Health Care Reform - The Affordable Care Act

Health Care Reform – The Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act is an initiative that aims to redesign how healthcare is organized, financed, and delivered to American citizens. This act aims to make insurance affordable to all people, expand Medicaid coverage, and support innovative healthcare models that lower healthcare costs (McIntyre & Song, 2019). Other programs, such as the Accountable Care Organizations, rely on medical interventions within the registered nurses’ scope of practice. ACOs are a network of doctors, specialists, hospitals, and other healthcare providers who contract with payers to share the financial and medical responsibility for coordinating healthcare services in their assigned population (Wilson et al., 2020). Due to these legislative initiatives, healthcare has shifted to a wellness and prevention-oriented system that promotes healthy living.

This trend will continue since hospitals are transitioning to offer community-based healthcare services with ancillary services such as laboratory services. In the modern world, patients appreciate it when healthcare services are closer to them, and this makes them more likely to be involved in their health and practice preventive services if they do not travel to distant locations for healthcare services.

As patient needs become more complex, nurses must have competencies in providing quality healthcare services. They must be involved in leadership, policy development, research, systems improvement, and evidence-based practice. Nurses must practice teamwork and collaborate with doctors to offer preventive services. Collaboration between nurses and physicians promotes the implementation of patient-centered care (Webster, 2016). Nurses are also well placed to offer healthcare education to individuals and communities concerning wellness and prevention. Nurses can explain the benefits of healthy living, such as dietary modifications and physical exercises, in preventing lifestyle diseases. Nurses can also assess patient needs and refer them to community programs.

References

McIntyre, A., & Song, Z. (2019). The US Affordable Care Act: Reflections and directions at the close of a decade. PLOS Medicine, 16(2), e1002752. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002752

Webster, A. (2016). The health of collaborations. Collaboration across Health Research and Medical Care, 217-226. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315572611-11

Wilson, M., Guta, A., Waddell, K., Lavis, J., Reid, R., & Evans, C. (2020). The impacts of accountable care organizations on patient experience, health outcomes and costs: A rapid review. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 25(2), 130-138. https://doi.org/10.1177/1355819620913141

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Question