The healthcare industry is one of the biggest industries in the United States, and due to the need to provide quality care, every individual working in the industry must be highly skilled and experienced. To ensure these standards are met, different licensure programs are in place so that the people who want to work for healthcare organizations can acquire them as proof of their capabilities. These licenses are required not only by healthcare organizations but also by the state in which a person will be practising. The licensing process also ensures that unqualified individuals are not able to attain a position in the medical field, as it will endanger the patients. This paper will discuss the importance of licensing along with its advantages and disadvantages.
Licensing or No Licensing
The people who are part of the healthcare industry are tasked with taking care of other people’s lives, so ensuring that only competent people are assigned to this job is of utmost importance. Through licensing, the people who may endanger others are filtered out, and only those people who are truly capable of providing quality healthcare can acquire the license. It is proof of their understanding and knowledge of the field, along with their capability to meet industry standards. If proper licensing is not in place, then anyone may be able to enter the industry, drastically damaging the quality level of healthcare. There is no guarantee that the person in charge of the patient’s care is competent. No one would want to put their lives in the hands of a drug addict or a criminal, so to avoid such circumstances, licensing is extremely important, and lack of it should not be taken lightly (Wilensky & Teitelbaum, 2019).
Allowing Unlicensed Individuals to Provide Healthcare
If unlicensed individuals are allowed to provide direct care, then there can be various health-related repercussions. The first would be that there will be no proof of their medical knowledge and capabilities. They can endanger the patients due to their lack of knowledge, which can lead to mortality. They would not be able to work under pressure or without supervision as they have not been prepared for it. People will not entrust themselves to the healthcare organization for sickness as there will be no quality control. Healthcare organizations are liable if the patients are poorly treated, which would result in numerous lawsuits. So, it should be prevented so that the patients receive the quality care that they deserve.
Flaws in the Licensing System
If people want to do anything in the United States, they must acquire related licenses. This is also applied to medical practices and is a requirement by state law; however, some flaws need to be addressed to make the licensing system better. This first flaw is that the licensing procedure is extremely expensive as people need to take numerous courses to attain a certain skill level. However, these licenses need to be renewed after a certain number of years, and that once again requires the people to go through a similar expensive procedure. Apart from being expensive, people have to juggle between their work and the timely renewal of their licenses so that they may not lose them, which can be nerve-wracking. All states have different licenses, so to practice in other states, a license according to their state is required, which can be an additional expense (Bell & Katz, 2021).
The legacy system is still being used, which is a very old system that makes the licensing procedure needlessly complicated and time-consuming. This may lead to errors and delays in license processing, further delaying the procedure. This can make the process extremely frustrating for the applicant and cause lost time for the organization (Adams et al., 2018).
Benefits of Having Licensed Personnel
Having licensed personnel is proof that the medical facility has qualified and capable individuals, so the patients do not have to worry about the quality of care that they will be receiving. They are prepared for different medical situations and can perform accordingly. They are given extensive knowledge so that they can make decisions based on the patient’s medical history.
Other Competencies
Apart from having a license to prove the individuals’ competencies, other attributes include the ability to provide care that is patient-centred, which means taking into account the patients’ beliefs and respecting their autonomy. The second attribute is the ability to work in teams so that reliable care can be ensured (Summit et al., 2003).
Licensing through the Federal Government or State Government
The advantage of letting the federal government determine the licensing laws is that one license could be used in all states for practice; however, the disadvantage would be that the law may not meet the requirements of all the states. So, it would be better to let the states develop the licensing procedures according to their requirements. Although this means that people will be able to practice in limited states with one license, it will ensure that the quality of care is not affected. Patients are an integral part of the healthcare system, so it is important to make decisions that prove beneficial for them.
References
Adams, E. K., Markowitz, S., & Nunn, R. (2018, October 10). How Do Occupational Licensing Rules Affect the Health Care Sector? | Econofact. https://econofact.org/how-do-occupational-licensing-rules-affect-the-health-care-sector
Bell, D. L., & Katz, M. H. (2021). Modernize Medical Licensing, and Credentialing, Too—Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Internal Medicine, 181(3), 312–315. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.8705
Summit, I. of M. (US) C. on the H. P. E., Greiner, A. C., & Knebel, E. (2003). The Core Competencies Needed for Health Care Professionals. In Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality. National Academies Press (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221519/
Wilensky, S., & Teitelbaum, J. (2019). Essentials of Health Policy and Law (4th edition). Faculty Bookshelf. https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/books/144
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