Making of Health care policies has for long been termed as the responsibility of the minister of health. As a result other people such as a health care administrator have not been concerned with health policy making process and hence some of the policies made are impractical to implement. However for the policies to yield the expected results on implementation other stake holders such as health care administrators need to be involved. Health care policy should therefore be seen as the networks of interconnected decisions which unitedly form a strategy in relation to practical issues regarding health care delivery (Baker, 1996). Some of the decisions that lead to certain health care action are proficient in medical or nursing sense hence the need to involve health care administrators in health policy.
Health care administrators are implementers of the health policies. As a health care administrator I would be devoted in careful implementation of policies pertaining to the planning process; patient administration; personnel managements; financial management; purchasing, material management; and attending to public affairs. This way the objectives of the policies to patients, employees and the public will be met.
American college of healthcare executives policy initiatives
American college of healthcare executives (ACHE) has two policy initiatives namely public policy campaigns and policy education. In public policy campaigns ACHE supports the American department of health and human services in health programs such as "gift of life" initiative. The essence of this program is to urge the affiliates of ACHE to advocate for organ and tissue donation. Public policy education for health care executives is provided in ACHE's annual congress on healthcare leadership. In the congress the members of ACHE and their peers are given the opportunity to discuss pressing national policy issues. These initiatives give ACHE an opportunity to participate in health care policy process.
As an emerging health care administrator it is important to be involved in the health policy making process because administrators are charged with the responsibility of implementing the health policies. Being involved therefore would help me to understand the policies better and hence implement them better. By joining ACHE and participating in the annual congress on healthcare leadership where national policy issues are discussed, I would be able to make my voice heard.
