Principles of Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Principles of Healthcare - Essay Example Equitable access to healthcare is an important health parameter. The government and the healthcare sector have been making sincere efforts to deliver quality healthcare to all socio-economic groups. However, there is no proper definition of this concept. Most often, the principles of ethics and universal access are collectively used to define it as the provision of equal treatment to patients with the same medical requirement, regardless of all other factors including origin, ethnicity and income levels. Ashcroft (2007) terms this as the ‘horizontal equity’ in the healthcare system. Although universal and equitable access to healthcare is professed widely, patients often face numerous obstacles in benefiting from this policy. Goldsmith (2011) notes that the only way to overcome these barriers if by transcending beyond the assumptions made under universal access and coverage. He further suggests that these barriers result due to inefficiencies in the supply chain within t he healthcare system. For instance, there are wide variations in the levels of insurance coverage, cost sharing, geographical limitations and the maximum utilization capacity of hospitals and clinics. The primary objective of community participation is to ensure the involvement of everyone in the process of delivering universal healthcare (Pointer, 2009). Often, this is achieved through the promotion of public support for relevant policies and programs and also through compliance with the applicable legislation. Several governments around the world have initiated healthcare programs to engage the active participation of the people and improve transparency across the whole system. However, there are issues in policy definition and the operational methods that are used to facilitate such involvement.