CH 6.2
2
Because health organizations, their services and needs for support are constantly
changing, the external environment can have a significant negative impact on their ability to care
for people and to provide access to quality healthcare. Government regulation is a major
category of external environment issues because their decisions regulate (the federal and state
government agencies) impact the quality of services they can provide (
Kemp, Arias & Fisher,
2017).
When the external government aligns with the medical community or institutions, this can
increase regulation of the healthcare industry and healthcare professionals that deliver care.
Government regulation is so important because it uses government regulatory practices to
make rules about the healthcare industry, management of facilities and influences medical
professionals’ performance. With healthcare regulation, they make sure hospitals, clinics and
practices are fully regulated to ensure that health risks are minimized and all people have access
to healthcare facilities. This requires participation of the government from all levels. It is
important for healthcare to be regulated because legally medical providers and institutions need
to be held responsible for their actions, to decrease the number of malpractice cases, medical
errors or patient deaths related to unregulated systems
(Hernandez & Blazer, 2006).
Because the
government is in place to protect the people, the regulation oversight they provide helps ensure
that quality care is given.
