Introduction
Providing citizens with the best healthcare services is essential, and many government officials and leaders have been aiming to improve the existing healthcare reforms for decades. Their goal is to provide citizens with access to affordable and efficient healthcare facilities with good quality. This paper will discuss the three main recommendations for health care reform from experts and interest groups and whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) fits with the proposals.
The Three Recommendations for Health Care Reform from Experts
First, to improve the quality of healthcare and reduce costs, the government should invest in health information technology (HIT). Although enough finances have been invested in improving HIT, there have appeared some limitations in terms of the efficiency of these changes. On the one hand, “The Obama Administration took the Bush statements and HIT focus to another level, investing nearly $30 billion in incentives to providers and hospitals” (Sheikh, Sood, & Bates, 2015, p. 849). On the other hand, it was unclear how much treatment would be improved by these large public interventions in ways that would make it better. Hence, experts suggest that healthcare providers should understand HIT adoption experiences, learn from early successes and challenges, and define approaches to promote and optimize the benefits of HIT investment in healthcare.
Second, to improve the existing healthcare services, government officials should invest in bettering human resource services. Experts found out that “low levels of investment in people and a concentration on transactional human resource (HR) activities led to negative job attitudes…” (Cogin, Ng & Lee, 2016, p.14). They recommend replacing permanent behavioral control of employees with spot control at the initial and final stages of work. According to experts, since behavioral control is similar to the regulation of employees in the private sector, it is less suitable for the healthcare service sector. The output control, on the other hand, guides the actions of workers by setting specific goals. This means communicating priorities and expectations and then giving flexibility to workers in approaches used to achieve defined goals. The input management equips the workforce with staff who have the right skills and knowledge to do their jobs successfully.
Third, government officials should invest in the prevention of illnesses and diseases in children by replacing pesticides with other substances which are less hazardous for human health. Experts suggest governments should gradually lessen the usage of chlorpyrifos and additional pesticides, “…promote use of integrated pest management (IPM) through incentives and training in agroecology, and implement mandatory surveillance of pesticide-related illness” (Hertz-Picciotto et al., 2018, p.1). They recommend healthcare professionals to introduce and educate their patients and other people, including children in schools, about the hazards that come from pesticides through implementing specific training courses. They also suggest agricultural agencies to speed up “the development of non-toxic pest control strategies” in order to prevent illnesses (Hertz-Picciotto et al., 2018, p.1). Moreover, they believe that by preventing illnesses that could arise from hazardous pesticides on the legislative level, the government can reduce costs on healthcare. Therefore focusing on root problems, such as preventing illnesses, can cost significantly less as compared to treating serious illnesses that derive from neglecting the toxic effects of pesticides on children’s health.
Degree of Effectiveness of Modern PPACA system
Nowadays, after 10 years of operation of the Act, it can be seen whether this system meets the requirements specified in the recommendations. The state made the right bet on investing in the field of information technology reform. According to Joseph (2016), “today, 96 persents of hospitals across the country have adopted EHRs” (para. 6). However, informational changes have put a big burden on the work of health workers. Constant reports and updates of databases slow down the working process of employees and reduce stress resistance. Public investment can solve this problem by creating more jobs or by hiring outsourcing firms to analyze information. Also, PPACA has given greater freedom to medical facilities and improved disease prevention practices. According to Chait and Glied (2018), “…the ACA both increased access to clinical preventive services and freed up local public health budgets to engage in population health activities” (para. 1). It can be stated in 2020 that the Act has achieved major successes; however, it was not without drawbacks.
Opinion and Conclusion
This paper discussed the three main recommendations for health care reform from experts and interest groups and whether the PPACA fits with the proposals. Considering the recommendations from experts and interest groups can be helpful in terms of bettering healthcare services through various innovative ideas. Some of the best recommendations explained in this paper were as follows. First, to enhance the quality of healthcare and reduce costs, the government should invest in HIT. Second, to improve the existing healthcare services, government officials should invest in bettering human resource services. Third, the government should invest in the prevention of children from illnesses and diseases by replacing pesticides with other substances which are less hazardous for human health. The legislative practice has shown that the achievements associated with investments in the formation of a convenient informational component created new problems for medical staff. Improving the working climate through subsidies can also positively change the current situation. All of these recommendations can positively affect the PPACA in terms of efficiency, quality, and cost.
References
Chait, N., & Glied, S. (2018). Promoting prevention under the affordable care act.Annual Review of Public Health, 39. Web.
Cogin, J., Ng, J., & Lee, I. (2016). Controlling healthcare professionals: How human resource management influences job attitudes and operational efficiency. Human Resources for Health, 14(1), 14-55.
Hertz-Picciotto, I., Sass, J., Engel, S., Bennett, D., Bradman, A., & Eskenazi, B. … Whyatt, R. (2018). Organophosphate exposures during pregnancy and child neurodevelopment: Recommendations for essential policy reforms. PLOS Medicine, 15(10), 1-15.
Joseph, M. (2016). How President Obama shaped the future of digital health. Web.
Sheikh, A., Sood, H., & Bates, D. (2015). Leveraging health information technology to achieve the “triple aim” of healthcare reform. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 22(4), 849-856.