Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Evaluate the benefits and pitfalls of competition in health care and suggest alternatives if competition was not the primary driver of operations in t...
Evaluate the benefits and pitfalls of competition in health care and suggest alternatives if competition was not the primary driver of operations in t...
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Within the health care industry, competition impacts several relational perspectives; with numerous studies reporting the impact of increased competition. For example, several studies have examined the relationships between competition and quality of health care (Zwanziger and Melnick, 1996; Enthoven, 1993; Kassirer, 1995; Chassin, 1997); between competition and health care system costs (Robinson and Luft, 1985; Robinson and Luft, 1987; Robinson and Luft, 1988; Zwanziger and Melnick, 1996; Zwanziger and Melnick, 1988; Robinson, 1991); and between competition and patient satisfaction (Miller, 1996; Brook and Kosecoff, 1988). These studies show that competition is capable of increasing value for customers over time. Quality and process improvements …show more content…
price, quality, convenience, and superior products or services); however, competition can also be based on new technology and innovation. A key role of competition in health care is the potential to provide a mechanism for reducing health care costs. Competition generally eliminates inefficiencies that would otherwise yield high production costs, which are ultimately transferred to patients via high health service and delivery costs.
The first component is comprised of individuals who provide health care (e.g. physicians and other practitioners) The second component is comprised of the organizations that provide health care services (e.g. hospitals, hospital systems, or other health services organizations) The third component comprises organizations that provide health care financing and insurance and health care plans (e.g. health management organizations (HMO), preferred provider organizations (PPO), and various insurance
The couple strengths above are some of the primary drivers of how Kaiser Permanente can provide a higher quality of care at a better price. One of the main trajectories being keeping health care costs low for all members. This focuses the awareness on reducing cost, minimizing utilization, keeping members healthy, and increasing member satisfaction. This alignment of all three entities has remained the backbone of the organization leading to a good amount of success that Kaiser Permanente has
The current health care landscape has been characterized by large scale consolidation and vertical integration of payers and providers. This has led to a handful of dominate players with substantial influence, and an increasing overlap in responsibilities between payers and providers. Although payers and providers have traditionally been on opposing sides, battling each other about quality of care versus cost-effective care, they are shifting to working together to achieve better value.
This group is more focused on satisfaction, access and quality of care. Providers, or practitioners, are also key stakeholders within an organization. The term provider can encompasses not only physicians and surgeons, but also nurses, physical and occupational therapists, technicians, and other members of a clinical staff. Providers fall into two categories, primary, which includes hospitals and health departments and secondary, which includes educational institutions and pharmaceutical companies. Providers are focused on the best treatments for patients and are involved in delivering health services and products. The final element of the MCQ model is the employer who by far is the largest paying and purchasing stakeholder of an organization. The employers focus is primarily on their return on investment within an organization. Cost and quality is a focus for employers when choosing health benefits but are mindful that access is just as important. Within the Patient Healthcare model, MCQ explains the interactions between the four elements of employer, patient, provider and payer while the Iron Triangle focuses on the factors of cost, quality, and access. The Patient Healthcare model charges healthcare leaders with the task of balancing satisfaction with the stakeholder (employer, patient, provider, and payer) in relation to cost, quality and access. This may be very difficult since stakeholders may have competing priorities. Changes and variations made in how healthcare organizations operate may have profound effects on how stakeholders perceive the quality, access and cost. For instance, a patient may consider cost to be a top priority when seeking healthcare and at the same time the healthcare organization may consider raising costs and therefore devaluing access and quality. Patients who begin to incur high out-of-pocket costs may begin to perceive a financial
Dawson, D. (1995) ‘Regulating Competition in the NHS.’ The Centre for Health Economics (University of York.)
Over the last 5 years the healthcare system has begun to transform. This transformation includes a focus change to preventative care to the new health conscious consumers and the reduction of healthcare costs (PR Newswire, 2013). This change comes from the consumers of healthcare as well as new laws such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). This has created a need for hospitals to enter in partnerships to create hospital systems such as Centura Health. These hospital systems are expanding the continuum of care to include everything from preventative care, emergency care, and finally end-of-life care. This creates a need to monitor competition and create ideation plans to increase likelihood the consumer will use Centura Health over the competitors.
The competing external stakeholders seek to attract the focal organization’s dependents. These competitors may be direct competitors for patients or they may be competing for skilled personnel. The patients hold the role of seeking care. They demand that they receive quality care in the organization and that the care is consistent. The patients play a role in the organization because the organization needs the patients to run the facility. The organization provides a service that the patients need and demand. The source of influence from external stakeholders comes from control of strategic resources materials, labor and
Traurig, G., (2008/2009). Turmoil in the healthcare industry: what about the patients? The Americas Restructuring and Involvency Guide. Retrieved from http://www. americasrestructuring.com/08_SF/p100-106
The United States health care system is one of the most expensive systems in the world yet it is known as being unorganized and chaotic in comparison to other countries (Barton, 2010). This factor is attributed to numerous characteristics that define what the U.S. system is comprised of. Two of the major indications are imperfect market conditions and the demand for new technology (Barton, 2010). The health care system has been described as a free market in
The health care industry is positioned for the global market place. It is expected to grow exponentially in health-related services for the elderly. China’s population of individuals over sixty years old is expected to grow to one third in the next twenty-five years. Though their culture view aging somewhat differently than in United States, they are interested in the attractive senior living options established here. Senior care encompasses private care facilities, home health care, products, drugs and medical equipment. As the largest health care market in the world American companies have made significant global inroads over the last two decades. These businesses are positioned to offer additional services directed at retirees, and children who will be responsible for their parents and potentially their grandparents as well.
2. The twin problems of the health care industry as viewed by society are cost and access. First of all, the cost of getting health care is very high and it is getting higher each day. This has been mostly caused by the combination of high cost and an increase in quantity of services provided to the communities. The other problem involves access to health care. American enjoy limited or no access to health care. Many efforts have been done to reform this, but still but still many people are left without access to the care. These two problems are related due to the fact that if the health care industry gets to high off course people no longer will be able to have any access to it. The higher prices are, the lower access people have to it.
Increasing prices for medical treatments, consultations, and drugs is another element in increasing health care costs. Increasing prices of health care services and drugs were the main reason for increasing health care expenditures between 2009 and 2010. Poor productivity is another element of increasing health care costs. Because there is little or no intervening growth in productivity gains for health care, health care costs would increase over time; and because of inelastic demand health care expenditures would also increase (Baumol, 1988). Because it is difficult to measure value of health care service, it is very difficult to evaluate productivity gains in health care. Referrin...
Managed care, managed care has become the dominant health care delivery source. Gaining popularity in 1990s, managed care increased from 27% in 1988 to 99% in 2009 and enrollment in Fee for Service plans decli...
The public, the media and the politicians turned against managed care and the end of the 1990’s was characterized by managed care backlash. Managed care was accused of paying little attention to patients in order to save costs for the institutions. As a result, the cost containment activities of such institutions were greatly limited by the states. Although we do not know the exact effect of managed care institutions on health care quality and prices, it is not considered a possible solution for rising health care spending. To fill this gap, I collected the most important theoretical and empirical investigations on the impact of managed care.
Aram Goudsouzian’s Down to the Crossroads tells the nuanced narrative of one of the last major marches of the civil rights era, and how the civil rights movement segued into the black power movement. Down to the Crossroads focuses primarily on John Meredith and his “second assault on Mississippi,” “The March Against Fear.” In 1962, James Meredith gained worldwide motoriety for becoming the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. Four years after integrating the university, Meredith made headlines again when he embarked on a 220 mile journey from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi on foot.
Competitive advantage matters greatly to those responsible for the management of healthcare institutions. Together with rapidly escalating healthcare costs, increasingly complex medical technologies, and growing regulatory and legal pressures, healthcare organizations face a critical need to improve the quality of care at reduced costs (Cu...