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Risks of Ineffective Policy Management

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Healthcare Policy Management: Risks of Ineffective Management

Navigating the healthcare industry demands staying ahead of evolving regulations and standards and empowering staff with the latest policies and resources. Critical documents that are readily available and updated make these activities possible. To this end, organizations need robust healthcare policy management, which is essential for continuous operations, reducing and managing risk, cutting costs, and protecting patient safety and privacy.

Leaving any aspect of health policy administration to chance could have severe implications, from the medical to the legal. Ineffective document management can compromise patient care, waste limited resources, disrupt or slow down workflows, and increase the likelihood of non-compliance. Robust risk management and healthcare policy depend on adequate controls for managing policies so that staff can access documents quickly and efficiently.

This post explores the pitfalls of ineffective healthcare policy management. It also discusses how healthcare management software helps organizations avoid those traps and streamline document processes.

Essentials of Healthcare Policy Management

Healthcare policy management enables organizations to create, organize, distribute, and share documentation in ways that enhance quality care, protect patients and employees, and ensure continuous operations. Through clearly organized policies and procedures, healthcare entities can also maintain financial stability.

Effective health policy administration requires a structural approach that informs all aspects of policy management, from tracking the lifecycle of a single document to making revisions to comply with new regulatory requirements. Furthermore, a centralized approach to healthcare policy management should include the following elements:

  • Creating policies that guide operations and compliance activities
  • Updating policies to align with regulations and industry standards
  • Communicating policies in ways that are easy for personnel to understand and apply
  • Streamlining document management to increase efficiency and productivity
  • Tracking and auditing policies to implement necessary changes

More specifically, healthcare policy management enhances the creation, tracking, and organization of policies and documents to enable the following functions:

  • Complying with federal regulations, like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and many others
  • Enforcing organization-level policies and procedures
  • Giving employees 24/7 access to crucial policies and documents
  • Assigning policies to staff for review and electronic signing to confirm understanding
  • Provide the latest regulatory requirements for risk assessment and healthcare policy
  • Aligning practices with healthcare industry best practices, organization accrediting requirements, and evidence-based practices
  • Providing protocols for anonymous reporting of non-compliance incidents
  • Promoting stakeholder engagement and community collaboration

High-level leaders and personnel at all levels must have access to the policies defining these functions. Strong and transparent healthcare policy management is central to mitigating hazards, fostering a culture of safety and integrity, and adding value to the greater community.

Causes of Ineffective Health Policy Management

Unnecessary document duplication, increased medical errors, operational efficiencies, and other complications do not surface independently. They are usually outcomes of poor document management. Solving the problems resulting from poor document and policy management starts with understanding the underlying issues. Here are common contributors to ineffective healthcare policy management.

Hesitancy to Change and Adapt

Outdated technologies and protocols can lead to organizational and policy mismanagement. Operations and workflows become inefficient and obsolete when leaders and decision-makers hesitate to update their software or adapt to evolving patient needs and industry standards. Without the benefit of modernized software and practices, healthcare organizations have more difficulty streamlining their workflows, cutting costs, and delivering the best possible care. They also lose their competitive edge in the industry.

Lack of a Centralized Repository

Without access to a unified system that stores organizational policies and other crucial information, procedural inconsistencies will develop and progress, feeding into continued disorganization, mistakes, and non-compliance with regulations. For example, an employee who can’t remember the policy for proper disposal of a thumb drive should be able to access a central repository for instructions rather than try to recall those protocols from memory. Retrieving those instructions from a centralized location will also decrease the likelihood of mistakes.

Outcomes from Ineffective Health Policy Management Administration

Compromises to an organization’s risk management and healthcare policy have several adverse effects. Here are the possible outcomes of ineffective healthcare management:

Poor Internal Communication

Hospitals waste about $12 billion yearly due to poor communication, which is typically due to outdated information technologies, low interdepartmental morale, or vague reporting policies. Communication can sometimes seem challenging, frustrating, and elusive, even in the best circumstances. However, when health policy management suffers, so does communication within and outside the organization.

Threats to Patient Safety

Poor document management can directly and indirectly affect patient safety, for example, through overdosing, surgical mistakes, or misdiagnoses. Medical errors can also occur when providers use outdated protocol documents or make care decisions based on inconsistent or missing records.

Non-Compliance With Healthcare Regulations

Without effective management and coordination, there is an increased risk of non-compliance incidents. Managers and compliance officers may miss crucial regulatory updates and fail to modify procedures and policies as needed. The results could be fines, legal penalties, exclusions from federal funding, and civil litigation. Mismanagement can also lead to problems with documentation, making it more challenging to respond to external audits or develop corrective actions after risk assessments.

Threats to Data Security and Patient Privacy

Ineffective health policy administration can contribute to vulnerability if staff do not have adequate guidance on best practices in cybersecurity. When employees resort to outdated policies or need help to quickly locate critical procedures and directives for handling sensitive data, they are less likely to take the necessary steps to protect PHI and digital infrastructures from cyberattacks. Given the 239% increase in hospital data breaches between 2018 and 2023, no healthcare organization should consider itself immune from attack.

Employee Dissatisfaction

Poor healthcare policy management can contribute to unclear expectations about job duties, procedural protocols, or regulatory compliance requirements. When employees have difficulties locating documents or use outdated policies, the resulting confusion and lack of clarity on expectations can erode morale, contribute to destructive conflicts, and sow seeds of mistrust.

Information Overload

Information overload is a challenge throughout the healthcare industry and can lead to disorganization. Regarding the many types of healthcare information, there should be a place for everything, and everything should be in its place. Otherwise, confusion about the locations of specific documents can breed information overload. The result is doctors, nurses, and other providers wasting time sifting through paperwork for test results, patient histories, and other vital information.

Operational Inefficiencies

Poor policy management can cause disruptions and slow down operations. Without an organizing framework for documents, workflows lack consistency and efficiency, leading to potential cost increases, poor patient care, and non-compliance incidents.

Solutions With Healthcare Policy Management Software

Healthcare policy management is the hallmark of operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. When patient outcomes, workplace safety, and information security are on the line, it is crucial to have tools that support and do not impede regulatory compliance.

Furthermore, healthcare organizations trust managers and high-level leaders to improve communication by ensuring updated policies are accessible to all staff. Fostering a culture of productive communication and interpersonal trust requires procedural transparency, opportunities for feedback, and empowering staff to eliminate communication barriers.

Organizations can rely on healthcare policy management software to meet their needs, stay current with regulations, and promote the highest industry standards. Software from MCN Solutions can help organizations in healthcare and other industries increase their operational efficiency, improve communication, boost data security, meet regulatory requirements, and enhance health outcomes. Features like an online policy repository and contract management software provide consistency across departments. They also ensure the adaptability essential to staying competitive in the constantly evolving marketplace.

With policy management software from MCN Solutions, organizations have greater capacity to do the following:

  • Provide employees with round-the-clock access to procedures and policies that are easy to access
  • Access policy and procedure templates that comply with critical regulations
  • Receive notifications and alerts about regulatory or industry-wide changes
  • Manage contract-related activities, including workflows and reporting of outputs
  • Track the lifecycle of each document, including creation, revision, and disposal
  • Provide policies to staff for review and electronic signing to affirm acknowledgment or understanding
  • Decrease the time spent on searching for organizing documents, which reduces administrative burden

MCN Solutions offers enhanced healthcare policy management software and online resources for further support:

  • ellucid® Policy Manager: Document control and workflow management software package that facilitates tracking and reporting
  • Policy Library: Centralized repository of the latest regulations and templates to help organizations draft updated and compliant documents
  • StayAlert!: Email notification system to enable entities to respond rapidly to regulatory changes
  • StayAlert! Plus: Version of StayAlert! that integrates with ellucid® Policy Manager for more comprehensive tracking of updates

Healthcare Policy Management Made Simple

Leveraging software support can enhance medical outcomes, ensure healthcare compliance, and boost operational efficiency. Without the proper software and support, healthcare policy management could suffer, resulting in compromised patient care, misuse of resources, and legal consequences of non-compliance.

Learn how MCN Solutions can help you streamline your workflow and advance patient and worker safety. Schedule a demo today and experience and discover the benefits of software management tools from MCN Solutions.