Analysis of Health Policies - Essay Example

Individual Assessment of Health Policies Individual Assessment of Health Policies Introduction Every country makes policies directed towards improving the systems of the country to tackle new challenges. Health policies are those policies created for improvement of the health sector of the country (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008). New policies, including those targeting the health sector are, usually, included in budgets for financial years (Twaddle, 2002). Issues facing or expected to face people in the future, usually, influence governments regarding the policies to effect, and those to leave behind (Leathard & Goodinson, 2007).When deciding on the most necessary policies, departments of governments, usually, consider the possible benefits of some policies over others. Department also considers the financial needs of every policy (A.H.C. S.A, 2004). In her budget of 2014, the Australian government made certain policies directed towards bringing new changes to the health sector. The Minister of Health mentioned three policies in the Dutton conference. The paper analyses these policies to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The paper also identifies the perspectives of the claims presented. It will also make some comparison between the stated plans with those of foreign countries. Health Sector and the Future Australia has a high percentage of ageing people (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Unlike in the 1970 and 1971, a youthful generation has dropped to 22% from 31% in the early 1970s (M.H.C.C. A.C.T., & C.S S., 2007). The government through its various departments projects that in the coming 40 years, 25% of the Australian population will be people with over 65 years of age (Australia, 2011). In the health sector, the country is facing the problems associated with old age. The government understands this and is planning to offer more support for the sector so that it can improve its services to serve more people. Currently, the public health system is only able to serve, on a weekly basis, 170 people diagnosed with dementia. However, the country has to prepare for the future. The government projects that in 2050; there would be 7,500 cases of dementia per week (W.A.C.O.S.H, 2007). The country thus has to get ready to face such an issue in the future. Therefore, in the 2014 budget, the government allocated more money for the expansion of services like genomics testing in MRI and MBS screening. The argument of the government is valid considering the real situation in Australia. There is a sociological problem. Australian population is aging at high rate. The health sector has to prepare to face this fact. The country is thus, facing a growing problem at the level it has never experienced. Dementia is a social problem as the populations age determines its prevalence. The government observed the Australian society with a sociological perspective and thus, it is thus trying to meet its social need created by the aging population. In the United Kingdom, the government offered financial support to hospitals to be dementia-friendly (Lee, & Adams, 2011). It also intends to offer more financial support for dementia research. The support would amount to 66 million sterling pounds by 2015 (Taylor, 2012). The fact that the plan targets real problems in the near future is the real strength of the plan. The improvement in the health sector will help many people in the future. However, the weakness of this government plan is that it will direct most of the efforts of the health sector onto future problems. The sector would thus fail to deal completely with current problems. Therefore, through this plan, the health sector would be negatively affecting the health needs of people outside the age category. Reduction of Spending The government also plans to make some changes on the financial part of the health sector. There is a lot of financial spending in the health sector. In the budget, expenditure on the MBS has surge by 46 percent in five years that have past (Novak, Wilson, Berg & A.C.H.R, 2010). The country is now spending 20 billion dollars per year on Medicare yet it is only able to raise 10 billion dollars through Medicare Levy (Bowen et al., 2014). The government plans to cut unnecessary spending through reformation of the health system. It plans to establish sustainable modes of financing the health system. It also plans to reduce wastage, duplication, unmanageable spending, and unnecessary bureaucracy. All these measures aimed to reduce public spending without affecting the services offered in the sector. It is significant for the government to lower the financial requirements of the health sector, as high spending is unsustainable in the end. For instance, the usual growth of 9% in spending in public hospitals is not sustainable. The growth of spending can lead to a financial crisis in the sector in the near future. The government thus has to reduce the increases in funding for hospitals to 6.5%, which is more manageable (Funnell, Cooper & Lee, 2012). Again, the government has to improve cost effectiveness and outcomes in the health sector. The policy portrays the economic outlook of the government. The government sees a risk in the current financial situation in the health sector. Therefore, it is planning to effect remedial change. Others health sectors like for the U.S are also unsustainable. The average per person spending in the U.S goes beyond 8,000 U.S dollars. Despite the high spending, there are no better outcomes of the sector. In order to cut unnecessary spending, hospitals in the U.S have started applying several methods like the LEAN, Six Sigma, and other healthcare methods that improve processes (Deepali, 2010). Hospitals are also establishing work groups that consist of, nurses, physicians; business analysts and other members of health sector to develop financially effective healthcare programs. Australia is thus not alone in an attempt to reduce spending the health sector. The need for low spending in the health sector is important as it ensures that the government spends less money for quality services. The policy makes the health sector work towards efficiency and effectiveness without affecting the quality and quantity of the services offered. The basis of the direction of the move lies on the fact that high spending does not represent high services. The prospected reduced spending and improved quality and quantity due to effectiveness and efficiency in the sector is the strength of this policy. However, it is hard to execute this policy as it would need widespread changes to the health sector and can thus be risky to the sector. The government can solve this weakness by implementing the policy in phases. Use of Electronic Health Records Again, in 2014 budget, the government planned to improve the use of electronic health records. The government is now organizing with stakeholders to implement the plans taking into consideration the failure of the previous government. According to the emergency doctors, the electronic record ought to include information about adverse events, current medications, and discharge summaries. The use of an electronic record is crucial, as it will lower the time that clinicians use to gather important information about the patient. It enables the clinicians to spend more time in other critical issues. The Australian government sees the use of electronic health record as particularly important as it would reduce congestion in hospitals. It will ensure that medical professionals spend minimum time dealing with each patient. For instance, the government thinks that the system can greatly help the healthcare providers manage the weekly care needs of patients diagnosed with dementia. Again, it will help both the government and the health care providers reduce waste, and manage cost pressure. In order to implement the plan, the government has increased funding in the 2014 funding for the health sector. The U.S.’s health sector has used electronic heath record systems for over a decade. The use of electronic health record rose from 18% in 2001 to 78 % in 2013. HITECH act of the year 2009 legalized the use of electronic health recording (Wynne & Merit Systems, 2010). The act required the healthcare providers to ensure that the information recorded is use for meaningful purposes. The electronic recording systems have helped the American healthcare providers preserve important information about their patients (Carayon et al., 2009). It has also reduced the time healthcare providers take to gather information about their patients. Again, it has reduced the need for resources like paper and other writing materials (Kabene & Wolfe, 2010). Furthermore, it leads to easy access of information, which leads to effective management of resources and cost (Hewitt, Institute of Medicine (U.S.), & Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 2012). Electronic health records are thus important because they reduce the time used by healthcare provided and allow effective management of resources for the health sector. These advantages of the plan are it strengths. However, the problem and the weakness of this policy is the possibility of misuse and under protection of patients’ information. (Institute of Medicine (U.S.), Olsen & McGinnis, 2010). Healthcare providers ought to use the electronic health recordings for intended purposes of effective management and use of healthcare resources. The policy of the government for the use of electronic records in the health sector portrays the economic and the sociological perspectives of the government. The government’s intention of an effective management in the health sector portrays its economic perspective. With patients’ information in electronic instruments, the health sector can easily access information that can help it prepare for particular situations. Again, electronic records reduce the time spent by healthcare providers on a patient. More time would exist for other things. Therefore, the use of electronic recording is economical. On the sociological outlook, the execution of this policy would reduce the congestion in hospitals as it will reduce the time healthcare providers spend on a patient. Therefore, the government aims to solve a social problem through this policy. Conclusion In conclusion, governments develop plans and policies that affect different sectors of countries they belonged. They, usually, mention their new plans in their budgets. In the health sector, government regularly makes policies and strategies aimed to bring required changes that lead to efficiency and effectiveness in the sector. Governments introduce new changes in order to help the sector develop agility and ability to face new challenges. For instance, in the 2014 budget, the Australian government introduced several plans that it wants to effect in the health sector. Through the plans, the government plans to ensure that there is efficiency in the health sector. For instance, in the plan to improve the ability of the sector to deal with dementia, the government portrays its plans to solve the problems brought about by the aging population. However, the plans of the government have both strengths and weaknesses. 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