The Healthcare Delivery System | Instant Homework Help

Our healthcare system is shaped by regulations in the form of protocols, standards of care, and policies. Protocols at the practice level constitute a set of instructions to guide patient care decisions and define specific management plans (Brunier, n.d.). Protocols at the state level define activities and set guidelines according to the states’ legislation. At the federal level, protocols relate to the national matters and negotiations. Standards of care provide definition to the nursing role and practice. These standards delineate specific guidelines to deliver care in each state, and they provide the foundation to set federal laws and regulations. CDC (2015) defines a policy as a law, regulation, procedure, administrative action, incentive, or voluntary practice. A health policy reflects the values, beliefs, and attitudes of those designing the policy, whether on the local or national stage; moreover, policies can be narrowed to the scope of a practitioner’s work responsibilities or they can be expanded to respond to the state/national guidelines or requirements for practice (Brinkmann, 2018).Patients, providers, payers, and policy makers have different perspectives of the healthcare delivery system. While patients focus on treatment success, payers are interested in healthcare costs and coverage, providers are interested in healthcare outcomes and care provision, and policy makers deal with healthcare quality and access to care. Policymakers’ work is based on the rest of the stakeholders (patients, providers, and payers). Policymakers set the context within which the health care system operates; help establishing eligible beneficiaries and patients’ costs; maximize population health; and establish regulations regarding who can legally provide health services within their jurisdiction (Ritz, Althauser, & Wilson, 2014).