What are the best practices for ensuring that a health policy is evidence-based?

An important policy research topic in healthcare right now is the implementation of pay-for-performance healthcare models being rolled out as a trial run for certain physicians. We need to define what variables we want to account for when it comes to good care. There will be a philosophical underpinning for which variables we deem to be valuable enough to include in the model that will determine physician reimbursement. We need to create a strong argument for why we choose the variables we do. Each specialty in medicine would benefit from having well-defined variables that can be broadly applied across different diagnoses within the specialty for the sake of simplicity.

Navigating uncertainty in EBHP is always challenging when an unexpected event occurs . By understanding the crisis, orchestrating efforts, working closely with stakeholders, delivering effective messages, and validating their impact, organizations can establish trust, and focus on effective crisis management. Health policy governance can create three related threats: to public safety, financial loss and reputation loss.

Ensuring cultural sensitivity and cultural dimensions of the policy problem are placed at the heart of considerations, as culture matters in EBHP . Ensuring policy-makers are both self and culturally aware at the outset is important; along with integration of the best available research , clinical experience and patient preferences to support positive and improved health and well-being outcomes . This should help when defining the problem and prioritising policy options , and will also drive patient centred and culturally aware research questions, policy options and recommendations.

In my experience what is often missed is ensuring that the appraisal is conducted by not just policy experts or consultants, but also by those who have been (and will be) most impacted by the policy overall. What needs to be done to ensure the most impactful change is to ensure that any new updates to policy reflect value to the most important stakeholders (often, ultimately, patients), and also to healthcare practitioners, payers and regulators.

Testing policy options is key to ensuring that the needs of the vast majority of stakeholders are being met - there is no one-size-fits-all, and there will often not be a policy that meets the needs of every single impacted group. However, policies that lead to benefits across all groups are key. One thing that impacts the testing of these policies is communication. Often, policies are challenging to understand if written in technical legal, or scientific language. Policies need to be broken down to basic levels so that the impact can be understood by both technical and non-technical audiences.

Ensure health policy governance could be a bit challenging when it come to transversal communication. Gathering stakeholders data is nowadays crucial for every institution. : A healthcare setting could have different policies in place, such as a policy that prohibits general practitioners to obtain a medical record without the permission of a hospital clinician. Strenghtening the Online data base could be another critical issue . By leveraging database integration with the IT environment, the EBHP can improve efficiency and reduce risks within its communication model.

In my experience as a pediatrician, it's crucial to emphasize the unique needs of children in evidence-based health policy. Consider age-appropriate methodologies, long-term effects on pediatric health, and involve parents in communication. Metrics should extend beyond immediate health indicators to encompass factors like education and emotional well-being. Taking a child-centric approach ensures comprehensive care for our youngest population.

Consider writing about/ publishing your initiative, including what worked well and what didn't. This will add to the evidence base of healthcare system improvement and helps others. We need to get better at talking about/sharing less successful projects/programs/policies so we can all learn and continue to improve and innovate.

Social governance is another a necessary third pillar of healthcare governance. A kind of resilience assets. Social governance would be a theory, process and ethic that made explicit the social dimensions of health, emphasized an ethic of community, and developed processes of collective responsibility for healthcare provision.