Cost Containment Essay

Once driving engagement is a success, increasing the adoption by the stakeholders' increases savings Description The case happens from 2000 to 2010. For a whole decade, the healthcare system of an Italian region called Abruzzi experienced a critical period of the financial crash which was followed by a subsequent recovery. Those affected by this period of healthcare crisis were the residents of Abruzzo. From 200 to 2005, the rate of hospitalizations of residents had increased making it to 280 patient admissions out of 1000 inhabitants making it one of the highest ever in Italy (Manzoli et al. The per-capita healthcare debt also rose to almost a triple of the initial. Health reform This case involves a case of cost-containment policies and how they end up affecting a vast population of healthcare recipients.

As an administrator, I am required to facilitate the process of providing healthcare services in a manner that will ensure the patient is not only given quality but maintaining affordability (Larson, 1985) Being an administrator, I must oversee the operations of the healthcare system. This involves the processes of planning, formulating a budget for the system, creating a working environment that is safe and quality, identifying and managing external experts and outsourced services. For this case, my roles differ with the situation because it involves policy formulation. The current situation needs more than just planning but also strategy and policy development. While cost containment policies are right, to some extent they influence the way I as the administrator make decisions about healthcare policy.

For instance, the Medicare reforms. The introduction of the ACA led to the reduction of the amount payable by 14percent. This saw the rise in the number of enrollment increase from 24 percent in 2009 to the end of 2017 where the enrollment was 31 percent (Weiner, 2017). The ACA came with a regulatory framework to manage costs in Medicare by establishing the per capita targets for growth and development. These players affect an administrator’s role in decision making (Larson, 1985). The rationale is because the shifting costs as a result of different policies and the need to increase expenditure instead of control expenditure. Cost containment lacks formal incentives that are related to it. Recommendations First, transform the delivery and payment systems in healthcare. This approach aims at reducing healthcare costs by promoting the system of healthcare service delivery and reforms in the payment by adopting payment models that: first, engage and reward the healthcare providers for providing the services that are needed in a manner that is effective and efficient thus eliminating anomalies and complications that increase cost.

The fourth recommendation is supporting market competition. This entails coming up with policies that are data driven as opposed to the traditional healthcare market approach. The healthcare market is not to operate in the traditional free market but rather the policymakers can redefine the manner in which healthcare service providers are to operate through, monitoring and regulations. Existing cross-sectional analyses have suggested that HIMs that have more than one insurer, there tend to be lower premiums that users pay. More competitors have an impact on the insurance premiums (Dafny, Gruber & Ody, 2015). Conclusion Cost containment is the business practice that is aimed at checking the expense levels in any organization. In healthcare, it is the practice of managing costs associated with healthcare from crossing the expected maximum healthcare cost.