Prof. Name

Date

Ethical and Policy Factors in Care Coordination

Greetings, my name is —–, and I am a registered nurse with the additional care coordinator role at San Fernando Community Health Center, California. American Heart Association (AHA) is an eminent non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to combating cardiovascular diseases and stroke. The AHA focuses on research, education, advocacy, and community programs to improve cardiovascular health and reduce the impact of cardiovascular morbidities and stroke on affected individuals and communities. In this presentation, I will highlight ethical and policy issues relevant to care coordination so that AHA can take valuable knowledge and improve its mission. First, I will discuss the contents of this presentation.

Presentation Contents

I will discuss the following contents in my presentation:

• The concept of care coordination.
• The governmental policies that affect the care coordination process related to a community’s health and safety. 
• The national, state, and local-level policies and their ethical implications on care coordination. 
• Then, I will discuss the influence of the nursing code of ethics on care coordination and continuity of care, relating it to social determinants of health. 

What is Care Coordination?

Care coordination is a healthcare management approach that involves organizing the delivery of healthcare services to ensure patients acquire adequate and appropriate care at the required time from healthcare professionals. It involves interdisciplinary team collaboration to manage patients’ healthcare needs and deliver patient-centered care. Care coordination enables the management of chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases and promotes seamless care transitions. Every healthcare organization must practice care coordination to promote high-quality care delivery and enhance patient safety (Greenstone et al., 2019).

Governmental Policies that Affect Care Coordination

Governmental policies like the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are some of the prominent legislative protocols that influence care coordination. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has encouraged the development of accountable care organizations (ACOs), which enable healthcare providers to coordinate care for patients eligible for Medicare services.

This care coordination network aims to improve care quality and reduce costs through improved, coordinated care. The increased healthcare insurance for such patients enables effective care coordination among healthcare providers and delivers better care through care coordination (Isola & Reddivari, 2019).

NURS FPX 4050 Assessment 2 Ethical and Policy Factors in Care Coordination

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and HITECH Act encourage the adoption and integration of healthcare information technologies (HIT), enabling care coordination. The HIPAA policy also directs healthcare professionals on the safe sharing of data to safeguard patients’ health information (Rosenbloom et al., 2019). The HITECH Act promotes telehealth and EHRs to improve care coordination among healthcare professionals.

HITs such as. EHRs, remote monitoring, and telehealth promote effective exchange of information among healthcare providers and patients and promote seamless collaboration. EHRs enable healthcare professionals to view all the patient health data from a bird’s eye view and promote the secure sharing of data, leading to improved care coordination. Remote monitoring also improves care coordination as patients and healthcare providers can collaborate remotely through patient portals and telehealth services. This leads to continuous care coordination and delivery of improved quality of care to patients. (Gill et al., 2020) 

Now, I will highlight ethical dilemmas related to health policies. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) policy on expanding access to healthcare insurance coverage for deserving people poses specific ethical dilemmas. For instance, not all states choose to expand Medicaid, and many individuals still face barriers to accessing affordable care. This leads to health disparities and inequity as this ethical dilemma revolves around the justness and fairness in healthcare (Bachynsky, 2019). Ethical implications of this policy include enhanced access to healthcare and fostering a culture of health equity and fairness where financially burdened individuals can access care as the upper-class community can.

The AHA sho