Government leaders are determined to create a “healthcare” plan that will, allegedly, provide a reduction in the cost of our medical care. Commentaries have been released describing charges for services of the medical community and products of pharmaceutical companies as “abusive” and in need of the proposed restrictions.
There is one important arena that has not been publically addressed, which has very significant impacts on the cost of operating medical facilities and the delivery of medical care. Presently outside the control of the medical community or existing governmental structures, mandated facility regulations must be brought under control if we expect our medical care system to survive strict regulation of charges for services.
The number of federal, state, and local agencies that have authority to create regulations, inspect, and financially penalize hospitals is intimidating. Most hospitals have been forced to employ a Compliance Manager to try to avoid noncompliant conditions.
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Most of the physical and safety standards “recommended” by national safety groups and environmental agencies become mandates by direct reference in state and local building codes, or in licensing agency procedures manuals. Hospitals and nursing facilities must comply if they expect to retain their licenses and collect the vital Medicare and Medicaid support payments. It appears that the regulators consider the cost of compliance to be “the necessary price of their version of human health and safety”, with little consideration for the source of funding.
At the present time, the financial managers of the medical community have very restricted influence on the creation or application of standards and regulations at their facilities. The agencies creating and enforcing the standards are dominated by regulators, who benefit from an abundance of regulations, and representatives of companies that provide products and services required by the regulations. Four NFPA Standards committees demonstrate:
