The regulation of health practitioners is an essential strategy to minimize instances of patient harm in health services by enabling access to practitioners who meet minimum criteria for patient safety. Although the models of regulation vary, regulatory functions include the following: defining and enforcing education standards; defining the minimum levels for competence and conduct of health practitioners; investigating complaints and enforcing discipline; and informing the public about regulated practitioners. Health practitioner regulation also has the potential to advance other health system priorities and objectives, such as workforce availability, equitable distribution and improved performance. This guidance aims to inform the design, reform and implementation of health practitioner regulation and to strengthen regulatory systems and institutions. It highlights the contemporary issues in health practitioner regulation, discusses challenges in implementing regulatory policies and articulates policy considerations for the design, reform and implementation of regulation. Finally, it highlights evidence gaps and identifies a research agenda.

Dual practice, the combination of public and private practice in the same or different sites, is ubiquitous in most national health systems. Within the literature, there has been more focus on the dual practice of physicians and specialists, although nurses, midwives and other health workers also engage in the practice. The adverse consequences of dual practice for universal health care vary by context, and evidence is largely descriptive and fails to quantify and analyse its effects. Governance response also remains inherently contextual and varies by level of implementation intensity and capacity. Overall, the effects of different governance tools in response to dual practice remain unexplored in the literature. Studies do not elicit much insight into the process of policy reform in response to dual practice.

Interest in implementation research is growing, largely in recognition of the contribution it can make to maximizing the beneficial impact of health interventions. As a relatively new and, until recently, rather neglected field within the health sector, implementation research is something of an unknown quantity for many. There is therefore a need for greater clarity about what exactly implementation research is, and what it can offer. This Guide is designed to provide that clarity. Intended to support those conducting implementation research, those with responsibility for implementing programs, and those who have an interest in both, the Guide provides an introduction to basic implementation research concepts and language, briefly outlines what it involves, and describes the many opportunities that it presents. The main aim of the Guide is to boost implementation research capacity as well as demand for implementation research that is aligned with need, and that is of particular relevance to health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Research on implementation requires the engagement of diverse stakeholders and multiple disciplines in order to address the complex implementation challenges they face. For this reason, the Guide is intended for a variety of actors who contribute to and/or are impacted by implementation research. This includes the decision-makers responsible for designing policies and managing programs whose decisions shape implementation and scale-up processes, as well as the practitioners and front-line workers who ultimately implement these decisions along with researchers from different disciplines who bring expertise in systematically collecting and analyzing information to inform implementation questions. The opening chapters (1-4) make the case for why implementation research is important to decision-making. They offer a workable definition of implementation research and illustrate the relevance of research to problems that are often considered to be simply administrative and provide examples of how such problems can be framed as implementation research questions. The early chapters also deal with the conduct of implementation research, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and discussing the role of implementers in the planning and designing of studies, the collection and analysis of data, as well as in the dissemination and use of results. The second half of the Guide (5-7) detail the various methods and study designs that can be used to carry out implementation research, and, using examples, illustrates the application of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method designs to answer complex questions related to implementation and scale-up. It offers guidance on conceptualizing an implementation research study from the identification of the problem, development of research questions, identification of implementation outcomes and variables, as well as the selection of the study design and methods while also addressing important questions of rigor.

A comprehensive reference guide interpreting and applying healthcare reform law for consultants, appraisers, accountants, and attorneys The Financial Consultants'Guide to Healthcare Reform provides an historical backdrop on how the healthcare system got to its present state including the Massachusetts Reform and Medicare Advantage along with an explanation of the principal types of health insurance in the United States and how "insurance" actually works. A review and explanation of each of the reform provisions follows, including an analysis of what the implications are for providers, consumers and business and what responses each of these communities might have to the Reform. Using the authors' insights and firsthand experiences in U.S. healthcare finance, this book explains the new healthcare law for individuals and businesses alike, what to expect from it and what actions they need to take to comply. Interprets and applies the health care reform law Provides examples of what the impact of the law might look like Extensive use of sidebars to provide in-depth analysis or background on particular topics of import, where the reader may need more detail to understand the context of Reform's changes. Written for consultants, appraisers, accountants, and attorneys Written by major figures in the world of healthcare valuation and consulting The Financial Consultants' Guide to Healthcare Reform provides a complete handbook to healthcare reform for financial consultants, both for understanding this important legislation as well as for planning responses to it.

Themes and trends in regulatory Reform : Ninth report of session 2008-09, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.

Policymakers and program managers are continually seeking ways to improve accountability in achieving an entity's mission. A key factor in improving accountability in achieving an entity's mission is to implement an effective internal control system. An effective internal control system helps an entity adapt to shifting environments, evolving demands, changing risks, and new priorities. As programs change and entities strive to improve operational processes and implement new technology, management continually evaluates its internal control system so that it is effective and updated when necessary. Section 3512 (c) and (d) of Title 31 of the United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA)) requires the Comptroller General to issue standards for internal control in the federal government.