Management Principles for Health Professionals - Essay Example

"Management Principles for Health Professionals" is a perfect example of a paper on the health system. The healthcare environment is one area that has experienced substantive change over the past few years in an urge to enhance service delivery and the maintenance of a safe working environment. Technological developments have played substantive roles in enhancing performance in the healthcare sector. There is also the aspect of new policy developments and strategies that have become essential in making healthcare a better environment. The changes have ideally affected individuals directly involved in healthcare; both patients and practitioners including me, differently. Personally, the changes in healthcare have had both positive and negative influences on me based on various reasons.

            First, technological advancement through globalization has positively influenced the healthcare environment. With increased aspects of diversity in the healthcare sector, the provision of services has expanded from various perspectives. Currently, regions that had previously been experiencing poor quality service in healthcare have significantly improved. Despite regions having diverse cultures, globalization has made it easier for different regions to share vital information and services on how to improve healthcare services. Doctors in one region are able offer better services into other regions with poor services using technology.

            Secondly, the new policies and legislation developed in the healthcare sector have positively influenced the industry. The policies address issues that directly affect the patients and the healthcare providers, a contrast to the initial case in which the policies never concerned the patients and healthcare providers directly; instead, it affected the policymakers. The positive change has been realized due to the inclusion of healthcare providers in policymaking processes, where they bring in the practical experience towards addressing healthcare challenges such as the development of the Hippa privacy rule, which requires patient information to remain private among all concerned individuals, especially where an electronic transfer of data is involved. This has enabled information about my ailments to remain secret among only the healthcare providers attending to me, and not a public issue as it had previously been experienced. Another aspect is that of the patient self-determination act that enables adult patients to be provided with sufficient information regarding an advance in healthcare directives.

            Another positive influence I have experienced with changes in the healthcare environment is based on the affordable care act of 2010. Through the act, I am able to access better and quality healthcare services at considerably reduced prices. Previously, quality healthcare services were only accessible to the rich and the powerful in societies. However, with the government subsidizing part of the costs, it is evident that I am able to afford better healthcare services with little concern over the costs.

            Despite the numerous positive influences the changing healthcare environment has had on me, there are as well various negative influences experienced, aspect termed as the challenge of change. In spite of the fact that HIPPA requires the privacy of patient information limited to certain individuals, technology has affected the act immensely by allowing easy access to the electronic information without any limit to distance. There is also the aspect of resistance to change especially at various workplaces in the healthcare sector, where despite the developments of the new ways of addressing healthcare challenges, many providers still apply outdated strategies in addressing. This has negatively affected the provision of healthcare services to me. This aspect has affected majorly the old healthcare providers who believe in the old ways of addressing issues in the healthcare sector.

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