Political
Politics is a vital component in matters of national health. It involves understanding the events taking place in the hospital environment and the overall management structure. This involves interdepartmental connection and the overall decision making in the entire organization. The administrator also needs to Help in drafting the health policies that are vital in enabling good health reforms.
Legal
The hospital administrator is expected to conduct their mandate according to the national legal framework. The responsibilities involve ensuring organizational compliance with medical and legal regulations and internal policies. In addition, the hospital administrator is tasked with managing healthcare scam and abuses performed by dishonest physicians
Ethical
Confidentiality helps create a setting of trust in which a patient can share their private feelings and personal history, enabling a physician to form a diagnosis. Patient information should be available only to the physicians and other healthcare personnel as required. A health care worker may be violating a patient’s confidentiality by disclosing medical information to others who should not have access to it.
Informed consent allows the patient to decide whether or not they wish to undergo a procedure. Informed consent is based on the principle that patients should have autonomy over the treatment they receive. Healthcare providers should have a document providing proof the patient has full knowledge of the risks, benefits and possible consequences of a particular treatment.
Euthanasia is mainly illegal in most countries but is still a hotly debated ethical issue surrounding whether it should or should not be legalised. PAS is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication that will end their life. In this case, the patient would have to self-administer the medication, directly or through a machine.
The healthcare administrator is expected to balance the roles and have a lasting impact on improving the system in many ways including political, legal, and ethical aspects.
Hospital administrators oversee the organizational side of health services either by working as a team or individually. They make sure a medical facility is employing well-organized practices that convey the best health care. The task presents a remarkable opportunity to effect change, from drafting public health policies to developing operational health programs.
Duties and Responsibilities Involved in Health Care Administration
Hospital administrators with training in healthcare policy are also health experts. While most hospital administrators are responsible for maintaining compliance to regulations within their facility, policy-oriented hospital administrators can lobby to influence governmental policy. By educating communities, organizations, and lawmakers, they can use their subject matter expertise and hands-on experience to change the landscape of healthcare from the top down. In addition to having an in-depth understanding of public policy, many hospital administrators hold law degrees.
The economics of hospitals can fall under the purview of hospital administrators who specialized in finance. Additional training may be required, such as a master’s degree in finance or accounting. Hospital administrators in this specialization may be responsible for budgets, purchasing, healthcare service costs, and even forecasting. Depending on the hospital, professionals in this role can be responsible for investor relations or even securing capital for improvements.
The people who need the most help are often the ones without a voice. Hospital administrators may specialize in advocacy, either for individual patients within a facility or for populations and communities at large. As a patient advocate, a hospital administrator will be well-versed in payment options, insurance matters, and government regulation.
Jobs/Titles in Health Care Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance
Risk management in healthcare entails safeguarding the safety of the organization as well as the safety of patients. Regulatory compliance pertains to making sure the organization is compliant with various government agencies, rules and regulations (Doyle, 2019).
Importance of the Jobs/Titles
Health care risk management is a diverse profession in a dynamic and evolving health care industry.
The healthcare compliance officer is also the face and voice of compliance information to management and senior leadership. As a failure to comply with any number of governmental agencies, regulations, acts, or laws can result in a large financial penalty, the compliance officer needs to work closely with the organization’s legal department or chief legal counsel and the finance department to monitor high-risk areas, formulate mitigation and action plans and protect the organization’s assets.
The Effect of Political, Legal, and Ethical Issues on Patients and Staff Including the Patient Benefits
Politics can impinge on the efforts to progress the quality of care in a polarized healthcare situation. For instance in the United States, Democrats consider issue of healthcare to be more important than the Republicans (Oliver, 2016). Health care is managed within a framework of stringent rules and regulations set by the government. Without proper regulation and coordination healthcare the costs for the patients can be invariably high thereby risking the health of the entire population. The ethical dilemma in healthcare includes the use of patient data for secondary purposes. Ethics must be considered regardless of whether population health information is matched to an individual or applied in aggregate to a population.
The Effect of Political, Legal, and Ethical Issues on the Financial and Business Operations of a Health Care Facility
Politics plays a central role in restructuring health care provision including healthcare financing. The enactment of laws that govern healthcare provision are fundamental in the industry-wide action towards providing affordable healthcare. For instance if the cost of health care is high, the number of people insured also drops because they may be required to pay higher premiums. The aim of healthcare restructuring is to make health services more affordable to the general population.
Healthcare providers work on the basis on how healthcare is financed and structured. Economic factors including inflation, food prices, the link between education and pay, transportation facilitation affect the standard of care (Oliver, 2016). Poor financing can lead to the mushrooming of substandard health facilities that provide poor health services by unscrupulous business individuals who may not care of the quality, which is unethical. Economic factors also influence the patient’s diet and exercise, as well as the decision on whether to seek the required healthcare services when they need it.
The Health Care Administrator’s Role in Issues such as a Data Breach, a HIPAA or EMTALA Violation
The Healthcare Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), passed in 1996 and implemented in 2003, spurred the need for healthcare compliance across the industry. HIPAA mandates (among other things) industry-wide standards and processes for the protection and confidential handling of patient health information.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) ensures public access to emergency services regardless of a patient’s insurance coverage or ability to pay. The Act specifically obligates Medicare-participating hospitals that offer emergency services to provide medical screenings and stabilizing treatment to patients experiencing a health emergency.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) promotes standardized electronic health records (EHR). The act was implemented in 2009 to address the privacy and security concerns of patient data, EHR files and how they’re shared. HITECH strengthens the enforcement of HIPAA’s protected patient information rules, requiring the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights to conduct periodic provider audits and stiffening practices for breaches of information.
Implications
The decisions made by health care administrators can affect the quality and standard of care.
The administrator can as well be faced with lawsuits and issues of malpractices that can be devastating to the conduct of their duties.
There may be fines as well if there is breach in the use of patient data. For instance, under the HITECH, a provider of health care services can be fined up to $1.5 million.
References
- Barker, A. M., and DeNisco, S. M. (2016). Advanced practice nursing: essential knowledge for the profession. Boston publishers.
- Doyle, L. (2019). Healthcare administrators: Roles, responsibilities, and career outlook. Web.
- Oliver, R.T. (2016). The politics of public health policy. Annual Review of Public Health, 27,195-233.