Regulation is an extremely important function that guarantees the observance of the main rules and laws introduced to maintain quality and assure that individuals will be able to enjoy the advantages of using the most efficient and modern approach. For this reason, the given aspect is important for the existence of the most important spheres of human activity, and nursing is one of them.
Being a crucial occupation, it is focused on the provisioning of patients with appropriate care to fasten their recovery and attain the improvement of the quality of their lives. The unique importance of the given sphere preconditions the great price of any mistake or negligence as the life of a person might suffer. For this reason, regulation is given great attention in nursing as it is considered to be one of the main aspects of its efficient functioning.
Regulatory functions in healthcare are executed by various agencies that might function at local, state, and federal levels. The prevalence of the given sort of regulation is given because of its great efficiency and the ability to impact processes at different levels. Moreover, considering the fact that there are different activities performed in terms of the modern healthcare sector like investigation, research, prevention, care delivery, etc., the agencies also differ to be able to seize all these spheres and assure patients that the regulations introduced by specific laws are observed. The authority of these agencies might also differ depending on their role and main functions. Yet, the majority are able to exam the functioning of a certain unit and introduce some penalties or other measures in case some violations are discovered.
At the moment there are numerous agencies of this sort in the USA. For instance, the Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) is one of the most important agencies within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which is focused on the monitoring of the quality of care in different states across the USA (Grimm, 2014). The unique importance of the given establishment could be evidenced by the fact that it licenses and certifies the majority of health care facilities that belong to the state sector (Grimm, 2014). Moreover, the given agency could also use the existing state and federal regulations to introduce standards related to the main aspects of care provision. Additionally, OHCQ could also conduct its own research to investigate to the observance of the main rules and the level of specialists knowledge.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid could be considered another important regulatory agency that is created to monitor the functioning of the healthcare sector and guarantee its further evolution. Yet, CMS is focused on the regulations that are related directly to the health care system. Moreover, it deals with medical coverage and a number of programs aimed at the improvement of care delivery (“Outline of US health agencies,” 2008). CMS is responsible for health insurance and tries to reduce the number of costs spent to support it and assure that all individuals will be able to use its services. Altogether, the agency is extremely important for healthcare as it monitors the most important aspects of Medicare and Medicaid. CMS could also introduce some penalties and regulatory measures in case some severe violations are found.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is another important regulatory agency that belongs to the US healthcare system. As it comes from the title, the agency conducts research with the main aim to improve the quality of health care and the main ways of its delivery (“Agencies & regulations,” n.d.). Moreover, the implementation of new methods could also reduce costs and improve a patients safety. The functioning of the given agency is extremely important for the investigation of the most topical challenges peculiar to the modern environment and the creation of new the most innovative approaches to remain efficient and be able to meet the majority of the modern challenges. There are also a chain of non-profit organizations that belong to the agency and are introduced to monitor the current state of the research and costs devoted to the given sphere.
Among agencies that regulate the functioning of the healthcare, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also plays a crucial role in creating the legal framework for the functioning of numerous healthcare units situated in the USA. It is one of the main governments bodies that try to protect the health of all citizens of the state and engage them in different programs created with the main aim to guarantee the improved delivery of health care services. There are more than 300 programs and about 11 divisions that operate in the current healthcare setting. In general, the given regulatory body is an important element of the whole system as it aligns the feedback with patients who are able to comment or report the current problems peculiar to the healthcare and peculiarities of care delivery.
Finally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the most important federal agencies that are expected to control the healthcare sector and protect the health and safety of people (“Guide to healthcare compliance resources and agencies,” n.d.). First of all, this very agency provides the credible information about the most important diseases that at the moment threat the US society and might undermine the health of the nation significantly. Moreover, CDC outlines a set of measures to prevent diseases and the way these measures could be implemented to the functioning of the different healthcare units across the state. The agency also controls environmental health, education, and other activities that are created to cultivate health in the USA (Grimm, 2014). The importance of the given agency could hardly be overestimated as it protects people from the most severe diseases that might deteriorate the state of their health.
Besides, among the above-mentioned agencies, HHS has the greatest authority as it functions at the federal level and has an outstanding impact on the healthcare system of the USA. The agency is able to introduce new regulations in case the need for them becomes obvious. Moreover, the scope of its regulatory authority presupposes its ability to assess the functioning of all healthcare units belonging to the given system (Cavazos & Rutherford, 2012). Furthermore, its functioning also preserves the existing legal framework and guarantees that patients will be able to enjoy an outstanding quality of the suggested services.
Moreover, HHS also it determines different areas of practice as it monitors the way different services are provided. Every DNP graduate should be ready that his/her functioning will be examined by this agency to assure that the main quality standards are observed. Being one of the main aspects of the modern healthcare, HHS contributes to the enhanced results.
References
Agencies & regulations. (n.d.)
Cavazos, D., & Rutherford, M. (2012). Bringing regulatory agencies into organizational studies. Journal of Management Inquiry, 21(1), 4-12. doi:10.1177/1056492611418759
Grimm, H. (2014). Healthcare regulations: Who does what?
Guide to healthcare compliance resources and agencies. (n.d.)
Outline of US health agencies. (2008).