Running head: ANALYSIS OF A U.S.

HEALTH CARE POLICY 1

Analysis of a U.S. Health Care Policy

Caitlyn Summers

Grand Canyon University: NSG-436

July 12, 2020

Analysis of a U.S. Health Care Policy

Health care policies create a foundation of laws, rules, and regulations to manage the

health care system and establish health care goals for the future. They directly affect the costs of

a patient’s care, their ability to access health care, and the quality of the care they receive

(Healthcare, n.d.). In the following paper, Senate Bill 1040 Advisory Committee on Maternal

Fatalities and Mobility will be discussed thoroughly with a summary of the bill, a description of

the major stakeholders, a list of the pros and cons, an understanding of the Impact on Nursing

Practice and Effective and Equitable Care, and with recommendations for further improvement

of the policy.

Summary of U.S. Healthcare Policy

Patient safety and overall health should always be the number one priority.

Unfortunately, the rate of maternal deaths a year due to pregnancy-related complications, like

infection, sepsis, and hemorrhage, has reached approximately 700 a year (Maternal, 2019).

There are also significant racial disparities showing African American and American Indian's are

two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications (Recommendations,

2019). The SB1040 aims to establish an Advisory Committee on Maternal Fatalities and

Morbidity that will hold public hearings to get feedback and recommendations in response to the

information related to the causes of maternal death and use it to compose a report (Humble,

2019). There are six goals created for this committee to address, including increasing pregnant

and postpartum women’s awareness of postpartum warning signs, improving access to care,

supporting workforce and workforce capacity, improving surveillance, and supportive systems of

care (Maternal, 2019).

Major Stakeholders

There are three main stakeholders of the SB1040, those are the maternity patients, the

Maternal Mortality Review Committee, and the providers that specialize in obstetrics and

gynecology. The patients are one of the most affected by this bill, especially non-Hispanic

African Americans who shown to have about double or triple the maternal deaths a year. This

bill addresses the lack of urgency in the past years of the rise in maternal mortality, as well as the

racial disparities occurring. This bill places the priority on the health of mothers during labor and

ensuring that they are in optimal health once recovered. The committee itself is a stakeholder,

they will be reviewing cases, figuring out ways of preventability, and making suggestions on the

next steps to take (Report, 2019). By pinpointing the main causes of death in mothers, they can

implement interventions targeted at those specific causes of death. Lastly, the providers are a key

role in this policy, they will be the ones directly implementing the change that the committee

advises, this may include better patient education on what warning signs to be aware in case of a

complication or through educating themselves further on how they can prevent these pregnancy

complications from causing death in patients.

Positive and Negative Aspects of the Policy

This bill has various positive aspects that should be highlighted. One of the benefits is

that it promotes quality improvement within the health care system by recognizing a flawed area

of health care that could be improved upon, while also taking actions to better it. This aims

towards a much larger goal of improving the health of the population, enhancing patient

experiences and outcomes, and reducing health care costs. In addition, this bill is taking a huge

step to reduce racial disparities in health care by addressing studies showing that they are not a

result of socioeconomic status, educational attainment, or income level, but rather a lack of
ANALYSIS OF A U.S. HEALTH CARE POLICY 4

access to care, inconsistent use of standardized hospital protocols, and implicit bias (Maternal,

2019). The only negative aspects of this bill are the amount of funds it will require and the fact

that it is a five-year-long process of an extensive amount of research and implementation of the

recommended steps.

Policy Impact on Nursing Practice and Effective and Equitable Care

The legislative, regulatory, financial factors are imperative when discussing health

policies. The Advisory Committee on Maternal Fatalities and Morbidities was established in

April of 2019 (Recommendations, 2019). As for the regulatory factors, there was a five-year plan

each year containing an area of focus and the goals to be completed. Some of the regulatory

factors included obtaining more medical equipment to attend to maternal emergencies in more

rural areas, ensuring all nurses and health care providers follow the CDC guidelines for best

practice and creating educational programs that discuss with woman the postpartum warning

signs and when to seek care (Maternal, 2019). The financially, it will require obtaining state and

federal funds to keep the Maternal Mortality Review Program effective. The impact this will

have on nurses' practice is significant. Nurses directly care for patients daily, therefore, they

must be regularly reminded of the CDC guidelines and hospital policies that they are required to

follow to ensure patients receive the safest, highest-quality care possible. Nurses also have the

power to advocate for their patients when they believe they are receiving anything less than what

they deserve, hopefully, with the development of this committee, it will help to prioritize this.

Proposed Policy Changes

Overall, the committee was thoroughly planned out and there are only a few

recommended suggestions. To start, there should be a way to reevaluate the interventions

implemented for each of the five goals through data collection. This will help to determine if
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there is a need for any modifications. There also needs to be a plan for how racial disparities

from implicit bias could be reduced in this area of health care to provide equal care across all

maternity patients. This may consist of a regular session that requires all health care workers to

attend to discuss the current racial disparities and to set goals as a team on how they can be

reduced. Both would be great additions to consider in addition to the already formatted five-year

plan.

Conclusion

Health policies create unity amongst health care workers to meet common goals that have

the patient's best interest, whether it is financially, physically, or mentally. The purpose of

Senate Bill was to bring attention to the increase in maternal mortality in the U.S. by creating a

committee dedicated to researching the causes of death in mothers and ways to reduce these

numbers. This bill also brings awareness to the racial disparities within obstetrics and

gynecology and strives to find solutions to eliminate it within health care. Senate Bill 1040

addressed some major concerns surrounding maternal mortality and is dedicated to changing the

statistics through quality improvement.

References

Healthcare policy in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from

https://ballotpedia.org/Healthcare_policy_in_the_United_States

Humble, W. (2019, July 29). Maternal Morbidity & Mortality in AZ to be Examined. Retrieved

July 12, 2020, from http://www.azpha.org/wills-blog/2019/7/29/maternal-morbidity-amp-

mortality-in-az-to-be-examined

Maternal Mortality Action Plan. (2019, June). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from

https://azdhs.gov/documents/operations/managing-excellence/breakthrough-

plans/maternal-mortality-breakthrough-plan.pdf

Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Maternal Fatalities and Morbidity

Concerning Improving Information Collection on the Incidence and Causes of Maternal

Fatalities and Severe Maternal Morbidity (2019, December 27). Retrieved July 12, 2020,

from https://www.azdhs.gov/documents/director/agency-reports/mmm-advisory-

committee-report.pdf

Report From Nine Maternal Mortality Review Committees. (2019). Retrieved July 12, 2020,

from https://www.cdcfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/ReportfromNineMMRCs.pdf

WHO. (2020). Health policy. World Health Organization. Retrieved from

https://www.who.int/topics/health_policy/en/