How is evidence-based practice (EBP) used in nursing and how does the EBP influence Quality Improvement?

Reply to my peers

Peer 1

Discuss the changing landscape of the US healthcare system through the ACA and specific initiatives that have been funded, enacted and currently implemented to improve health care for all Americans.

Since the Affordable Care Act became effective almost 11 years ago, many Americans have been at their healthiest for the first time ever. Before the ACA came along many healthcare organizations had to write off many unpaid bills each year, which were very high amounts. Many people have insurance now since this act has been in effect. Many people do not use the emergency room as their primary care because of this act, it allows parents to keep young college students on their insurance. In the past, people had to worry about being denied insurance because of preexisting conditions, but that is not something that is a concern these days. [Ten years ago this month, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law. Since then, the law has transformed the American health care system by expanding health coverage to 20 million Americans and saving a number of lives…and the law goes beyond coverage, requiring employers to provide breastfeeding mothers with breaks at work, making calorie counts more widely available in restaurants], (Rapfogel, Gee, & et al, 2020).

This is an act that has many benefits for the American people. One of the downsides of the act, is if a person is not covered with insurance there lies a penalty for each month a person is not covered with insurance. This act has allowed many individuals to get coverage through Medicaid who would otherwise not get coverage on this program, as stated in the article by CHRT. “The ACA expanded coverage in 2014 through tax credits for private insurance and increasing eligibility for Medicaid”, (CHRT, 2012). There is also a focus on prevention within the ACA. In expanding the act there must be a minimum amount of coverage a person needs to obtain then there is access to more healthcare preventive services.

References

CHRT. (2012). Affordable Care Act funding: An analysis of grant programs under health care reform. https://chrt.org/publication/affordable-care-act-aca-funding-analysis-grant-programs-health-care-reform/

Rapfogel, N., Gee, E., Calsyn, M. (2020). 10 ways the ACA has improved healthcare in the past decade.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/news/2020/03/23/482012/10-ways-aca-improved-health-care-past-decade/

Peer 2

The ACA made many changes to the health care landscape in the United States. These changes were made to provide new insurance protections that allowed coverage to reach individuals with illnesses that were never able to receive that access before, diabetic patients, for example (Borelli, Bujanda, & Maier, 2016). An initiative that was funded, enacted, and currently implemented is for diabetic patients (Borelli et al., 2016). For people with diabetes, the ACA enacted an initiative that stated plans must provide coverage for preventive services without a copayment if the patient goes to an in-network provider (Borelli et al., 2016). For diabetes, patients must be able to receive diabetes screening for adults with high blood pressure and for patients with gestational diabetes without cost (Borelli et al., 2016). This initiative has helped many patients receive proper care that would otherwise not occur without the ACA.

Reference

Borelli, M. C., Bujanda, M., & Maier, K. (2016). The Affordable Care Act Insurance Reforms: Where Are We Now, and What’s Next?. Clinical diabetes: a publication of the American Diabetes Association, 34(1), 58–64. https://doi.org/10.2337/diaclin.34.1.58