08 Aug Policy has been defined as a law regulation, procedure administrative action, incentive or voluntary practice of governments and other institutions
I’m working on a nursing discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
Policy has been defined as a law regulation, procedure administrative action, incentive or voluntary practice of governments and other institutions (CDC,2015). Policies are needed because they set a general plan used to guide desired outcomes and is a fundamental guideline to help make decisions. The purpose of healthcare policy and procedure is to communicate to employees the desired outcomes of the organization. For every new law or regulation, new, or updated, policies must be created and disseminated to staff.
An institutional policy in my practice setting at an inpatient substance abuse and mental health facility is the use of Trac9. This online assessment tool must be completed within 24 hours of admission uses informatics and predictive analytics to improve patient outcomes and clinician efficiency. Using an iPad, laptop or desktop staff members such as nurses’ behavioral techs, and peer specialists, can interview new admits and ask a series of pre-populated questions that focus on 9 domains which based on their response will help determine if they are at an increased risk for things such as an unplanned discharge, against medical advice (AMA), or high risk for treatment failure. These 9 domains include areas such as support systems, cravings, triggers, etc. Every new admission chart/record is audited for a Trac9 assessment so it can be reviewed by the client and their therapist as well as in treatment team. The stakeholders include the patients, nursing staff, medical, therapy staff/clinical staff, business, and even utilization review (UR). When a staff member fails to complete a Trac9 assessment on a patient who has a history of AMA, and that patient decides to sign out AMA yet again that is a system failure that affects everyone from the techs to UR. The perceived outcome resulting from the use of this initiative is reduced AMAs and positive treatment outcomes. Pros of this initiative when completed include longer lengths of stays, successful completion of treatment and most importantly positive patient outcomes. This means better reimbursement that makes stakeholders such as business office and admissions very happy, as well as family members and other patient support systems. Cons can include cost and wasting of medications due to AMAs or unplanned discharges, also patients are at increased risk for relapse when this information is not captured in a timely fashion.
