The CARE Act’s implementation process – UPMC case study

In the past several years, the healthcare industry has undergone significant reforms that focused on improving quality of care, patient satisfaction, increasing access to medical services and controlling costs while providing value care. Most of these health policy measures were taken by the federal government which, as of now, bears over fifty percent of healthcare spending. The CARE Act, on the other hand, is a piece of legislation adopted on a state level that will have significant public health implications given its successful adoption rate among the states. The CARE Act’s objective is to improve care provided by lay caregivers after hospital discharge of their loved ones. This matter has significant public health relevance as most states are facing aging populations which need assistance in carrying out their daily activities. The CARE Act is one of the steps in recognizing and empowering 18 million Americans providing care to their close ones. The scope of this essay is to evaluate the implementation process of the CARE Act at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), analyze conducted hospital observations and share conclusions with the stakeholders so that they can improve compliance with the new requirements and accomplish the objectives of the Act. For the purpose of this paper the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) will be used as a tool to analyze the implementation process of the CARE Act at UPMC.