5 STEPS TO EDIT A HEALTHCARE POLICY

There are times where individuals will edit a policy without knowing the exact reason.

It is vital to answer the question as to why you are editing this policy. Is the document due for review? Is it a simple grammatical error? Or, do you need to add an

entire new section to this policy?

STEP 1 “WHY ARE WE EDITING THE POLICY”

Through speaking to many healthcare providers, I have always heard that they do not like to edit policies because sometimes they are then added to the revision process, even though they are not educated on the specific topic or area.

This can mean it is sometimes necessary that you select not only the right people, but the relevant people, who are educated on the matter, to help edit a policy accurately.

STEP 2 “WHO IS GOING TO BE INVOLVED IN THE EDITING

PROCESS”

Ensuring that you are revising, or adding, the correct content within a policy is a key question as well.

You want to ensure that you are not removing important information, or adding incorrect content.

It is important not to revise a policy just for the sake of completing a task.

STEP 3 “WHAT NEEDS TO BE REVISED IN THE POLICY”

Timing is also a critical factor. I have noticed in some facilities that they will place

the review date for all their policies at the same time of the year, not taking into consideration factors such as workload, or the availability of the individuals that will be editing the documents. This causes another pain point that healthcare work.

Healthcare Policyers have shared with me. They do not feel like editing documents, or dread the time

period because the workload is not spread out accordingly.

STEP 4 “WHEN IS THE POLICY GOING TO BE REVISED”

Defining where and how you are going to edit a policy are also key considerations. The questions you want to ask yourself are: Are you going to edit the policy as a team in a boardroom? Are you going to break up the tasks individually and use an

online collaboration tool to work together, from different locations?

Will the work be completed by hand and then placed into Word format?

How much time will you give each individual to complete his or her task to edit the document?

STEP 5 “WHERE AND HOW WILL THIS POLICY BE REVISED”

Narrowing this information will help you create a more efficient method to edit your policy. After all time management is a key component for any healthcare professional.

STEP 5 “WHERE AND HOW WILL THIS POLICY BE REVISED”

After answering the Five W’s of Editing a Policy you should ensure that this method is also outlined in a document. I always refer to this as the Policy on Policies. If individuals do not have a road map and instructions to see where they are going, you cannot expect them to accomplish their task accordingly. Following the process above will help you create a method on the best way to edit policies.

So I have suggested these best practices for editing a policy, regardless of whether you use our software or not. I hope that they will prove of some use to your healthcare policy management procedures. If you

would like to learn more about best practices for policy management, please get in touch. Alternatively, if you would like to see our software in action, please request

a demonstration.

THANK YOU!

Policymedical.com