Health Care Delivery Models and Nursing Practice

Examine changes introduced to reform or restructure the U.S. health care delivery system. In a 1,000-1,250 word paper, discuss action taken for reform and restructuring and the role of the nurse within this changing environment.

Include the following:

  1. Outline a current or emerging health care law or federal regulation introduced to reform or restructure some aspect of the health care delivery system. Describe the effect of this on nursing practice and the nurse’s role and responsibility.
  2. Discuss how quality measures and pay for performance affect patient outcomes. Explain how these affect nursing practice and describe the expectations and responsibilities of the nursing role in these situations.
  3. Discuss professional nursing leadership and management roles that have arisen and how they are important in responding to emerging trends and in the promotion of patient safety and quality care in diverse health care settings.
  4. Research emerging trends. Predict two ways in which the practice of nursing and nursing roles will grow or transform within the next five years to respond to upcoming trends or predicted issues in health care.

Solution:

Health Care Delivery Models and Nursing Practice

Chait and Glied (2018) define healthcare reform changing the change in healthcare systems as well as its operational activities to improve the populations’ health outcomes. It is through healthcare reform that access, quality, and cost issues in the healthcare system are addressed, leading to improvement in the healthcare system. The paper will discuss an emerging regulation for healthcare system reform and restructuring, the impact of pay for performance and quality measures on patient outcomes, the roles of nursing leadership and management in addressing the emerging trends, and ways in which nursing practice and roles will transform in response to the anticipated trends.

Emerging Regulation for Healthcare Reform and Restructuring

Even though it has been a decade since it was enacted, the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), is still an emerging regulation as there are still many debates surrounding it. The ACA is aimed at enhancing the affordability of quality care services by increasing insurance rates. Since its enactment, the ACA has caused significant restructuring and reforms of the healthcare system in the U.S. The ACA widened the eligibility criteria for obtaining Medicaid coverage and also established new marks for non-employer covered individuals to purchase health insurance from the payers directly. According to McClellan and Japinga (2018), 20+ million Americans obtained health insurance, thanks to the ACA, with the main beneficiaries being the minority ethnicities (esp. black Americans), children, and small scale business people. 39 U.S states  (including the DC-District of Columbia) have adopted the expanded Medicaid, boosting health coverage for low-income earners and increasing their insurance rates. The ACA has also strengthened the fight for independent Nurse Practitioner scope of practice across the U.S states and also nurses’ educational advancement through grants, scholarships, and loans offered to the nursing students.