Discussion unit 9 public health - Research Paper Example

Discussion Unit 9 Public Health Full School Discussion Unit 9 Public Health Institute of Medicine or IOM- The Institute of Medicine is anindependent organization in the United States of America. It was established in 1978.It is a non profitable organization. IOM serves as an “adviser” in national healthcare sector. IOM is able to propose an analytical opinion based on evidences and research studies. These researches are guided and supervised by the various experts like doctors and scientists who work on a voluntary basis.

IOM has a primary intention to improve American healthcare system. (National Academy of Science, 2011).Since 1988, IOM has accepted following tasks as the core functions for all the government and public health agencies,Assessment- This includes collection of information related to any health issues or gathering of data regarding any health hazards in the community. This allows further assessment of the efficacy of the public or private healthcare setups available in that community. ("The Three Core, n.

d” &Shore, 2007)Policy development-This is an important task involving discussion with stakeholders, strategy planning and policy making to correct any errors in the delivery of safe measures. It further emphasizes setting up of regulations for better conduct of health and quality. It also promotes research procedures for definite progress ("The Three Core, n.d” &Shore, 2007).Assurance-It involves awareness programmes to inform the public and to educate them on the health related problems in the vicinity.

Extra manpower is needed and deployed for this function in order to assure the best healthcare services to the community ("The Three Core, n.d”&Shore, 2007). The US department of health and human services is the leading organization promoting well being to all the citizens. It runs through several operating divisions to accomplish its tasks. (US Department of Health and Human Services).The agency of “Healthcare Research and Quality” or AHRQ is one of the key divisions of “the Department of Health and Human Services” in United States.

AHRQ is the leading agency to provide support to the research works in “patient safety” and to build public- private healthcare relationship. AHRQ invests millions of funds in order to create better healthcare framework across the country. AHRQ aims to serve the people of America by providing quality, safety, efficacy and effective measures in healthcare services (Rockville, 2011). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality carries out following functions (Ortiz, Meyer & Burstin, n.d)-1.

To locate the defects in the healthcare system and to highlight probable causative factors.2. To conduct research to evaluate available resources and derive the solution for patient safety and quality.3. To circulate and demonstrate analytical results to correct the errors in the system. 4. To access all computerized medical records to decrease chances of any discrepancies. Thus, the US Government has taken a good initiative to offer quality and safety measures. Research findings are very well appreciated by healthcare industry but this is just the initial step.

For every citizen to expect excellent healthcare services, it is vital to see those findings getting reflected into the clinical practice. ReferencesNational Academy of Science. (2011, September 12). About the IOM. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/About-IOM.aspx Ortiz, E., Meyer, G., & Burstin, H. (n.d.). The role of clinical informatics in the agency for healthcare. 508-512. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2243496/pdf/procamiasymp00002-0547.pdfRockville, M. (2011, May).

AHRQ at a glance. Retrieved from http://ahrq.hhs.gov/about/ataglance.htm Shore, K. (2007, January). Understanding the United States public health system. California Health Policy Forum, 1-4. Retrieved from http://www.cahpf.org/GoDocUserFiles/207.CHI Brief United States.pdfThe three core public health functions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.idph.state.ia.us/downloads/core_functions.pdf US department of health and human services. (n.d.). About HHS. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/about/index.html