, in accordance with Capella’s writing standards.

• • Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
  • Use paraphrasing and summarization to represent ideas from external sources Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

Policy Proposal Despite being recognized as one of the region’s top choices for health care, Mercy Medical Center has areas for opportunity. The most pressing of these has been the management of medication errors. Medication errors are associated with risks such as an increase in health care costs, reduced efficiency, and poor treatment outcomes. This paper explains the need for a change in policy and practice guidelines to meet the recommended benchmarks in medication errors. The proposed changes in policy and practice guidelines, the impact of environmental factors on the implementation of the practice guidelines, and the need for involving key stakeholders to make the implementation successful.

Need for Policy and Practice Guidelines

Medication errors in the center’s medical and surgery unit have seen a 50% increase from 4 in 2015 to 8 in 2016. Nute suggests that medication errors may result in longer hospital stays and higher rates of mortality and morbidity (as cited in Kavanagh, 2017). According to Rafter et al., these errors may result in an increase in the cost of health care (as cited in Kavanagh, 2017). Incidents resulting from medication errors require additional resources and more care interventions, which leads to a decrease in the efficiency of health care services provided. Considering the expense medication errors can entail for patients and health care practitioners, there is a need for an organizational policy to address the shortfall in the reduction of medication errors.

Medication Error Analysis

According to Zhan et al., because of the fear of repercussions such as disciplinary action being taken, a large number of medication errors go unreported (as cited in Weant et al., 2014). However, learning from these errors will help reduce their recurrence and improve careCopy and every reported error is an opportunity for the development of a countermeasure and will help avoid or reduce the impact of the same error in the future (Weant et al., 2014)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

A health care system that exposes patients to medical errors needs to be critically evaluated. Failure mode and effects analysis is a technique that can be used to analyze incidents related to medication errors. Under this method of analysis, the medical center can commission the formation of a multidisciplinary committee that will review processes susceptible to errors. Based on the inadequacies observed, the committee can classify the medication errors according to the priority in which they need to be addressed (Weant et al., 2014). As part of the analysis, the committee will review the steps in the process, the things that could go wrong, the reasons behind them, and the possible repercussions (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, n.d.). Based on these factors, the committee can recommend actions to reduce the possible errors in the process. The analysis will end with an evaluation of the prescribed actions for improvement (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, n.d.)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

Automated Dispensing Cabinets

An automated dispensing cabinet is a computerized medication distribution system that is installed in patient care units. It stores, dispenses, and electronically tracks drugs at the point of care. Using these cabinets can help the medical center profile patients, reduce the time taken to retrieve medication, and track inventory on a real-time basis (Weant at al., 2014). These cabinets usually contain high-alert and controlled medications and can only be accessed using an ID and a password. With the use of these cabinets, nurses will not have to walk long distances to collect the required medication (Rochais et al., 2014)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

Policy and Practice Guidelines for Managing Medication Errors Policy Statement

Medication errors pose a risk to patient safety and public health. This policy is a guide for health care practitioners to enable them to take appropriate action in the event of a medication error. The practice guidelines and recommendations will provide a framework to improve the practice of the two proposed evidence-based strategies.

Scope

The policy applies to nursing staff, medical staff, emergency and allied care practitioners, and staff employed at the pharmacy. All concerned individuals are responsible for the prescription, dispensation, and administration of medicines.

Practice Guidelines

The multidisciplinary local patient safety committee (which includes professionals from various disciplines such as nursing, pharmacy, and medicine) should regularly go over the existing action plan to improve health care outcomes. The committee must assess apprehensions and go over events that possibly endanger patient safety. It should also analyze trends in medication errors as well as address systemic weaknesses (Polnariev, 2016). According to Schlesselman, around half of all possible medication error events can be averted by patient education. Pharmacists can counsel patients when they are visited for consultations. Training sessions on counseling patients will aid the effectiveness of pharmacists’ consultations. These training sessions should include an emphasis on asking open-ended questions to patients (as cited in Polnariev, 2016) such as the following three prime questions: (1.) What did the physician tell you the medication is for?, (2.) How did the physician tell you to take the medication?, and (3.) What did the physician tell you to expect? The sessions should also emphasize listening to patients patiently, learning to identify inaccuracies in their responses, and demonstrating to them the use of medication devices (Lauster & Srivastava, 2013)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

Before the administration of any medication, a review of medication orders by a pharmacist will ensure the safety of the hospital’s medication system. Barcode verification should be put in place for the stocking of medications. Limited amounts of medication should be placed in the cabinets, and the cabinets should be refilled frequently (Hyland et al., 2007). For the nursing staff, barcode verification will validate the 7 rights of medication administration: right patient, right drug, right dose, right time, right route, right reason, and right documentation. These 7 rights will be verified while administering medication. A nurse will scan the barcode on his or her identification badge, on the patient’s wristband, and on the medication. Software will analyze the real-time data, and based on the database, it will generate approvals or warnings (Shah et al., 2016)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

When choosing and placing medications within automated dispensing cabinets, products that look alike should not be placed inside the same multiple-product drawer. Medications should be retrieved from the cabinet for one patient at a time and administered without delay. Training sessions about the right practices related to the use of automated dispensing cabinets should be organized for the staff. The staff must be educated about unsafe practices that can affect patient outcomes negatively such as retrieving medications in advance and retrieving medications for multiple patients. They must also be educated about the need to report problems such as similar drug name pairs being displayed on the drug selection screens on the cabinets (Hyland et al., 2007)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

 Effects of Environmental Factors

The implementation of both practice guidelines, medical error analysis and the use of automatic dispensing cabinets, can be affected by environmental factors. The efficacy of medication error analysis can be affected if error incidents are underreported or if errors incorrectly documented. Barach and Small state that error incidents are usually reported verbally despite how frequently they occur. This can lead to an underreporting of errors (as cited in Elden & Ismail, 2016). Moreover, verbally communicating errors can lead to errors in documenting data. According to Claudia et al., the scope for the improvement of patient safety will be limited if errors are discussed verbally (as cited in Elden & Ismail, 2016)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

In the use of automated dispensing cabinets, incorrect restocking is one of the problems that can arise, which can result in treatment delays. Apart from this, inaccurate documentation of doses retrieved from the automated cabinets can also affect timely treatment. This can lead to incorrect administration of medication (Hamilton-Griffin, 2016). Additionally, when care providers such as nurses are affected by heavy workloads and are preoccupied with various tasks at once, they are likely to get interrupted or distracted while collecting and administering medication from the cabinets. To ensure that these issues do not arise, the pharmacy can be asked to share an updated list of the stock on a daily basis. A staff member or nurse can be tasked to cross-check the cabinet stock against the list provided by the pharmacy. Further, reassessing the stock from time to time and using barcode technology for restocking medications can also reduce the possibility of such errors occurring (Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, n.d.)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper.

Clinicians need to be provided with continuous education on new drugs, procedures, and policies so that the proposed practice guidelines are effectively implemented. Apart from that, creating simulation environments will also instill confidence in care providers about their competency in medication administration. It is necessary to create a culture of safety within the organization, which will allow care providers to freely report errors without the fear of negative consequences and coercion.

Stakeholder Involvement in Implementing Proposed Strategy

Assistance can be sought from key administrative personnel such as the chief executive officer, director of nursing, or chief operating officer. These individuals can form a quality committee where they can share their expertise and monitor the effective implementation of the proposed strategies. By establishing role accountability and articulating the organization’s quality improvement norms from time to time, the key administrative personnel can reinforce a culture of safety among the health care staff (Parand et al., 2014)Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper. The main nursing staff should also be involved because they deal with a lot of medication administration problems firsthand. They can help in the identification of the inadequacies that cause medication errors (Blake, 2017). While receiving prescriptions at the pharmacy, pharmacists can check for discrepancies and contact the prescribers for any changes in orders before the prescriptions are filled out (The Health Foundation, 2012).

The involvement of the hospital administration and the care providers will lead to transparency in the implementation of the strategies. It will bring in multidisciplinary expertise, create room for debate and discussion, and ensure that the parties involved have a say in decisions concerning these strategies. Therefore, a partnership between the hospital administration and the care providers will ensure that the proposed strategies are implemented effectively.

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 Conclusion

Incidents resulting from medication errors can reduce a health care organization’s efficiency. However, the implementation of medication error analysis and the use of automated dispensing cabinets can substantially reduce the chances of such errors occurring. Above all, the most important thing for the proposed policy to be effective is the creation of a culture of safety and quality improvement at Mercy Medical Center Health Care Law and Policy Proposal Paper