a According to Woolf et al. (1999), “clinical guidelines are
‘systemically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient
decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical
circumstances.’ They may offer concise instructions on which
diagnostic or screening tests to order, how to provide medical or
surgical services, how long patients should stay in hospital, or other
detailed clinical practice.” Based on this definition of clinical
guidelines, we see that there are a lot of factors to consider when
discussing efficiency, primarily, testing, services, and duration of
hospitalization. One argument for the government to be in a central
position to issue physician practice guidelines considers the ways
guidelines may be influenced by other resources that they
government can provide the healthcare facility.
a a a Heskett (2007) states that limiting the government’s input
when it comes to physician practice guidelines can further influence
their input and/or help in other areas of healthcare. One
disadvantage of not permitting that responsibility is that physicians
may miss out on opportunities for technology advancement within
their practice. Other opportunities include being provided with
additional resources that can improve quality of patient care. Such
resources are funding for medical equipment, information technology
equipment, safety equipment, or other resources for health-related
programs (prevention, education programs, etc.).
a a a Furthermore, according to the Minnesota Department of
Health (n.d.) the government’s involvement in setting practice
guidelines can further “promote health communities and healthy
community behaviors.” They may set practice guidelines that coincide
or facilitate community engagement guidelines and practices to
“promote positive health [while] preventing adverse health” and other
health disparities (Minnesota Department of Health, n.d.). Having the
government regulate clinical practice guidelines can be one step in
reducing communication issues between healthcare providers and
other community health providers, allowing resources to flow evenly
and services to facilitate each other for to provide optimal patient
care.
References
Government’s responsibility for public health. Minnesota Department of
Health. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/practice/resources/ch
sadmin/mnsystem-responsibility.html
Heskett, J. (2007, March 2). What is the government’s role in US health
care? Harvard Business School. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/what-is-the-governments-role-in-u-s-
healthcare
Woolf, S.H., Grol, R., Hutchinson, A., Eccles, M., Grimshaw, J. (1999).
Potential benefits, limitation, and harms of clinical guidelines. BMJ,
318(7182), 527-530. Doi: 10.1136/bmj.318.7182.527
