Stakeholders In Health Care Essay

The focus of healthcare policy should be to provide necessary services whenever and wherever needed, contain cost, and provide quality services. Different stakeholders drive the healthcare policy affecting the cost, access, and quality of healthcare. For example, cost containment is the primary role of the government as a stakeholder but others like the hospitals do want to make profit, so they will invest in the policy that will increase their profit. Similarly, patients are another stakeholder who are concerned with quality of care they receive, they will support the policies in which they find value and believe they will get access to best quality service. In US, healthcare sector accounts for one sixth of the economy, but increased spending

They come up with specialty drugs which can be used by a specific group and are expensive. So, the consumer cannot afford these drugs even though they may have access to these drugs but they cannot buy it because of the high price tag.

Another stake holder is the technological advances, which is transforming every industry in a big way. People in this digital age expect access and convenience they have in other sectors. With a touch of button on their smart phones they can order food and get it delivered, Uber transports them from where ever they are to their destination and book a vacation etc. But in case of healthcare access is slow, the wait time for an appointment could be days and waiting time in doctor’s offices could be an hour or more.

The third stakeholder are the health insurance companies. One of the trends seen in the insurance industry is that power is concentrating, as the five largest insurance companies are reducing to three. This will cause less competition and more authority in fewer hands. Which in turn will give them the capability to control access and cost of their insurance plans and people will have limited choice, thereby affect the quality of care patients