Changes Introduced to Reform or Restructure the US Healthcare Delivery System

Changes Introduced to Reform or Restructure the US Healthcare Delivery System
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Changes Introduced to Reform or Restructure the US Healthcare Delivery System
Healthcare delivery systems should promote, maintain, and restore the health of the population through the delivery of safe, high-quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare services. The US healthcare delivery system is characterized by issues of high healthcare spending, poor healthcare outcomes, and low insurance coverage, especially when compared to most developed countries (Erickson et al., 2020). As a result of these issues, it has become necessary to introduce changes to reform or restructure the healthcare system to meet the healthcare needs of the US diverse population. According to Erickson et al. (2020), the US healthcare system needs reforms and restructuring that goes beyond providing universal coverage; it also needs reforms and restructuring that prioritizes patients’ needs and empowers healthcare providers to meet those needs by offering quality and patient-centered care. This paper explores some of the changes that have been taken to reform and restructure the US healthcare system and the role of the nurse in the changing environment.
Emerging Healthcare Law
Legislative changes have been introduced by the federal government to improve the US healthcare system over the years. Recently, the federal government introduced the Cures 2.0 Act which is an update of the 21 Century Cures Act to further support biomedical research, expedite medical products development, and increase access to telehealth (Congress.gov, 2021). This bill has the potential to ensure that patients have access to novel therapeutics identified through clinical trials and biomedical research as well as expedited medical products development. In addition, the bill has the potential to eliminate barriers to access to telehealth services by improving Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for telehealth (Congress.gov, 2021).
This bill affects nursing practice in several ways. One, it can enhance nurses' participation in medical research to identify new interventions through clinical trials. The bill pays attention to clinical trials diversity (Congress.gov, 2021) and as such, it can enhance nurses’ role in research by encouraging their participation in diverse medical trials. Two, it has the potential to increase nurses’ delivery of care. The bill supports telehealth coverage (Congress.gov, 2021) and as such, nurses can reach more patients through telehealth nursing. However, nurses have a responsibility to inform the public as well as the policymakers of the potential benefits and risks that can arise from this legislation (Martin, 2020). For instance, the law promotes medical research which can increase the number of novel interventions. However, it also promotes expedited medical products development, an area that raises concerns about how the safety of these expedited medical products will be assured.
Effects of Quality Measures and Pay for Performance on Patient Outcomes
As mentioned earlier, one of the issues affecting the U...