Health Policy Process - Essay Example

Heading: Policy Process 1 Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Introduction Health policy is one of the main policies in the United States. An effective policy is the one that is formed after careful consideration and following of key policy making stages. Some of these stages include formulation stage, legislative stage, implementation stage, evaluation stage, analysis stage, and revision stage. Policies are often revised and considered to enhance the US Health Care System. Every policy made has a capacity to affect people’s daily lives; thus it is imperative that cautious consideration is given to the proposed policies. Therefore, this essay attempts to examine the first three stages of policy making in relation to the Women’s Health Policy in the United States. Policy making process Formulation stage This is the first stage involved in effective policy making in the American Healthcare system. In this stage, policy makers conduct a research on the situation in order to gain its full comprehension. It basically involves input of information, research and ideas from major people, interest groups, organizations, congress, the courts, and the executive branch. Here, the policy makers look for an appropriate ways of tackling the situation; solving the identified problem (Anderson, 2011, pp. 1-10). Besides, Gerston (2010, pp. 3-20) asserts that this a stage in which the issue is frames, its aim and expected outcomes are explicitly identified; most suitable strategies to the required results are selected; and the essential resources are acknowledged and planned for. More so, this is where many controversial proposals are made, and policy makers seek to come to an agreement on the issue at hand. For instance, there might be one approach by the president, and different approaches by the congress involved. Therefore, Women’s Health Policy formation should involve this stage in order to succeed. In the case of the formation of the Women’s Health Policy, the first thing to do is to carry out a survey in order to collect sufficient and relevant information as regards the issue at hand. This information is gathered from congress, interest groups, patients, providers, executive branch, courts and organizations involved. Moreover, the needed information can be collected form documents like evaluation reports on particular aspects of study program; research program, national or institutional, reports, annual reviews that can include data on resource flows, coordination, study projects implemented, logistical and management aspects of the plan, development pattern and the availability of human resources (Anderson, 2011, pp. 1-10). In the formulation of the Women’s Health Policy, technical guidance and information is highly indispensable. This can be provided by medical study councils (managerial and technical); Ministry of Science and Technology for administration and policy direction; Ministry of health for managerial and technical assistance; university consortium for technical help; ministry of finance and planning for potential budget allocation; medial, professional, and health associations for technical support; non-governmental firms for technical aid and other ministries which have their activities affecting other people, for technical contribution. Clearly, this is a critical stage in policy making process that is often neglected by policy makers (Gerston, 2010, pp. 3-20). Legislative stage Here, the proposed policy is passed to the legislative bodies to debate on its implementation. Legislatures in parliament pay a vital role in policy making in every country, particularly in the United States. In the US parliamentary system, legislatures are the only national political institutions that expressly elected by citizens, and are accountable to them. In fact, except under uncommon situations, parliaments are should approve all main policy initiatives. Here, it is also important that the proposed policy is passed to the relevant ministry for ministerial approval of the drafted document (Anderson, 2011, pp. 1-10). The Ministry of Health will make certain that the proposed policy is incapable of creating problems for other governmental organizations. It is also necessary to integrate the proposed policy into general health policy of the country. Nevertheless, this stage may involve long administrative processes that can delay the implementation process. Besides, this stage assumes that available work forces will be disbanded, while the steering committee can remain as an imperative consultative board welcoming knowledge and experiences of women’s health policy in both private and public health systems (Barr, 2011, pp. 1-30). Lastly, Anderson (2011, pp. 1-10) maintains that the proposed policy is passed to the legislative bodies in the country. This is because the beginning of the policy needs parliamentary or other legislative bodies’ endorsement. The proposed policy offers a course of action or a direction relating to women health in the United States. This policy’s elements can, optionally, require laws depending on the country’s governing and social systems. This is because legislation has legal authority. Nonetheless, lengthy process is involved in case there is an amendment of the proposed policy. If the policy satisfies parliament and other legislative bodies, then it is prepared for implementation. In relation to the policy formation of the Women’s Health Policy, this stage is crucial in order to ensure that the policy gets a legal power. The Women’s Health Policy will be, first, passed to the ministerial level so as to give their approval on the implementation of the proposed policy. Here, the Ministry of Health will ensure that the implementation of the proposed policy will not lead to problems in other governmental firms (Barr, 2011, pp. 1-30). This implies that once the policy has been formulated; enough information or input has been gathered from the relevant people, organizations and other stakeholders; it is passed to the legislative institutions for approval. Parliament and other legal bodies go through the drafted document on the proposed Women’s Health Policy, while identifying problems that may be caused by the implementation of the proposed policy. The legislative bodies can approve the proposed policy if they are satisfied with it; that is it can be adopted. Implementation stage Here, the proposed policy is implemented or carried out of after it has been formulated, adopted, or approved by the relevant legislative bodies. A statute commonly offers just a wide outline of a policy. In this stage, there are certain perquisites for evaluation and monitoring of the proposed policy (Anderson, 2011, pp. 1-10). First, training of workers is instrumental in the effective implementation of the policy. This can involve carrying out of seminars and workshops, based on the procedure manuals and project management, in order to familiarize relevant employees with the formed procedures and operation systems. In this case, the members of staff that need to be trained are healthcare providers and other personnel in the implementation of Women’s Health policy. In the selection of candidates for training, a lot of care should be taken so as to ensure quality outcomes and outputs. Depending on the implementation period, training can be repeated, especially if major personnel are deployed to places that bar them from carrying out their responsibilities, or leave the health sector (Barr, 2011, pp. 1-30). Upon the completion of training the relevant personnel involved in the implementation of the policy, real implementation can be executed. Gerston (2010, pp. 3-20) says that it is imperative that all the pertinent personnel, at each level of the health sector, are involved in the policy’s implementation process. This stage also entails allocation of responsibilities, and transparent workforce resource supervision by the authorities will enable the attainment of objectives. Besides, the stage allows dissemination of information concerning the adopted policy and putting it into action. This is where the Women’s Health Policy is changed into a course of action. Since it is a public policy endorsed by federal, state or local government bodies is normally executed through regulatory process, which convert the adopted policy into a set of written rules provided by the government agency that is responsible for the administration of the policy (Anderson, 2011, pp. 1-10). Therefore, this is critical stage in the smooth creation of the Women’s Health Policy. What is more, Anderson (2011, pp. 1-10) says that this stage will also ensure that the policy does not experience overwhelming external limitations. This implies that the Women’s Health Policy should not exceed the constitutional or jurisdiction limits of the pertinent agency. During the enforcement of the policy, there should be a sufficient time line and resources. The policy might be suitable, but it can fail following longer implementation, or more costly than it was budgeted. Besides, implementation stage ensures that there are enough resources and staff to enforce the policy in the country; hence, involved agencies must ensure that standards and guidelines are properly enforced. Moreover, Gerston (2010, pp. 3-20) argues that the policy and its theory must be compatible in order to be valid in the implementation of the Women’s Health policy. The stage also establishes whether cause and effect associations in the policy are uncluttered and direct. The policy’s dependency relationships should also be kept minimum, for it to be successful. It also ensures that the policy activities are specified in a suitable sequence. In addition, coordination and communication of the policy should be on the equal wavelength. There must also be compliance during the implementation of the policy by relevant agencies. Conclusion Women’s health policy is one of the significant policies in the United States. The country experiences numerous reviews of policies often. Every policy formed in the country has great impact on residents’ and citizens’ lives; hence, it is vital that policies are formed by following all the necessary steps. The first three essential phases involved in policy making processes are formulation, legislative and implementation stages. Therefore, to ensure efficient creation of Women’s Health Policy, these three stages are highly indispensable. References Anderson, J. (2011). Public Policymaking. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Pp. 1- 10. Barr, D. (2011). Introduction to U.S. health policy: the organization, financing, and delivery of health care in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pp.1-30. Gerston, L. (2010). Public Policy Making. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe. Pp, 3-20 Morone, J. A., Litman, T.J., Robins, L.S. (2008). Health Politics and Policy. (4thed.). Delmar Cengage Learning. Pp. 1-24 Appendices Read More