Advocacy and Policy in Healthcare: Why It Matters and How to Get Involved
Posted on Mar. 19, 2024 / Subscribe 0
by Pallavi Ranade-Kharkar, PhD, MS, FAMIA,
Chair, Advocacy and Policy Committee
Healthcare is a complex and dynamic field that affects the lives of millions of people around the world. However, despite advances in healthcare and the ecosystem that it is delivered in, many healthcare issues are not adequately addressed by the current systems and policies. That's why advocacy and policy are essential tools for protecting human rights in health and for making healthcare accessible and affordable, improving health outcomes, and advancing health equity.
Advocacy starts with developing a deep understanding of the underlying issues and how they affect patients, health systems, and payers. It then moves into raising awareness, marshaling people and resources, and mobilizing action. Policy on the other hand, constitutes rules, regulations, and laws that govern how healthcare is funded, regulated, and managed. Policy defines what we can and must do. If we do not advocate for ourselves and our communities, then we let others who may not face the same issues and/or understand our perspective decide what we can and must do, but without us.
Utah HIMSS Advocacy and Public Policy Work
The vision of the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is to realize the full potential of every human, everywhere (himss.org). A strong foundation of public policy is critical to enable the vision of HIMSS. HIMSS defines key public policy priorities at the national level as Interoperability, Connected Health, Cybersecurity & Privacy, and Value-Based Care. The Utah chapter of the HIMSS Advocacy and Policy Committee holistically aligns with the national HIMSS key priorities. We seek to be the subject matter expert on health information technology and informatics and be the trusted source of information to elected officials, their staff, and our communities.
After the pandemic and its aftermath in healthcare, our first order of business was to build our committee from scratch. We are proud to share that we have tripled our committee size and attracted members with expertise in various areas of healthcare such as policymaking, informatics, telehealth, interoperability, academic research, and other important domains of healthcare.
Utah Legislative Session Update
Did you know the Utah legislative session is one of the shortest in the nation lasting only 45 days? The 2024 General Session of the 65th Utah Legislature was held from January 16, 2024, to March 1, 2024. One of the ways to engage and follow the legislative process is to track relevant bills being proposed before and during the legislative session. We identified bills that were healthcare-focused and aligned with our policy priorities. We tracked a total of 10 bills with the potential to impact data security, privacy, behavioral health, and Medicaid funding. We had the opportunity to analyze and monitor the implications of the bills and voice our opinion. Seven out of the 10 bills passed in this legislative session. The ones that failed are likely to be updated and proposed in a future session in addition to brand new bills being proposed. We will provide a summary of the relevant bills that are enacted into law in future newsletters.
One of the key aspects of effective advocacy is relationship building. Building trust and rapport with policymakers is crucial in influencing future legislative proposals and gaining access. It opens opportunities for educating our policymakers and their staff on key issues and recommending solutions. Relationship building also includes identifying allies and potential partners to create a network of supporters who can collectively amplify the message and exponentially increase the impact of the advocacy. We are proud of the work we have done so far, but we know there is still much more to do. We invite you to reach out to your Senate and House representatives, subscribe to their newsletters, and join us to become part of our advocacy and policy community.
0 Comments