How to Evaluate Health Care Program Success

Evaluating health care programs is a difficult process that entails a great deal of controversy and divided opinion; while some interests emphasize the importance of cost-effective health care, others place a higher value on treatment options for patients, rather than the cost of those treatments. Despite the challenge, special interest groups, educational institutes, and government bureaus dedicate themselves to such evaluation. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that ongoing evaluation of health care programs by medical experts is essential to keeping programs effective and ethical.

Instructions

Evaluating Health Care Programs

• 1

  Set goals, including providing excellent care to patients at a profit to the provider, while also raising health awareness and acting ethically. The CDC recommends that goals be specifically spelled out by health care providers and that all of the parties concerned be encouraged to realize that in order for a program to be successful for everyone, goals need to be shared by everyone.

• 2

  Compare the reality to the goals stated by the program. Evaluations should occur on a regular basis to determine whether the program is successfully meeting its goals. The CDC outlines the primary principles upon which programs should be evaluated as: scientific basis for action and decision-making, social equity in care, serving patients, being outcome-oriented and being accountable. Objective, outside companies and government agencies should be brought in to perform these evaluations, so that programs do not run the risk of corruption and avoidance of problems in order to achieve positive evaluations.

• 3

  Address any problems. If a health care program is not being run successfully and is not achieving its clearly stated goals, this should be brought to its attention by evaluating companies and/or government agencies. There should also be government penalties implemented for companies who project a clear disregard for proper practice and the successful care of their patients. As stated earlier, ethical practice and successful health care programs go hand-in-hand. If companies have been found to be unsuccessful, federal government regulations should ensure that they must evolve in order to achieve success for insurance, doctors and patients.