Competing Needs and Policy Development
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Part 1
Competing Needs and Policy Development
In this discussion, I will focus on the national health issue of equal access to cost-effective and high-quality medical care. In the recent past, the health care facilities administration and other healthcare stakeholders have been trying to provide accessibility of quality healthcare services at cost-effective pricing (Pekola et al., 2017). Notably, an equilibrium of the three aspects would achieve outstanding performance in healthcare service delivery. Commonly policymakers refer to quality, cost, and access as the iron triangle of trade-offs, whereby the iron triangle is the point of equilibrium. The use of one element to elevate performance can compromise the other factors. The three factors may, however, not always apply in service delivery. For instance, health care services on chronic conditions specialty can improve quality by reducing unnecessary services costs. Competition in the three aspects has a vital role in achieving the triangle equilibrium hence accessible, cost-effective, and high-quality healthcare services.
Competing Needs and Policy Development
In most cases, healthcare facilities make trade-offs amongst the three aspects. The exchanges, however, are determined by the level and the party involved. Whereas some consumers prefer quality regardless of access or cost, others will trade off quality for lower prices (Matthew and Young, 2019). For instance, some medical care consumers will be willing to travel abroad to exchange high-quality services, whereas others will save the traveling cost and seek lower quality services. The US government is a critical stakeholder in the state’s healthcare service delivery and a policymaker.
The government, therefore, uses regulations to influence the cost and quality of medical services. The price regulations may indirectly affect a service providers’ response to patient demands, limiting access to quality healthcare (Barber et al., 2019). The policymakers may also reduce rewards from innovation, leading to perverse intents, which often compromise healthcare products and services. Therefore, policymakers need to be versed in knowledge while establishing key policies that regulate prices and the quality of healthcare products and services while satisfying the accessibility need.
Generally, access, quality, and cost are competing needs in healthcare services. Investing in one element may compromise the others and even lead to perverse incentives. To protect healthcare consumers, the government has set policies that regulate the three aspects. The government also tries to achieve an equilibrium in the three elements that would enhance service delivery hence improving performance.
References
Barber, S. L., Lorenzoni, L., & Ong, P. (2019). Price setting and price regulation in health care. https://doi.org/10.1787/ed3c16ff-en
Matthew, M., & Young, C. L. (2019, November 12). Current debates in health care policy: A brief overview. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/current-debates-in-health-care-policy-a-brief-overview/
Pekola, P., Linnosmaa, I., & Mikkola, H. (2017). Assessing the effects of price regulation and freedom of choice on quality: Evidence from the physiotherapy market. Health Economics Review, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-017-0158-2
Competing Needs and Policy Development
Question
In this 1-page essay, you will reflect on a national healthcare issue and examine how competing needs may impact the development of polices to address that issue.
This is a 1pg discussion post and 2 responses to 2 different posts