Saint Leo University Shortage of Healthcare Experts Response ONE: I do believe changes to the scope of practice regulation can help overcome and decrease t

Saint Leo University Shortage of Healthcare Experts Response ONE: I do believe changes to the scope of practice regulation can help overcome and decrease the licensed health care worker shortage. Under the ACA and with the expansion of health coverage, there was a surge for the need of health care professionals; with there being a shortage, there were also concerns that the U.S. did not have an adequate workforce to meet the demands of the population’s health concerns. Now more than ever, it’s vital for the population to have an adequate workforce in the health care industry. With the population aging at a rapid pace so does the increase in chronic illnesses (Knickman & Elbel, 2019).

I believe the reason why changes haven’t been implemented is due to various reasons. One is due to the process itself of becoming certified health professional. Each state has different regulations and license requirements are different for each state and each school doesn’t provide the same curriculum; most medical professionals have to endure years of training to become certified (LeBuhn & Swankin, 2010). Another reason I believe changes have not been made is due to cost. “This normal economic response does not always occur In the labor markets for health professionals,” (Knickman & Elbel, 2019). there are situations where the wages may stay stagnant and the FFS reimbursement system caters to more specialized procedures and services. I do believe that health care professionals do require a high level of standard because the population’s well-being depends on it. Relaxing medical practices and leaving the door open for incompetent professionals who can ultimately pose a threat due to inadequate training and licensing.

References

Knickman, J. R., & Elbel, B. (2019). Jonas and Kovner’s Health Care Delivery in the United States. New York: Springer Publishing.

LeBuhn, R., & Swankin, D. A. (2010, July). Reforming Scopes of Practice. Retrieved from NCSBN: https://www.ncsbn.org/ReformingScopesofPractice-Wh…

TWO: Scope-of-practice regulations are the educational requirements for health care employees such as PAs, RNs, and MDs. The laws that set the requirements differ depending on the state (George Mason University, 2017). Changes are not being made to scope-of-practice regulations even if it could help to lower health care worker shortages due to the customer’s health. If the rules were to become more relaxed as far as regulations, patients would not experience the same quality care as consistently as now (Knickman & Elbel, 2019). In turn, it will create more health care costs overall due to the lack of proper diagnoses and treatments. This issue will continue to create a lack of confidence for health care workers to individuals who may need to be seen for medical attention. According to Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center, “Changing the existing scope of practice regulations for a profession is often a costly, time-consuming, adversarial, and incremental process involving many stakeholders with divergent opinions about the proposed changes (n.d.).”

References

Health Professions Regulation in the U.S. (2020, May 15). Retrieved from http://www.healthworkforceta.org/resources/health-professions-regulation-in-the-u-s/

Knickman, J. R., & Kovner, A. R. (2019). Jonas and Kovner’s health care delivery in the

United States (12th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

Scope-of-Practice Laws. (2019, September 15). Retrieved from https://www.mercatus.org/publications/healthcare/s…