Viewpoints to Healthcare Policies

Viewpoints to Healthcare Policies

Davenport University

HCMG 630

Introduction

This research paper investigates policy issues in relation to the accessibility of care, the quality of care, and the cost of care within the hospital system from a variety of points of view. Every healthcare facility has many different policies, and each has issues with many different aspects of these policies. These issues are usually addressed by many different people. Some of the people that are involved in some way or another are the hospital administrators, the physicians, patients, politicians, tax payers, board members, and staff of the facilities. The issues that surround these policies will be addressed further.

Access to Care

Access to health care is not merely dependent on supply of the services; there are three factors that are looked at. These factors are affordability, physical accessibility, and acceptability of the services (Gulliford, 2002). This access to care is a policy in most hospitals and health care facilities.

Hospital Administrator

The hospital administrator is a person who is in charge of the workings of the hospital. He usually is not a physician, and is not involved in the actual health care provided by the hospital. In order for the hospital to become a place that is accessible to the public, the hospital administrator must address this issue. The administrator is the person who addresses the issues with the policies within the hospital. The administrator has the view point of working with the issue first hand and dealing with it. With an issue of access to care, it is the administrator’s job to make sure that access to the health care provided by his hospital is adequate enough, yet still allows for the financial gain to keep the hospital in business.

Physician

A physician has the point of view of the actual care that a patient needs. This enables the physician to see and hear just how the access to care is for each patient. A physician working in his own clinic might be able to provide access to care more affordable because they can raise and lower their prices. A physician working in a hospital would have a hard time making the care more affordable. The physicians in a hospital provide the care and then are able to report back to the administration about how well the patients think the care is provided.

Patient

The patient has the most important view in that they are the ones that need the access to care. The patient is the person who pays for the services, can tell