This assignment provides you with the opportunity to gain an understanding of the priority setting...

Question

This assignment provides you with the opportunity to gain an understanding of the priority setting issues in your country and to develop your ability to make and recommend a priority setting strategy. These skills are relevant to health economists and policy decision makers in government and health organisations. The purpose of this assignment is for you to put yourself in the position of a policy decision maker and consider all the relevant issues that need to be addressed in order to come up with your ideal priority setting strategy, drawing on theories and literature covered in Modules 1-5. The assignment has four parts. All parts should be answered. Suggested word length and marks for each part are indicated. Total words 2000 without references.
a. Should Australia or your home country introduce an independent agency to undertake priority setting in health care? Explain your reasoning. (500 words)b. If an independent priority setting agency were to be introduced, should it ask the community what ethical values/principles should guide resource allocation and priority setting in health care? Explain your reasoning. (250 words)c. What values/principles should underlie priority setting in the country you have chosen? Explain your reasoning. (250 words)d. Considering the key issues in priority setting, as well as the contributions of economic theory and empirical evidence, how should this new agency carry out its task? (1000 words)
Hints for Part d. Structure your answer to Part d. with clear headings.You should consider: The key context issues for priority setting, including o the context (macro and/or meso and/or micro, all health services or only hospitals or only medical services etc.) o explicit or implicit approach or a combination o technical or a due process approach or a combination; (if technical where will the data come from) o the role of judgement and who should be asked?
The role given to cost-effectiveness as an objective versus other objectives, including o what economic approach to adoptThe scope and complexity of the task o adopt an incremental approach like NZ or a comprehensive approach like Oregon o adopt a disease severity/importance approach like Oregon or a simpler approach like NZ o consider how the work program would be agreed o consider how the agency would be structured

Komalavalli · Accepted Answer

a)
Public Health management includes  demographic transition , epidemiological transition, environmental changes and determinants of social health. During 1911 Inadian Research Fund Association (IRFA) was created inorder to improve research in public health.This organisation get grant from central government to finance and coordinate the researcher involved in finding methods for prevention , recovery of the public who affected from diseases.In 1949 IRFA was redesigned into Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).It involves in the research, control and management of fertility, child and maternal health , nutritional disorders, occupational and environmental health problems, communicable and non- communicable diseases.It also promotes both intramural and extramural research.
Public health care system was handled by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, State, Corporations and Local bodies.Directorate of Health service, Department of Health and Family welfare were in each and every State .District level health services provide a link between each State and primary care services.Department of Health research was under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which is responsible for carrying research in priority setting of public health.But it fails to give a more research work on public health which leads to inefficiency of publicly funded research organisation.National health Policy for 2017 was came into the picture which focuses on priority setting research and policy framework.
National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 prioritise to provide Universal Health Coverage system, alignment private sector with public goals, Regain the trust that public health sector is better than the private health sector among the people, focuses on health status and program impact, health system performance, health system strengthening and their main aim is to provide quality public health. Universal health coverage system ensures which contributes 40% of out of pocket expenditure of a people.Both of these policies results in inefficiency due to lack of infrastructure and lack of medical workers to operate medical equipment and also there is a shortage of doctors, nurses in the public hospitals.Due to lack of facilities like ambulance led to collapse and death of children, pregnant women, oldery people. This failure leads to deprived public health.Mostly below poverty line people are affected because they can’t afford high amount inorder have a good health.They believe that instead of spending high amount in their health , they can spend in their children's education, health and also in providing reasonable quality of food. 
Some other agency like Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), National eHealth Authority (NeHA).IRDA regulates the health insurance industry and NeHA responsible for development of integrated health information  system.Among these authorities no information were provided on which authority is responsible for regulating the private health market.There is a confusion among them about their functions of Authority.Overall lack of facilities like infrastructure, manpower, confusion of functions among the authorities lead to inefficiency in providing a good public health  
 Therefore its better to have an independent agency which focuses on priority setting coupled with providing better infrastructure, coordination among the manpower in public health sector and also ensures the equality in providing  public health care.
b)
Independent priority agency should ask the community through survey method what kind of ethical values/ principles should be followed by the agency in order to setting the priority in healthcare sector.ethical principle are 1.Human equality principle, 2. Subsidiary and efficient allocation principle and 3.Cost effectiveness principle. Human equality principle focuses on irrespective of talent, income, social condition, education all people should provide with equal care by health care administration and there should not be any discrmination that led to the violation of ethics.Subsidiary and efficient allocation principle provides an efficient allocation of resources among people.To reduce disparities between low income and high income people, this principle enforcing to give subsidies to low income people in order to achieve the quality of healthcare obtained by high income people.It will help us to achieve the previous human equality principle. Cost effectiveness principle address whether the benefits obtained from the services provided by public in healthcare services outweigh the cost.

This assignment provides you with the opportunity to gain an understanding of the priority setting issues in your country and to develop your ability to make and recommend a priority setting strategy....

Solution

Answer To This Question Is Available To Download

Related Questions & Answers

Submit New Assignment