Care Coordination

Care Coordination

Care coordination is an organized collaboration between healthcare providers, professionals, and patients to improve the patient care system. Care coordination focuses on ameliorating the quality of patient care through minimum medical errors, reduced risks of readmissions, cutting down expenses, and optimum use of resources (Weil 2020). However, some regulations are imposed by the federal government on care coordinators to ensure better service delivery. Likewise, some ethical guidelines are issued for the well-being of patients.

The federal government has designed different policies to ensure public safety and quality healthcare facilities. These policies positively affect care coordination. These policies are aimed at boosting patient care. Some policies ensure the confidentiality of patients’ data, like the Health Insurance and Accountability Act (Blitchok 2018). Some focus on sharing data for the prevention of diseases and for enhancing coordination between patients’ families and doctors. Data sharing among the medical team is also required for appropriate decision-making in critical cases. Health policies promote electronic data sharing that is secure and fast in pace. These policies are also beneficial for reducing readmissions and minimizing the cost of medical treatment. Moreover, all the medical records are stored electronically and are available for the medical team and family whenever needed.

HCQIA affects care coordination by providing immunity to healthcare providers during the conducted assessment. HRRP convenes care coordination by reducing readmissions in hospitals through data sharing (Weil 2020). PSQIA maintains the right to confidentiality and also imposes fines on breachers. HIPPA also focuses on the safety of sensitive data shared by patients. Through this act, data of patients are accessible to nurses, which improves patient care and coordination (Weil 2020). These acts provide the right direction to care coordination and discourage unprofessional practices of healthcare providers.

There is a close relationship between healthcare policies and ethical dilemmas caused by them. The healthcare providers are left in dilemmas when policies talk about maintaining confidentiality (Epstein 2021). They become confused about whether to keep patient information secret or share it with other stakeholders for better care. Likewise, the policy of self-determination gives the right of decision-making to patients. They may make wrong decisions having no medical grounds, leading healthcare providers towards ethical dilemmas. There is also a policy of giving alternative medicines to opioid patients. These substitutes can cause ethical dilemmas when they don’t suit patients. Some End-of-life Care policies also cause ethical dilemmas for nurses as they consider it ethically wrong to end patient care in their life. However, keeping terminally ill patients under costly treatment is not a wise decision as the same resources can be used for other patients that have hope to regain good health.

There is a close relationship between healthcare policies and ethical dilemmas caused by them. The healthcare providers are left in dilemmas when policies talk about maintaining confidentiality (Epstein 2021). They become confused about whether to keep patient information secret or share it with other stakeholders for better care. Likewise, the policy of self-determination gives the right of decision-making to patients. They may make wrong decisions having no medical grounds, leading healthcare providers towards ethical dilemmas. There is also a policy of giving alternative medicines to opioid patients. These substitutes can cause ethical dilemmas when they don’t suit patients. Some End of life Care policies also causes ethical dilemmas for nurses as they consider it ethically wrong to end patient care in their life. However, keeping terminally ill patients under costly treatment is not a wise decision as the same resources can be used for other patients that have hope to regain good health.

Code of ethics refers to the principles and guidelines that are designed for the professional development of nurses and healthcare staff. These ethical principles help nurses whenever they are entangled in ethical dilemmas. This code encourages them to act morally while providing patient care by acting on the principles of justice and fairness (Epstein 2021). Likewise, they motivate nurses to interact with other interdisciplinary professionals to improve care coordination. However, they have a dark side as well. Too much emphasis on ethics and principles loses the creativity of the nursing profession. In some situations, these ethical principles can enhance mental stress as well when nurses cannot meet their duty demands owing to the stress of following nursing codes of ethics (Blitchok 2018).

Social determinants of health are the factors that affect patient care and collaboration between stakeholders. These factors can impede the implementation of a code of ethics in different ways. The social status of patients can hurt the principle of equal healthcare facilities when healthcare staff prefers specific patients for material gains. Likewise, the physical environment can also affect the code of ethics when nursing staff shows a tilt toward their neighbors and cultural intimates (Epstein 2021). The academic qualifications of patients can also affect the code of ethics when patients are treated well based on their degrees. Mental health is also an important factor that can obstruct the implementation of a code of ethics when mentally ill people are treated with contempt by staff (National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers). These factors hurt the code of ethics by increasing healthcare disparities and providing discriminatory healthcare services.

Community Nursing and rehabilitation organization is confronted with multiple ethical and policy issues. For instance, the increased technological interventions for patient care push nurses towards an ethical dilemma (Epstein 2021). They think that they are not doing their job honestly by taking assistance from technology. They also face ethical issues when sharing records of patients’ personal information with other stakeholders. The policy of providing fewer financial resources to community organizations can limit service delivery. The lack of legal assistance in incidents of sexual violence can affect the productivity of nurses.

There is a dire need to promote the principle of justice while providing care to patients. They should be treated humanely irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, and culture. Patients should also be given the power of decision-making about their healthcare preferences to improve policy implementation. Some awareness campaigns should be launched in all mediums of media to highlight the importance of care coordination (Blitchok 2018). Accountability should be ensured in care coordination to guarantee the fair use of resources.

Care coordination focuses on the interaction between people belonging to different professions who are working for better service delivery (Blitchok 2018). Some ethical codes and legal principles exist to monitor and guide healthcare providers. These policies have both positive and negative impacts on the healthcare industry.

In a nutshell, ethical and policy issues affect patient care both positively and negatively. On the optimistic side, these policies are a safeguard for equal healthcare facilities and guarantee the confidentiality of patients’ information (Weil 2020). On the other hand, these policies cause ethical dilemmas for nurses when they cannot decide whether to share data or not. There is a need to address these challenges for the improvement of care coordination. Thank you for attending my presentation and I am open to answering any questions you may have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Blitchok, A. (2018, January 6). Proposed Federal RN Ratios – What You Can Do About It. Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/federal-staffing-ratios/

Epstein, L. (2021, June 20). Medicaid and nursing homes: A quick guide to the rules. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/072215/quick-guide-medicaid-and-nursing-home-rules.asp

National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. (n.d.). Care Management and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) The Possibilities, The Realities, and The Concerns [PDF]. Journal of Geriatric Care Management. https://www.aginglifecare.org/ALCA_Web_Docs/journal/GCM_journal_OCT2013_final%20file.pdf

Weil, A. R. (2020). The affordable care act turns 10. Health Affairs, 39(3), 359–359. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00098