In the U.S and other nations of the world, the health expenditure and number of physicians increase as the economy expands. However, physician shortage is of a great concern globally, which the U.S and the Military Healthcare System (MHS) are no exceptions. According to Garber (2004) “a shortage exit when there is unsatisfied demand, which occurs when the quantity of a good or service is less than what people will be willing to buy at the current price”. For example a long wait time to get an elective surgery done, or a long wait for a patient to get an appointment to see the doctor are evidence of physician shortage. Another definition of shortage is “having a projected supply of physicians that meet less than 80% of the forecasted demand or need, calculated at the estimated means (Scheffler, Liu, Kinfu, & Dal Poz, 2007). The World Health Organization report (2006) estimated that, 57 countries had absolute shortage of 2.3 million physicians. This shortage according to prior studies implied the lack of a sufficient number of health care professionals to deliver skilled health interventions such as child-birth. Schaffer et al. (2007) projected the global supply of the physician workforce to balance the demand using the demand base model and sufficient surplus in the year 2015. Despite this projection of surplus and balance of the physician workforce globally, the problem of shortage will still remain with some countries and nations as a result of distributional problems that continue to persist, and Africa for instance will need about 65% increases in supply of physicians by the year 2015 (Scheffler et al., 2007). According to Cooper (2004 & 2005) the shortage of physicians in the U.S was related to the economic capacit... ... middle of paper ... ....S and overseas to supplement the care provided to the growing beneficiary population in the MTFs. The MTF is the primary health care facility for TRICARE. TRICARE PCP shortage is due to deployment to war zones, humanitarian missions and special combat skill training. Throughout the research, attempts will be made to respond to the primary question and then the other sub questions in relation to; TRICARE background history, epidemiology, physician types, administration, policies and law, finance, personnel, marketing, ethical issues, beneficiary complaints and satisfaction. Other areas include the role restructuring plays in resolving the beneficiary complaints and the impact the restructuring of TRICARE will have on health care delivery to beneficiaries. The summary, recommendations and conclusion will be addressed finally to complete this research paper.
The Claims and Patient Business Services departments have made remarkable strides on getting back on track due to these changes, which has provided much needed relief to the MSD. However, MSD is still struggling, on the other hand, with a few issues such as high absenteeism and low morale which makes it difficult to balance available staff with incoming call load. There are also a few factions that are often found socializing in other people’s cubicles or going to the lobby to take personal phone calls. Lastly, there has also been difficulty within the management team as a result of both past and future management styles within the department.
The region’s labor market is already tightening, as a result of which competition for skilled healthcare professionals is increasing. Kaiser Permanente would have to compete with the existing hospitals in recruiting and retaining qualified management and staff personnel responsible for the day-to-day operations of each of its hospitals and physician practices, including nurses and other non-physician healthcare professionals. The scarcity of nurses and other medical support personnel in the region presents a significant operating issue. This shortage may require Kaiser Permanente to enhance wages and benefits to recruit and retain nurses and other medical support personnel, recruit personnel from foreign countries, and hire more expensive temporary personnel. Competition for skilled healthcare professionals may lead to a further increase in Kaiser Permanente’s wage
In the 1990s the government made the decision to cut back on physician production because it though that it had enough physicians (Dauphinee, 2005). This lead to the greatest net loss of Canadian physicians to other countries, primarily the united states (Dauphinee, 2005). It was approximated that 508 physicians left in 1996 (Dauphinee, 2005).
There has been a shortage of physicians, lack of inpatient beds, problems with ambulatory services, as well as not having proper methods of dealing with patient overflow, all in the past 10 years (Cummings & francescutti, 2006, p.101). The area of concern that have been worse...
The number of doctors that present in the United States of America directly affects the communities that these doctors serve and plays a large role in how the country and its citizens approach health care. The United States experienced a physician surplus in the 1980s, and was affected in several ways after this. However, many experts today have said that there is currently a shortage of physicians in the United States, or, at the very least, that there will be a shortage in the near future. The nation-wide statuses of a physician surplus or shortage have many implications, some of which are quite detrimental to society. However, there are certain remedies that can be implemented in order to attempt to rectify the problems, or alleviate some of their symptoms.
Stanley J. Robboy, M., Sally Weintraub, M., & Andrew E. Horvath, M. E. (n.d.). Development of a Predictive Model to Examine Factors Influencing Supply . Retrieved from Pathologist Workforce in the United States : http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.5858/arpa.2013-0200-OA
...l increase as more professionals opt to work in the private health sector in order to earn more money.
Shi Leiyu, SinghDouglas A. “Essentials of the United States health care system” March 5, 2009
As stated, wait times are a large issue in the Canadian health care system, with many often having to wait weeks to see a doctor. These wait times are potentially due to the global budgeting system that Canada has in place, in which health facilities are given a particular budget for the year. This budgeting system is in place in order to control overall costs in the country, however, Canada is still spending nearly the same amount of GDP on health care as other countries with single-payer systems in place, such as the United Kingdom. In order to reduce these long wait times, Canada could attempt to put fewer restrictions on the budgeting system, functioning more so like the United Kingdom where wait times are not an issue. Smaller budget cuts could be made in other departments to allow for the budgeting of health facilities to rise leading to smaller wait times. Furthermore, Canada can also expand on their coverage of medications by following the model in the United Kingdom in which they are covered by the government. A 2012 study by the University of British Columbia found that one in ten Canadian’s currently struggle to or simply cannot afford to purchase prescription drugs. Through following the United Kingdom’s lead in having prescription drugs, and other services such as optometry, covered by the government, Canada could potentially have a more efficient health care system. Moreover, physicians in Canada are paid on a fee-for-service basis meaning that the quantity of care is arguably more important for some over the quality. This method in which physicians are paid contrasts from the United Kingdom as in the country they are paid by a method of “salary, capitation, and pay for performance, with heavy emphasis on capitation”. The latter method is conceivably more efficient as the
There are new challenges every year in the health care field. Research on the future of U.S Healthcare System is of paramount importance to the entire Health care industry as well as the citizens of the U.S. To begin with, the research will discuss how challenges for future healthcare services can be enhanced by reducing the costs of medication. By creating a better quality of health care, Information technology advancements, including future funding, lower rising costs, the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The research will also discuss the challenges of market shares for different ages of populating and maintaining a skilled work place. It will further discuss the tentative solutions to these challenges. The role that the government plays to ensure that these challenges are mitigated and that health care is available to all American citizens is also discussed. Among these problems poor quality of care is perhaps the most visible and troubling, resulting in nearly 100,000 preventable deaths each year (Institute of Medicine, 1999) and reduced quality of life for millions of Americans due to non-fatal yet serious adverse events such as wrong-limb amputation, hospital-acquired infection, and medication errors (Institute of Medicine, 2006; Leape, 1997).
Baicker, & Chandra. (2004). Medicare spending, the physician workforce, and beneficiaries’ quality of care. Health Affairs (Millwood), 184-197.
This requires coverage of promotive, curative, preventive, and palliative services. (Kieny & Evans 2013). Universal Care demands an increment of health insurance enrollment but “the surge in enrollment is expected to place a strain on provider capacity, especially for primary care physicians” (Hall & Lord 2014, page. 7). The United States healthcare system does not have the amount of physician to supply the needs of the remarkable number of patients enrolled under the new healthcare reform. Moreover, during the first open enrollment period (which ended in March 2014), about eight million people purchased individual insurance through the state and federal exchanges, exceeding expectations despite severe software problems. About a quarter of these enrollees were previously uninsured. Another six million uninsured people enrolled with Medicaid.( Hall & Lord 2014, page. 6) Definitely, this enrollment surge could result in a shortage of available physicians, especially primary care
Background info or discussion of issue(s): According to a report published by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the demand for primary care physicians will significantly surpass the supply by 2025. This will create an overwhelming shortage of physicians within the next 10 years.
To say that the U.S. health care system is inadequately run, is an understatement. Today’s society faces many shortcomings when utilizing health care in the United States and some of these inadequacies include diminishing
Barton, P.L. (2010). Understanding the U.S. health services system. (4th ed). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.