NURS_FPX4900_Assessment 2-1

Assessing the Problem: Quality, Safety, and Cost Considerations

Bipolar disorder makes life challenges for patients, families, and communities. The chronic and recurrent conditions increase cost of medications, therapies, and other interventions intended to optimize care outcomes. Individuals are also vulnerable to under-diagnosis misdiagnosis, hence reasons for adverse clinical and economic consequences. Functional disability is among the major threats that make life challenging for patients and families. The adverse impacts on employment, job-related activities, and interpersonal relations highlight the need for timely diagnosis and treatment. This project identified self-management as a cost-effective means of improving the quality and cost of patient care. Consistency in taking care of oneself allows patients to take medications as recommended, eat appropriately, maintain quality sleeping patterns, and stress management. Seamless self-care practices help improve health and quality of life. The aim is to lessen the impact of bipolar disorder and related symptoms. Patients identify an individualized care plan to keep them accountable for their health and well-being.

Quality of Care, Safety and Cost associated with Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder make patients vulnerable to adverse social, economic, and health impacts. Patients are vulnerable to substance abuse, suicide and suicidal intentions, financial problems, and damaged relations (Bonnin et al., 2019). Uncontrolled symptoms trigger poor work performance. The consequences reinforce the need for timely interventions to allow patients to enjoy a stable and fulfilling life. Low-income communities face the heaviest burden due to a fragmented healthcare system. Low health literacy is another challenge that undermine patients’ ability to understand and monitor symptoms. Quality and safety of patient care align with calls for evidence-based and patient-centered strategies that make individuals responsive to complexities across the continuum. Patients with bipolar disorder can spend between $4,500 and $21,000 per year, depending on complexities and the type of bipolar disorder (Jelinek, 2022). The situation is more challenging considering that nearly 17% of patients lack health insurance. High costs of medications, talk therapies, family-focused therapies, and brain stimulation techniques increase the risk of delayed or postponed care. Lifestyle changes are also costly considering changes in diet and other out-of-pocket expenses for treating bipolar disorder.

Nurses are responsible for helping patients and families identify cost-effective alternatives for improving health and quality of life. The nursing team’s frontline experiences at the bedside, organizational, and community levels make them aware of determinants of health. Nurses also understand gaps in the system and improvements necessary to optimize care outcomes. Interactions with patients and families strengthen ability to identify evidence-based and patient-centered pathways for reducing health burden.

Improve the Quality, Safety, and Cost of Bipolar Disorder Management

Improving the quality, safety, and cost of patient care means identifying evidence-based and tailored strategies for linking patients to primary and specialty care. For this project, the aim is to educate and train patients living with bipolar disorder on self-care practices and consistencies necessary to achieve the intended results. For instance, patients may overcome high costs of care by utilizing free and community-based clinics. Challenges affording out-of-pocket make it necessary for patients to utilize cost-effective alternatives such as community health centers (Jelinek, 2022). Similarly, improving quality, safety, and cost of care means utilizing technologies such as teletherapy. The move safeguards patients against travel costs and other barriers associated with uncontrolled symptoms. Teletherapy is an affordable option appropriate for under-insured and uninsured patients. For instance, in personal therapies cost between $65 and $250, while online ones are affordable at between $60 and $90 per session (Jelinek, 2022). Additionally, this project encourages patients to utilize group therapies essential for saving the cost of care. Self-care practices provide viable alternatives for patients to overcome the challenges of costly health care resources. This way, nurses and the rest of the care team initiate conversations about individualized care plans such as sleeping patterns, exercise, mindfulness programs, and others ideal for improving health and quality of life.

Nurse Practice Standards for Bipolar Disorder Management

Nurse practice standards clarify the values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors appropriate for the care team to deliver safe and quality care. The emphasis is on establishing excellent relations with patients and families. The care team understands determinants of health and best practices for responding to their needs and expectations. Meaningful progress is achievable through conversations supported by compassion, respect, and empathy (Jones et al., 2023). The care team accommodates clients’ values and preferences by allowing them to describe their preferred treatment. Similarly, regulators such as the Joint Commission and the American Nursing Association remind nurses about the need for consistent efforts to fulfill advocacy roles. The institutions encourage delivery of services in an equitable and fair manner to help in enhancing the quality of disease prevention, detection, and treatment.

ANA addresses nurses about evidence-based and patient-centered practices for reducing health disparities in low-income and underserved communities. The practices make the care team responsive to issues such as low health literacy and limited health promotion and education on mental wellness. Nurses utilize professional standards to encourage patients to embrace positive health-seeking behaviors (Lama & Baruah, 2022). The emphasis is on strengthening individual commitment to practicing self-management consistently. Mutually beneficial conversations strengthen efforts designed to make self-care practices standard routines for patients with bipolar disorder.

Health Policies ideal for Bipolar Disorder Management

Health policies help healthcare providers identify new and better ways of reducing health burden. The legislations are outcomes of consistent efforts by policymakers, healthcare professionals, community-based organizations, and others to design and implement new and better ways of optimizing care outcomes. For instance, policies may support calls for extensive promotion and education on self-management for bipolar disorder. Stakeholders, largely primary care providers and specialists mobilize resources for scaling educational sessions on self-care practices ideal for optimizing care outcomes (Donna et al., 2022). Patients benefit from state board, governmental, and organizational policies that ensure flexible accessible to accurate and complete information on cost-effective strategies for managing bipolar disorder. For instance, easier access to information makes patients aware of adverse consequences of bipolar disorder. The knowledge makes individuals responsive to calls for tobacco and alcohol use cessation, exercise, and dietary habits necessary for reducing social, economic, and health burden.

The Affordable Care Act is among the most reliable policies that makes healthcare providers and insurance providers responsive to patients living in underserved and under-resourced communities. Medicare and Medicaid programs give options to consumers including, ease of accessing screening, prescription drugs, and counseling (McIntyre et al., 2022). ACA expands availability of mental health, substance use, and behavioral health care. Individuals also access rehabilitative services intended to improve care outcomes within a shorter period. Further, health policies encourage a whole health approach characterized by the integration of primary and specialty care (Norris, 2020). The goal is to provide comprehensive health solutions that match clients’ values and preferences. Patients should utilize provisions of health policies that reduce out-of-pocket expenses. Awareness about the policies, ease of application, and consistency in using the provisions help individuals overcome the pressure of handling bipolar disorder.

Part Two

I had a conversation with a patient on quality, safety, and cost of bipolar disorder treatment. The open-ended interactions allowed the patient to respond to questions on experiences, enablers, and barriers to successful bipolar disorder management. The responded agreed that lack of insurance coverage exposed individuals to high out-of-pocket expenses. Such challenges increase the risk of delayed or postponed care due to negative health-seeking behaviors and attitudes. The patient also acknowledged the relevance of self-management in making everyone committed to preventing escalating symptoms. For example, the patient appreciated efforts to use self-care practices to safeguard patients from high costs of therapies and pharmacological interventions. Patients also benefit from reduced travels and emergency care visits when the care team fails to consider self-management as a viable means to reduce the cost of care. Throughout the discussion, I focused more on educating the patient about an individualized care plan relevant for improving symptoms management across the continuum.

Conclusion

Self-management for bipolar disorder makes patients more responsive to calls for consistent commitment to monitoring and managing symptoms. The intervention is part of evidence-based and patient-centered practices relevant for improving the cost, quality, and safety of patient care. Nurses should play active roles in sharing ideas and experiences about barriers and enablers of successful mental health management in underserved and under-resourced communities.