Your ultimate guide of how to write a healthcare policy
In healthcare, you don’t get do-overs. A big part of your job is making split-second decisions, and you must be confident those decisions are the right ones. When lives hang in the balance, it is critical to have thorough healthcare policies and procedures in an automated, centralized policy management system in place.
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What are policies & procedures in healthcare?
Healthcare policies play an important role in effective decision-making within healthcare organizations. Policy management is often a complicated job, and if the resulting procedures are not clear and transparent, staff members and patients will suffer the consequences. Instead of leaving the “what-ifs” to chance, build healthcare policies that empower your workforce to be confident in the face of an emergency and fearless in delivering the highest levels of patient care.
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The importance of healthcare policies and procedures
There’s a huge importance of comprehensively writing policies and procedures in healthcare organizations like yours. The biggest reasons for having detailed, well-written healthcare policies and procedures are twofold:
Legal protection
A good policy can reduce your legal liabilities.
- Acts as proof your healthcare facility had proper processes in place before an incident occurred.
- Provides a guide for how litigation should be handled.
- Helps ensure regulatory compliance and avoid penalties.
Risk management
Protect public health and patient safety with your organization's policies.
- Prevents human error that may lead to hazardous conditions.
- Improves communications and transparency around major medical decisions.
- Contributes to better outcomes for patients and higher quality of care.
- Allows providers to learn from and inform future
policies.
How to write policies for healthcare organizations
Step 1: Prepare for policy writing
Hit the ground running and ensure a smooth and seamless policy-writing process by preparing in advance.
As a good starting point, identify the healthcare professionals in your organization that can guide and review each policy you create.
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Compile any statistical data that drives your decision-making process. This will help with drafting care policies and streamlining compliance.
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If you have existing policies and procedures, review them now. If the format of the policies isn’t working, now is the time to make a change.
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To create comprehensive and effective policies, you must first understand the current policies in place. Analyze what is or isn’t working.
Step 2: Write your policies and procedures
Time to dive in and create in-depth policies and procedures that support the goals of your healthcare organization.
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If you’re updating an existing policy, look for anything that could be misunderstood or misinterpreted. For new policies, write out step-by-step actions in easy-to-understand language.
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It’s wise to reference the policies of other healthcare organizations, but remember that originality is crucial to making your healthcare policy the most effective for your organization.
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Remember that you aren’t writing for an academic journal or a medical record. You’re writing for your staff members, so add language that is easy to read and understand.
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Every policy should be accompanied by a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based) goal. This ensures your policies are realistic, meaningful, and easily tracked.
Step 3: Consider these policy-writing tips
Remember these pieces of advice when crafting your healthcare policies and procedures:
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Know your purpose
Step back and examine the overarching goal. Why are you writing these policies? Keep that purpose in mind throughout the policy-drafting process.
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Avoid jargon
Use language that is concise, simple, and easy to digest. Your policies must be clear and understandable to those who will be expected to implement them.
Use policy and procedure management software
Look for a policy manager that specializes in healthcare and understands your needs. The right platform centralizes your info, making distribution, reviews, and updates easy.
Step 4: Policy review and next steps
Your policies are drafted and ready. Now what?
Try to limit reviewers to one proofreader and one expert from each service line, including subject matter experts, HR, and your organization’s legal counsel.
Review all new and updated policies with staff members, answer their questions, and allow them to have input on finalizing the language of certain procedures.
Set up a system for tracking compliance to ensure staff members are following the new guidelines. Any non-compliance must be addressed immediately.
Review your organization’s policies and procedures on an annual basis. Ensure you’re meeting the goals for each policy and adjust any goals as needed.
A better policy and procedure management strategy
Imagine a tool that lets you automate your workflow, search documents on demand, and secure attestation to make policy management simple and easy. With Policy Manager from HealthStream, you can get a fully automated experience that offers peace of mind for you and empowerment for your staff.
Why to choose HealthStream for your policies and procedures
- We specialize in healthcare document management, so we understand your needs.
- Our product is designed specifically for organizations like yours, with legalities, regulations, and compliance in mind.
- Using automation makes writing policies faster so you can dedicate more time to priority tasks.
- Our included templates cover a wide variety of healthcare services, organizations, and facilities.
- Our proprietary automated policy management enhances your workflow and offers you a secure, centralized document management system.
“We did not have a policy and document management system before Policy Manager. All our policies and procedures were on paper and handled by each department. This made it very difficult to manage across the board. With the new implementation, we have all users in one place, with searchable policies. 5/5 Stars!”
John H.
Getting started with HealthStream’s customized, centralized policy and procedure software
Ready to start tracking, managing, and distributing policy documentation confidently and accurately? Learn how you can use Policy Manager to easily search and access documents, enhance policy workflow and automation, and more. Schedule your demo now and let us walk you through the process.
Get access to additional insights & resources
Healthcare Policy Management: Automation Solutions
Automating policy management is the best way to achieve compliance and ensure that your staff have access to the very latest regulations. HealthStream’s Policy Manager helps you put the most current policies and procedures in the hands of your organization’s frontline staff. It can save hundreds of hours per year for the average healthcare organization and provides the kind of reporting that can make visits from regulators and accrediting bodies more efficient.
State of the Industry: What’s Next for Healthcare Quality and Safety in 2024?
Rose encouraged leaders planning 2024 initiatives to consider whether or not they had adequately resourced their initiatives and encouraged them to support their programs with effective and efficient education and a culture of supportive leadership. Contact HealthStream today to learn more about how to support your 2024 quality and safety initiatives.
You deserve an automated, customized, centralized system for your healthcare policies and procedures.
- Looking for ways to increase confidence with your policy management?
- Worried your staff isn’t compliant with ever-changing regulations?
- Searching for the right system to support your audit readiness needs?
- Concerned about the risks associated with mistakes and loss of documents?