Discuss the key Policy Challenges for the Australian Health Care System in the Present day.
The Australian healthcare system is considered as the system associated with high performance and improved healthcare outcomes (Collier, 2013). The Australian healthcare system is principally based on the pattern of private financing and the overall healthcare funding is majorly undertaken by the corporate sector and associated agencies. The presently implemented healthcare policy in Australia caters to the localized healthcare requirements of the individuals of various age groups who experience elevated access to the healthcare facilities. Australian healthcare conventions advocate the requirement of providing the access to primary healthcare services to the eligible candidates (Collier, 2013). However, the Australian healthcare policies do not emphasize the implementation of extra measures for administering healthcare services to the rural communities located in the remote Australian regions. The Australian healthcare policy emphasizes the requirement of providing accessible healthcare services to the people of various age groups based on their medical necessities and individualized healthcare challenges (Collier, 2013). The greatest challenge faced by the healthcare professionals in terms of implementing the Australian healthcare policy conventions attributes to the elimination of healthcare barriers and facilitation of the role of advanced nurse practitioners for effectively customizing the healthcare interventions in accordance with the individualized challenges and treatment requirements of the patient population (Sayers & DiGiacomo, 2010).
Australian healthcare policy conventions advocate the requirement of an effective integration of the primary healthcare facilities with the objective of reducing the pattern of occurrence of chronic disease conditions across the community environment (Davies, Perkins, McDonald, & Williams, 2009). The Australian Primary healthcare policies guide the regional healthcare centres in terms of undertaking healthcare planning and reforms in the funding approaches for the systematic improvement in the healthcare outcomes. Australian Health Insurance Act enacted on 1973 established a systematized healthcare structure categorized and funded concomitantly by the local, state and federal governments (Davies, Perkins, McDonald, & Williams, 2009). The federal government provided healthcare funding over and above the range of public hospitals and caters to the requirements of allied healthcare with the utilization of rebates available in terms of fee-for-service. The local and state governments remain accountable for the effective funding of the community healthcare interventions for the patient population. These governmental agencies also take some financial grant from the federal government for accomplishing the administration of complex healthcare interventions in various community-based healthcare settings (Davies, Perkins, McDonald, & Williams, 2009). The HACC (Home and Community Care) program is administered through the collaboration of the territory and federal governments with the objective of maintaining the basic healthcare support structure (Davies, Perkins, McDonald, & Williams, 2009). This program effectively focuses on the systematic administration of domestic healthcare interventions, nursing services, day care interventions for the geriatric population and the disabled youngsters across their residential locations.
The major challenge faced by the Australian healthcare system attributes to the systematic integration of primary and secondary healthcare services across the community environment (Smith, 2012). Indeed, the lack of systematized funding by the federal and local governments, the administration of secondary healthcare interventions proves challenging that reciprocally impacts the wellness outcomes. The inappropriate division of funding between the state and federal governments creates numerous challenges in terms of providing continuity of healthcare services to eligible patients across clinical settings (Smith, 2012). The territorial and the state governments in Australia remain accountable for the administration of child and maternal healthcare interventions, dental services as well as psychiatric interventions in the public and private healthcare facilities. The lack of federal funding for these specialized interventions reduces the scope of their administration to the impoverished and underprivileged sections of the Australian society (Smith, 2012). This radically leads to various challenges in the equitable administration of these services in the healthcare settings. This further reduces the accountability of the healthcare system in terms of accomplishing the healthcare requirements of the Australian communities irrespective of their locations and financial capacities. The federal government in Australia takes the accountability of providing community based healthcare services to the elderly population in all the Australian states, excluding Victoria and Western Australia (Smith, 2012). Resultantly, the population of these excluded regions suffers the pattern of treatment bias and their individualized healthcare requirements remain unattended by the Australian healthcare system.
The Australian healthcare policy is developed in a manner for enhancing the skills and competencies of the healthcare practitioners in the context of practicing health promotion conventions warranted for the systematic improvement in health and wellness outcomes of various Australian communities (Leeuw, Clavier, & Breton, 2014). The Australian healthcare policy is configured with the core objective of improving patient outcomes through the systematic improvement in various healthcare domains. The healthcare policy aims to implement and improve its initiatives across the entire sectors of the Australian government. The E4H policy structure adopted and implemented by the Australian State of Victoria advocates the requirement of configuring MPHPs (Municipal Public Health Plans) with the objective of taking into consideration the environmental and social health determinants for the systematic improvement in the patient outcomes (Leeuw, Clavier, & Breton, 2014). This healthcare policy assists in the development of economic, natural and social environments through evidence-based measures in the context of customizing the healthcare approaches in accordance with the treatment as well as care requirements of the patients of various age groups (Leeuw, Clavier, & Breton, 2014). This policy further integrates the healthcare plans implemented by various municipal health councils while effectively surpassing the healthcare barriers attributing to the social and financial constraints experienced by the patient population. This healthcare policy also advocates the requirement of inter-sectoral collaboration while considering the social and financial determinants of health and wellness across the community environment (Leeuw, Clavier, & Breton, 2014). This state healthcare policy is effectively supported by various stakeholders as well as the Department of Human Services.
The Australian government systematically utilizes various healthcare policy levers with the objective of stabilizing the mental health and wellness of the people of various age groups (Grace, et al., 2015). Australian mental health policy is implemented through the administration of population-based healthcare interventions along with the preservation of the carer as well as the consumer rights. However, due to the access collection of tax by the federal government leads to the establishment of financial imbalance that potentially challenges the systematic administration of mental healthcare interventions by the state and territorial healthcare agencies (Grace, et al., 2015). Since, these local healthcare agencies do not acquire major financial support by the federal government, the fiscal deficit creates numerous challenges for them in administering unrestrained mental healthcare services to the eligible candidates. However, the Australian mental health policy (enacted in 2008-2013) attempted to customise the mental healthcare requirements of the patients while concomitantly advocating the equitable administration of healthcare services to all sections of the Australian Society (Grace, et al., 2015). The improvement in the healthcare reporting and accreditation standards and enhancement of the workforce agreements assisted in the administration of standardized healthcare interventions to the aboriginal Australians (Grace, et al., 2015). The development of joint and collaborative conventions and mutual agreements between the various government and healthcare agencies has assisted in the uninterrupted transfer of the patient to the medical facilities in accordance with the treatment requirements and healthcare needs (Grace, et al., 2015). However, major regulatory changes in the Australian healthcare policy are still required for improving the quality of patients’ care in the context of decreasing the length of their stay in the hospital setting as well as the enhancement in the healthcare outcomes.
The evaluation processes acquired for the systematic monitoring of the Australian healthcare policy interventions focus on the periodic assessment of the healthcare teams, health jurisdictions and outcomes as well as the key stakeholders and the extent of their participation undertaken for the enhancement of the wellness outcomes of the patients’ population (Hinchcliff, et al., 2012). The thorough assessment of the Australian healthcare policy and conventions warrants the close collaboration between researchers, healthcare professionals, quality improvement teams as well as healthcare accreditation bodies (Hinchcliff, et al., 2012). Healthcare policy assessment outcomes prove to be the milestones for undertaking prospective healthcare measures for the systematic improvement in the patients’ outcomes across the community environment. The assessment of the Australian healthcare policy requires the utilization of pragmatic approaches and data capture methods for the identification of the contextual as well as environmental factors that might adversely influence the utilization of the policy measures across the healthcare sector (Haynes, et al., 2014). The prospective Australian healthcare interventions are expected to find their way from the analysis of the implications of the existing healthcare policies on the existing patient outcomes.
In the present context, the private as well as public healthcare sectors in Australia function as individual entities in the absence of an effective coordination (Moles, 2015). This leads to the establishment of inconsistencies in the healthcare delivery systems that potentially impact the wellness outcomes across the community environment. The Australian healthcare professionals therefore, require integrating the healthcare services across the public as well as the private sectors for reducing these inconsistencies to the minimum extent. Multidisciplinary healthcare professionals in Australia need to understand the requirement and value of the provision of equitable and accessible healthcare services for all sections of the Australian Society (Saxon, Gray, & Oprescu, 2014). Accordingly, they need to undertake robust healthcare evaluations and ascertain the administration of cost-effective community-based interventions for the indigenous Australians. The step is highly warranted with the objective of stabilizing the Australian healthcare system and elevating its worthiness across all sections of the Australian society. Evidence-based literature reveals the increased frequency of morbidities and mortalities in the Northern Territory of Australia (Zhao, You, Wright, Guthridge, & Lee, 2013). The main reason of the same attributes to the socioeconomic disadvantage that the people of this Australian region continue to experience since long. The greatest challenge that the Australian healthcare system experiences, attributes to the elimination of the healthcare inequity from the community environment. Therefore, the contemporary healthcare policy warrants major reforms in terms of modification in the process of funding and revenue management between the state and federal governments. The modification in the funding structure is highly required for the equalized distribution of funds with the objective of maintaining accessible and equitable healthcare services for the Australian population. The Australian people affected with the pattern of sanitation and hygiene challenges, reduced income, unemployment and lack of education require appropriate consideration by the Australian healthcare system for maintaining the pattern of social justice and overcoming the healthcare disparities experienced by these people under the influence of socioeconomic inequalities (Zhao, You, Wright, Guthridge, & Lee, 2013).
The enhanced understanding of the quality of healthcare interventions prevalent across Australian hospitals and healthcare facilities is highly required for the systematic development of policy measures with the objective of improving the quality and safety of treatment procedures, physician leadership culture and associated patient outcomes (Tayor, et al., 2015). Periodic assessments of the healthcare quality are necessarily required for determining the scope of further improvement in the healthcare policy conventions in the context of enhancing the health and wellness of the Australian population. The Australian healthcare policy requires periodic modification in accordance with the patient care requirements and ongoing advancements in medical science and technology. Accordingly, the healthcare accreditation conventions, clinical practice models and organizational performances require a thorough investigation by the federal government for streamlining the pattern of healthcare delivery across the clinical settings (Greenfield, Pawsey, Hinchcliff, Moldovan, & Braithwaite, 2012). The standards of care in the Australian clinical settings need to be framed in accordance with the treatment challenges and individualized healthcare requirements of the treated patients. Healthcare conventions must also consider the implementation of a systematic and well-define process of recruitment of healthcare teams with the objective of minimizing the scope of biasing in the selection process (Greenfield, Pawsey, Hinchcliff, Moldovan, & Braithwaite, 2012). The healthcare policy must also accord the appropriate rights to the patient population in the context of ascertaining their effective participation in the process of medical-decision making. Therefore, equitable customization of healthcare interventions for the Australian population warrants periodic modifications in the policy conventions in accordance with the healthcare requirements of the treated patients.
Collier, R. (2013). Looking to Australia for help on health care. CMAJ, E251-E252. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-4421
Davies, G. P., Perkins, D., McDonald, J., & Williams, A. (2009). Integrated primary health care in Australia. International Journal of Integrated Care. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2787230/
Grace, F. C., Meurk, C. S., Head, B. W., Hall, W. D., Carstensen, G., Harris, M. G., & Whiteford, H. A. (2015). An analysis of policy levers used to implement mental health reform in Australia 1992-2012. BMC Health Services Research. doi:10.1186/s12913-015-1142-3
Greenfield, D., Pawsey, M., Hinchcliff, R., Moldovan, M., & Braithwaite, J. (2012). The standard of healthcare accreditation standards: a review of empirical research underpinning their development and impact. BMC Health Services Research. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-329
Haynes, A., Brennan, S., Carter, S., O’Connor, D., Schneider, C. H., Turner, T., & Gallego, G. (2014). Protocol for the process evaluation of a complex intervention designed to increase the use of research in health policy and program organisations (the SPIRIT study). Implementation Science. doi:10.1186/s13012-014-0113-0
Hinchcliff, R., Greenfield, D., Moldovan, M., Pawsey, M., Mumford, V., Westbrook, J. I., & Braithwaite, J. (2012). Evaluation of current Australian health service accreditation processes (ACCREDIT-CAP): protocol for a mixed-method research project. BMJ Open. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001726
Leeuw, E. D., Clavier, C., & Breton, E. (2014). Health policy – why research it and how: health political science. Health Research Policy and Systems. doi:10.1186/1478-4505-12-55
Moles, R. J. (2015). Pharmacy Practice in Australia. CJHP, 418-426. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4605468/
Saxon, R. L., Gray, M. A., & Oprescu, F. I. (2014). Extended roles for allied health professionals: an updated systematic review of the evidence. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 479-488. doi:10.2147/JMDH.S66746
Sayers, J. M., & DiGiacomo , M. (2010). The nurse educator role in Australian hospitals: implications for health policy. Collegian, 77-84. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20738060
Smith, T. (2012). Overhauling health care Down Under. CMAJ, E205-E206. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-4099
Tayor, N., Clay-Williams, R., Hogden, E., Pye, V., Li, Z., Groene, O., . . . Braithwaite, J. (2015). Deepening our Understanding of Quality in Australia (DUQuA): a study protocol for a nationwide, multilevel analysis of relationships between hospital quality management systems and patient factors. BMJ Open. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010349
Zhao, Y., You, J., Wright, J., Guthridge, S. L., & Lee, A. H. (2013). Health inequity in the Northern Territory, Australia. International Journal for Equity in Health. doi:10.1186/1475-9276-12-79
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