What Are the Next Big Issues in Health Policy?
Identifying the next big issues is crucial since it will inform what needs to be done now and in the near future to change the way healthcare delivery is done. At the moment, there are a number of issues hindering the delivery of healthcare, such as high costs of healthcare services and increased prevalence of medication error. One of the big issues in health policy entails the presence of huge amounts of patient data. At the same time, the next few years will be impacted by cost containment measures. According to Barry, Edgman-Levitan, and Sepucha (2018), there is growing enthusiasm and acceptance for patients getting involved in the making of health care decisions that affect them. The other next big issue in health policy is telemedicine. Currently, health information pertaining to symptoms and treatment options is abundant. Through searching Google or visiting websites belonging to health care facilities, such as the Mayo Clinic, patients can get vast amounts of information that they can use to make a more informed decision. Fagotto and Fung (2019) claim that most hospitals and physicians have online portals through which their patients can access their medical history, lab results, access to doctor’s clinical notes, or schedule appointments. Telemedicine will be a serious issue going into the future.
Several initiatives have been adopted with the goal of facilitating increased coordination between different stakeholders in the healthcare sector. For instance, the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative brings together state and commercial health insurance plans in order to offer population-based care (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2019). One key aspect of this initiative is to ensure that patient data can continuously flow through the different stakeholders in order to facilitate better provision of preventive care, management of chronic conditions, and enhanced caregiver and patient engagement. For instance, Blumenthal and Chopra (2018) say that Apple recently announced that it had entered an agreement with 13 major health systems in the country. Under this contract, Apple would access patient data from the electronic health data stored by these health systems, albeit with patient consent. Access to patient’s data raises serious issues as far as privacy is concerned. Increased access to patient data may translate to enhanced access to healthcare services. Patient-centered care entails the provision of healthcare services that are respectful of and responsive to a person’s preferences, values, and needs (Epstein, Fiscella, Lesser, & Stange, 2010). The provision of patient-centered care requires healthcare professionals to work together and collaborate with other stakeholders such as patients and their families and insurance providers. Chronic conditions contribute a significant proportion of the country’s healthcare expenditure. According to Barton (2013), healthcare data can play a crucial role in diabetes prevention and treatment. As such, healthcare data will be crucial in the next few years as far as cost containment is concerned.