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Public policy and regulation of the health care industry are based on the health care needs of the community and encompass various aspects. Regulation includes laws and the use of instruments for the implementation of socioeconomic policy objectives (Clarke, 2016). Regulation of the health care industry sets the ground rules for the health care planning process (Clarke, 2016). For these reasons, the effectiveness of health care organizations would not be sustained at current levels without public policy and regulation of the health care industry. Besides being a legal establishment for the national health planning process, regulations serve as an implementation mechanism to “translate major health policy objectives into action through setting standards and requirements” (Clarke, 2016, p. 10).

While public policy and regulation are meant to protect patients and give guidelines to providers, organizational policy may become contradictory, differ across entities in the same system, and become inconsistent with the standard of care (Irving, 2014). In order to increase effective public health policy change, evidence should be used to inform policy, health equity should be considered, policy should be designed with implementation in mind, and proactive research-policy translation strategies should be used (Pollack Porter, Rutkow, & McGinty, 2018). In addition, effectiveness can be improved by decreasing the number of policies or procedures that overlap and cause confusion within health care organizations (Irving, 2014).

Public policy and regulation of the health care industry involve many sources including political decision-makers, lawyers, health planners and providers, and members of the public (Clarke, 2016). While regulations, public policy, and accreditation standards provide guidance to health care organizations, formalized policies and procedures within each organization will promote workplace safety, increase quality patient care, and increase safety of services for effective risk management (Irving, 2014). A balance must be found between public policy, regulations, and organizational policy to provide effective health care services based on the needs of the community.

References

Clarke, D. (2016). Law, regulation and strategizing for health. In World Health Organization (Ed.), Strategizing national health in the 21st century: A handbook (pp. 1-44). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

Irving, A. V. (2014, October 13). Policies and procedures for healthcare organizations: A risk management perspective [web log comment]. Retrieved from https://www.psqh.com/analysis/policies-and-procedures-for-healthcare-organizations-a-risk-management-perspective/.

Pollack Porter, K. M., Rutkow, L., & McGinty, E. E. (2018). The importance of policy change for addressing public health problems. Public Health Reports, 133(1_suppl), 9S-14S. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354918788880.