Applied Project

Policy Recommendation Paper

Rigina Cochran

MPA/593

September 2, 2019

Peter Reeves

Policy Recommendation Paper

Health care issues are considered important and they need to be addressed, sometimes immediately. These health care issues occasionally create an issue that can be difficult to handle. The working families cannot afford to pay their bills and pay for insurance therefore, they sacrifice spending money on the health care making it possible to have more serious health issues later. There can be several ways to bring reforms forward and repair these issues. It is important to provide ideas and solutions to reduce the costs of health care for families that struggle with obtaining such care.

Description of Policy Recommendation

Transparency in the actions of providing health care solutions will bring efficiency in the process. There is always a conflict about the cost of health care between the policy makers and the people it affects. It is a fact that what is charged to the patient for medications is far higher than what they cost the medical facilities and the pharmaceutical companies. A sudden rise in the price of the drugs brings fear, frustration, and desperation among the patients that need them. They blame policy makers for such a sudden increase ("National Health Expenditure Fact Sheet", n.d.). But they don’t know the actual causes behind the decisions. It is, therefore, mandatory to bring transparency into the system for this cause of the rising drug prices. The policy makers should include the pharmaceutical companies in the decision process to make it a more clear and valid process.

The pharmaceutical companies should be directed to reveal all the information and pricing for the medications and make it available to the general public. This disclosure will aid in the building of trust and belief with the consumer. Transparency will also enhance the quality of health care services by offering quality care and cost-effective medications, allowing health care practitioners to perform the best health care services to the patients. This will also lower the chances of mistakes being made and malpractice suits from being filed. The reasonable and fair practice of medicine will also cut the price of health care. When quality products and health care are available at reasonable prices it makes way for health care to bring better health practices to the public and therefore, allow the population to live a long and healthy life ("National Health Expenditure Fact Sheet", n.d.).

Transparency should be present at each step of the health care process; it is important to change the practice of non-transparent procedures of price setting within the health care department. It is a difficult task to get the information from the manufacturers about the process of setting the prices of the drugs and why they are set at that price. This information was not made public and the little information that was permitted to be released was not very informative. Even the employees of the pharmaceutical companies have been instructed to maintain silence about the pricing process among other confidential information. This lack of transparency needs to be changed to set an example to the public that the companies are not hiding anything. There is a high demand for the awareness within the workplace and among the policy makers to change the way they are being perceived. It will enhance the chances of transparency in the system that will lead an effective and efficient implementation of pricing policies in the health care sector. In turn, it will pave the way for the public trust to return to the health care system.

Transparency is an important way to bring a positive solution in cutting the costs of health care ("National Health Expenditure Fact Sheet", n.d.). Transparency will help develop the needed information for a beneficial policy that will enhance the health care system. The use of transparency will show the stakeholders the importance and the need for the policy.

Recommendation Rationale

Transparency can be considered as the initial step in the process for a policy to set affordable drug prices. The verification of this transparent system will become apparent in the following outcomes:

· Transparency in within pricing policies will ease the reluctance in the communities they serve, this concern comes from the silence of the organizations involved which can lead to conflict. The public’s concern can lead to uneasiness and tension throughout the process or within the health care system at the community level (Chantrill, n.d.).

· With the help of transparency, the productivity within the medical field will be improved as well as the developments of the pricing decisions. A transparent practice will lead in consumer satisfaction and will bring quality in the products and services available to the public. Consumers will get proper guidance and care from seeking medical staff, this alleviates a significant amount of accusations and malpractice suits.

· Transparency will also help in controlling the corruption among policy makers and organizations. At times the government requires money for medications that are supplied at little to no cost to the public that cannot afford them. This is the reason behind the price increase; however, the cost can become an issue for the public when confronted with the issue. This is the reason it is important for the health care system to be more transparent (Brennan, 2009).

· Transparency is a positive decision because it assists in better living standards for the general public. When the costs of the health care services remain constant for a significant period of time and the prices remain reasonable factors in health care it is no longer a huge burden on the public (Chantrill, n.d.). It is observed that most of the revenues are being spent on individual’s health concerns, if this issue is resolved, then the public revenues can be used for better living circumstances or can go to the future of the family.

Timeline and Lifespan of Policy Plan

Transparency cannot be brought in all at one time, time is needed to bring a transparent arrangement into the health care system. For health care departments the transparency process can be started at the level of the production process. Corrective measures can be taken on a continuous basis this will enhance the credibility of the transparency. The duration will depend upon the outcomes of the initial steps in the process of the implementation of the transparency technique (Brennan, 2009). It can take two to three years to make the policy of transparency fully functional where full transparency is evident.

Placement Within the Organization’s Existing Operations

Internally the transparency will be placed at operational level. The starting point will be directed by the corporate sector of the organization. This level needs to be transparent first and foremost and then the remaining departments can be directed accordingly ("OECD Health Statistics 2014: how Does the United States Compare?", n.d.).

Provisions for Monitoring and Evaluation

Making policies is not a definitive solution to the problem of the increasing of the costs and drug prices. Transparency cannot be evolved by itself; it needs a comprehensive and critical evaluation process. The evaluation process should critically examine on a gradual basis. For an evaluation, it is suggested to set some standards before a comparative analysis. These standards will advise the optimum level needed to be achieved in terms of gaining transparency ("OECD Health Statistics 2014: how Does the United States Compare?", n.d.).

Conclusion

Policy making is not an easy or rapid process it involves a number of technical aspects and a detailed planning process. Complete research that is developed based on comprehensive planning will provide a well-developed policy, however, without considering the bottom-line issues the real policies cannot be developed.

Policy makers should have a complete knowledge of field and valid data to find the best solutions for the future. Employees should also be involved in the process of policy making, their involvement will enhance the credibility of the transparency process.

An informative announcement of the process that is being taken should be a step toward the process of fixing the prices. This statement will resolve the conflict between the clients and policy makers. The concern will be decreased among the public therefore, restoring the confidence in the policy and the policy makers.

References

National Health Expenditure Fact Sheet(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cms.gov/research- statistics-dataand- systems/statistics-trends-and-reports/ nationalhealthexpenddata/nhe- fact-sheet.html

Chantrill, C. (n.d.). Recent Federal Spending, US from FY 2005 to FY 2015. Retrieved from http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federalspendingchart.

Brennan, N. (2009). Improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care System. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/ research/reports/2009/08/21-bpc-qualityreport

OECD Health Statistics 2014: How Does the United States Compare? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/Briefing-Note-UNITEDSTATES-2014.pdf