Frederick Jace
The successful conduct of every profession depends upon guiding policies and procedures. But procedures only remain relevant if they can evolve with time. The same goes for the legislation in the healthcare industry. That is why healthcare law also keeps changing to confront ground realities. Yet, healthcare services are not reflective of realities, no matter how refined the policy framework is. For instance, the increasing cost of healthcare services is one of the prominent concerns for healthcare legislatures. Expensive treatment and unaffordability are causing malpractice mishaps and marginalization among people. So, the focus of the present legislation debate is to minimize the burden on the recipients. Apart from that, delivery models, treatment procedures, involvement of technology, research innovations, and collaboration are also part of the legislation discussions.
The following sections further discuss how these trends affect healthcare services and outcomes.
- Regulation of malpractice incidents
Since healthcare is a lucrative business, it is one of the highly pursued choices among emerging professionals. However, the profession is more like a commodity trade than a service to the sick. Medical malpractice is one of the consequences of such a trend in the healthcare industry. It is still prevalent even after the improvements in healthcare operations. Mostly, negligence is frequent when hospitals bridge the shortage gap with the induction of inexperienced or underqualified workers during crises.
The Covid-19 emergency depicted such a situation when primary care workers attended specialized duties in underdeveloped healthcare facilities. The prolonged practice of such a temporary way out can create challenges for the safety of patients. Therefore, improving regulations against malpractice is one way to control mishaps. But laws cannot benefit without you seeking assistance. And the best way to seek guidance is through consultation with a law firm in your region. You will acquire first-hand awareness of the legal safety net and how to invoke the procedure during malpractice incidents. What’s more, you can approach them online and learn about all their services.
- Affordable and equitable care for everyone
Access to healthcare services comes under primary human rights. But unfortunately, access depends upon one’s affordability. A growing population and their healthcare challenges are putting more burden on the healthcare industry. As a result, everyone is experiencing the brunt of expensive healthcare services. The situation is worst for chronically ill patients. One survey estimates nearly 2-billion-dollar debt on the patients in the United States alone, even when approximately 90% of the country’s population avails healthcare insurance.
That’s not all; the burden of healthcare expenses on patients and their guardians will further expand until legislation does not cater to uncontrolled increases. One way to minimize expenses is by fostering competitiveness. Competition creates a gap for more partners to share the burden and reduce service costs. Proposing other schemes depends upon the root cause behind increasing healthcare expenses in various parts of the world. But regardless of the challenges, it is time to regulate the staggering cost of healthcare services so that everyone can receive the needed care.
- Overseeing collaborations for better care delivery
The healthcare industry often falls short in delivering according to the expectations. That’s why expenses are increasing without significant betterment in access or quality. The demand and supply gap continues even after billions of dollars of investment in development and innovation every year. However, the systematic shortcomings are not the only factors to blame. Political ups and downs and socio-economic challenges also influence healthcare law, quality, provision, access, and transparency of services.
The ongoing problems have complex and multifaceted nature. And these challenges will continue to hamper the end outcomes of the industry in the future as well. Thus, collaboration among multiple stakeholders is the need of the hour. And legislation is the best way to bring all the participants to the table. It is easier to design a value-added and inclusive service delivery model when each participant knows their duties and the extent of involvement.
- Supervision of technology and its influence on patient care
There’s no denying how technology has added value to healthcare quality and end outcomes. Technology is driving the entire system along with its evolutions. Many of its contributions have minimized challenges and extended hopes for patients with new and better treatment options. However, technology-driven sophistication does not mean everything is good, especially when aligning with healthcare laws. Research and innovations in healthcare also bring challenges to health law. For instance, genetic research experiments have gone beyond predictable limits. In-depth exploration has also crossed the ethical boundaries of gene editing. Critics fear that it can cause undesirable changes in the genome that can lead to devastating consequences for the subject and treatment recipients.
The same goes for laboratory experiments on microorganisms and viruses. Many theories pointed out the correlation between unregulated human error and the emergence of the Covid-19 outbreak. So, regulations are essential to control and regulate such innovations. The law defines boundaries and decides who is responsible for unfathomable consequences. That’s how experiments and research endeavors will not overlook patient safety.
- Simplification of organ donations and transplants procedures
Generally, challenges do not end when you’re finally on the doorsteps of the healthcare facilities. You have to go through a lengthy list of protocols to get the needed treatment once you are there. Policymakers and administrators justify such procedures as control measures for smooth operations. But such regulations also create challenges and hamper speedy access. For instance, some states only allow spouses or family members to donate their organs to their loved ones. Likewise, patients cannot avail themselves of the transplants from other species due to legal restrictions, even if the cure exists.
These are some of the debatable concerns with varying theories and proponents. Some human rights activists and even doctors support the idea of putting the patient first and formalities later. They believe formalities and ethical clarifications should not come before a patient’s life. Whatever the cases, improvements in the healthcare law continue to minimize malpractice and unfairness. But more work is still pending. It means the procedure to simplify organ donation and transplantation is still one of the prominent subjects of legislation discussions.
Conclusion
Changes in healthcare legislation should follow the same pattern as the transformation in the industry. The evolutionary process of healthcare legislation is crucial to ensure laws are responsive to the current circumstances and challenges. Otherwise, legislation cannot improve service delivery, quality, inclusivity, and transparency or address demand gaps. And that is only possible if all the stakeholders recognize shortcomings and work in partnership.
