INTRODUCTION
Healthcare does not operate in a vacuum. Trends that emerge in the national market are influenced by legislation, delivery of care, changes in payment methods, and social and economic conditions. Healthcare professionals monitor policy at the national level by reviewing legislative initiatives and analyzing rules and regulations. Understanding healthcare policy helps in facilitating grant reviews and in developing new program initiatives. Legislation may cause changes in the way hospitals and healthcare providers deliver patient care. It is beneficial for hospitals to incorporate the national trends, policy, and legislation in determining the appropriate path for selecting service lines. You will use the “Service Line Development Case Study” to complete this task. Imagine that you have received a memo asking you to identify national trends, policy, and legislation and to summarize the impact it will have on the new service line. The proposed service lines are the following:
Orthopedic center
Cardiovascular center
Cancer center
Robert Holland, BOD
Morgan Reece, CEO
Legislative Trends
Morgan—
Let’s make sure that we pay adequate attention to the health policy/legislative environment as we go forward with our planning
process for new services. I am afraid that the legislative mind set on both the state and national levels is to reduce payments to
hospitals. I know that Dr. Joint has a similar concern regarding physician reimbursement.
How can we make sure that our legislator’s understand the real world of healthcare delivery? Hospital margins are already thin and
are declining. What about working more closely with the Hospital Political Action Committee to frame feedback to legislators?
Robert
Dr. David Joint, BOD
Morgan Reece, CEO
Legislative Trends
Morgan—
What are we going to do to make sure that Congress does not reduce payments to physicians (hospitals too)? Everyone is talking
about opening the doors to millions of people (good thing), but to do it they will keep reimbursement flat or cut it.
If payment to physicians does not keep pace with increases in cost, many groups won’t be able to recruit new docs and will turn
patients away. In the end, many will be discouraged from going to medical school in the first place, and the physician shortage will
worsen. Help!
David