Health Care

Regulatory agencies are the physical manifestation of health care legislation. Each agency has a specific mission that is carried out under the authority of Congress.

Choose a health care organization of interest to you. Write a 1,000-1,250 word paper that addresses the following:

Describe the purpose, mission, and goals of this health care organization. Provide an overview of the type of health care organization and the community it serves.
Identify the regulating agencies that oversee the organization. What are the specific responsibilities assigned to regulating agencies? How do regulating agencies support heath care and the stakeholders in health care?
Identify a health care issue/topic relevant for this organization (workplace safety, patient safety, quality, fraud and abuse, injury, etc.). Discuss the relevance of this issue or topic for the organization.
Describe the role of the organization or administrator in compliance. What are the actions a health care administrator takes to comply with health care legislation?
Support your essay by including three to five scholarly sources, including your textbook.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

ANSWER

Healthcare Regulation

Overview

Healthcare regulatory frameworks are primarily beneficial in the industry. They ensure that healthcare organizations adhere to the processes and approaches stipulated in laws and regulations. The American Heart Association is a leader in the healthcare industry where it has paid attention to the needs and welfare of persons prone or cardiovascular diseases. Its operations are controlled and monitored by agencies like the National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control. These regulatory systems ensure that healthcare organizations comply with the recommended best practices. Overall, compliance is an integral approach as it improves patients’ safety and health quality.

The American Heart Association

The American Heart Association (AHA) is one of the reputable healthcare organizations in the United States. It is a non-profit and voluntary health organization dedicated to offering help related to cardiovascular illnesses (The American Heart Association, 2021). It primarily targets individuals exposed to heart diseases and stroke. The organization’s major target is to save and improve lives. Its mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer and healthier lives (The American Heart Association, 2021). This shows its desire to support people in building longer and healthier lives through offering vital aid for persons exposed to cardiovascular diseases and stroke. For example, AHA offers public education to ensure that all Americans understand the various ways to safeguard themselves from these associated diseases. Its mission drives the organization in everything that it does. Its vision is to advance individuals’ and communities’ health and enable them to achieve the greatest potential for their health. The major goals that the organization has focused on include commitment to wider work, equity, and a unified focus on health and well-being (Angell et al., 2020). This means that it remains committed to ensuring that everyone deserves an opportunity for a healthy life. This is obtained through offering health equity achieved through removing barriers to access and acquisition of vital care services. It aligns these goals with its strategic mission and vision.

AHA serves all communities with the key aim of reaching out to persons exposed to heart diseases and stroke. The organization’s central rationale is to engage these populations in strategies that allow them to build healthier lives. It aids in the reduction of deaths and mortalities emerging from cardiovascular illnesses. For instance, the organization significantly limits their exposure to cardiovascular conditions through the public education that it offers to community members. They incorporate essential tips that allow them to escape heart diseases and stroke. Overall, AHA provides a significant foundation towards building healthy lives among persons living or exposed to cardiovascular diseases.

Regulating Agencies

The National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are some of the regulatory agencies that oversee the operations of the American Heart Association. These agencies have optimized their attention towards medical research, protecting and saving lives. AHA’s operations align with these key perspectives. For example, it undertakes medical research and initiates public education seeking to educate community members about cardiovascular diseases. All its operations are expected to correlate with the requirements established by these regulatory structures. Healthcare regulatory agencies are expected to handle distinct responsibilities. One of these is to monitor how healthcare facilities run their operations and ensure that practitioners follow the recommended practices. Also, they offer information about emerging trends and changes in the healthcare domain. This allows service providers to align their processes with the industry changes. Notably, regulatory agencies enhance safety and compliance surrounding care services. As Leslie et al. (2021) reveal, healthcare organizations must always abide by state laws and regulations. The presence of regulatory agencies facilitates this provision. Thus, these agencies remain committed to ensuring that service providers abide by legal healthcare approaches.

Regulating agencies lay the foundation for improved healthcare outcomes. They ensure that care providers incorporate the recommended legal practices when handling patients. For example, if an organization is expected to observe patient autonomy to facilitate their safety and protection, it is expected to follow this to the latter. Failure to abide is deemed as interfering with the legal standards and practices that define quality healthcare. Thus, ensuring that it strictly follows this requirement aids in boosting healthcare outcomes for the patients, their families, and the community. It is also important to note that these regulatory agencies accelerate building a positive brand image. This is because following the recommended approaches positions organizations at a higher chance of cultivating a reputable brand. Overall, these agencies lay the foundation for improved healthcare outcomes.

Relevant healthcare aspect for the organization

AHA is concerned about the health quality of persons living with cardiovascular diseases. Its principal focus on building healthier and longer lives portray its desire to boost people’s safety and healthcare quality. Cardiovascular illnesses remain one of the life-threatening conditions. Research indicates that it is attributed to high rates of mortalities and disabilities (Roth et al., 2020). These are core outcomes that indicate the burden associated with these diseases.  Thus, healthcare quality remains AHA’s top priority as it seeks to ensure that community members live healthier and longer lives. For example, the organization can recommend and introduce robust ways of managing heart diseases and stroke through medical research. This ensures that patients suffering from these conditions can boost their health amidst exposure to the disease. Also, public health education creates a chance of advancing health quality. It provides the audience with insights focusing on managing and avoiding acquiring these diseases. Overall, AHA’s top priority is accelerating health quality among populations living or prone to cardiovascular diseases.

Role of administrator in compliance

An administrator in compliance ensures that the organization complies with all the recommended laws and regulations. This is a vital process that improves achieving quality healthcare outcomes (Kwon & Johnson, 2013). The milestone is achieved due to adherence to the systems and structures recommended for effective care delivery. One of the best ways to achieve this is to produce a framework document passed to all the staff members to ensure that they familiarize themselves with these laws. These professionals write out policies and procedures focusing on different healthcare laws and regulations. These are later transmitted to the team of professionals at the organization’s disposal. This increases compliance rates because everyone is aware of the expectations and ensures that they follow them. Also, the administrator introduced robust education and training programs to deepen an understanding of these laws. This leads to greater acceptance and compliance. Lastly, a healthcare administrator will perform an internal audit to assess gaps and introduce viable ways to enhance the laws and regulations.

Overall, compliance in the healthcare domain remains a central factor that ensures service providers boost patients’ safety and quality health status. There is a dire need for regulatory agencies to strengthen their power and capacity to monitor how healthcare organizations run their operations. Also, the latter is expected to abide by existing laws and regulations for effective service delivery.

References

American Heart Association (2021). About Us. www.heart.org. (2021). Retrieved 13 December 2021, from https://www.heart.org/en/about-us.

Angell, S. Y., McConnell, M. V., Anderson, C. A., Bibbins-Domingo, K., Boyle, D. S., Capewell, S., … & Warner, J. J. (2020). The American Heart Association 2030 Impact Goal: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 141(9), e120-e138.

Kwon, J., & Johnson, M. E. (2013). Security practices and regulatory compliance in the healthcare industry. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 20(1), 44-51.

Leslie, K., Moore, J., Robertson, C., Bilton, D., Hirschkorn, K., Langelier, M. H., & Bourgeault, I. L. (2021). Regulating health professional scopes of practice: Comparing institutional arrangements and approaches in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. Human Resources for Health, 19(1), 1-12.

Roth, G. A., Mensah, G. A., Johnson, C. O., Addolorato, G., Ammirati, E., Baddour, L. M., … & GBD-NHLBI-JACC Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases Writing Group. (2020). Global burden of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, 1990–2019: Update from the GBD 2019 study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 76(25), 2982-3021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.11.010