Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Health care system in the USA
Health care system in the USA
Health care system in the USA
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The growing demand for quality and affordability in healthcare has peaked in the United
States in the recent years. The purpose of today’s health care is to manage costs while improving healthcare quality outcomes and patient satisfaction. To adapt the efforts towards improving the quality of care, it is important to begin by defining quality. Quality is purposed by the care experienced by patients, family members, and the general public; in addition to, the safety of care, effectiveness of care, availability and accessibility of care, and the environment
(Horne, 2014).
When it comes to the debate on the improvement of health care in the United States; the anticipated discussion circles around the two rational importance quality and cost.
Consumers
…show more content…
With the addition of out-of-pocket spending, that is projected to grow faster in the upcoming years (CMS, 2012). With expenditures rising continuously at peak levels, it is not a surprise that consumers are seeking to answer whether the public gains value proportionate to the financial investment (Wakefield, 2008).
With the rise of health care costs, many seek to adapt into the integrated healthcare systems. The majority of the general public believes that such healthcare systems reduce costs and provide better quality of care through their services which can benefit greatly for many consumers. However, there has been a continuous suggestion that the quality of care and the cost savings provided by these organizations are still vague (Kratewski, Dowd, Savage, &
JunLiang, 2014). With the qualifying improvements derived from healthcare systems it may seem that it has an impact towards reducing costs. However, eligible enhancements often call for further resources once production effectiveness has been implemented. With further resources, simple economics will call for compensation which requires cost increases to dictate quality improvement. Nonetheless, hospitals need to make certain that high quality services
…show more content…
Consumer’s today struggle to understand the reason for unreasonable health care costs; which delivers a burden among low income individuals. However, it is yet unclear if the cost of health care affects the quality of care for patients. In addition, the study will determine the factor of income and the burden of health care cost towards the consumers.
Purpose of the study and limitations
This study is intended to further understand the impact of health care quality and cost in our communities. It is important to further understand the relationship between the cost factors towards quality care. This study will aim to determine statistical significance of health care cost and quality while adjusting for determinants of ethnicity, income, job status, and type of healthcare providers. The proposed question will seek to better understand the impact towards the quality and cost of health care in the United States in the general public. In relations to; will the effect of higher expenditures result in better quality care, or will quality care outcomes help to control costs? It is not possible to determine the accuracy amongst
Berkowitz (2010) states that Gap One is created when the patient’s expectation of service quality and management’s perception of needed service quality do not match. Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry (1990) note that in order to deliver or meet the customers’ expectations the company must first understand what exactly the customer perceives as a need or want. An example of Gap One is when patients expect not only expert medical care, but also an environment similar to that of a hotel. Administrators from Albert Einstein Medical Center co...
Miller, H. D. (2009). From volume to value: better ways to pay for health care. Health Affairs
Healthcare providers must make their treatment decisions based on many determining factors, one of which is insurance reimbursement. Providers always consider whether or not the organization will be paid by the patients and/or insurance companies when providing care. Another important factor which affects the healthcare provider’s ability to provide the appropriate care is whether or not the patient has been truthful, if they have had access to health, and are willing to take the necessary steps to maintain their health.
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
The patients should receive safe and appropriate care in return for payment equal to the level of care received (“What is Value-Based Care”, 2016). For providers, this means using affordable and proven treatments while also catering to the patient’s needs (“What is Value-Based Care”, 2016). Additionally, this model is built upon measurement which when relayed to the patient will inform them of the scope and cost of their care. Examples of measures that are tracked, provided by the article “What is Value-Based Care,” include: procedural complications, hospital-acquired infections, and readmissions; providers face penalties if these metrics are unacceptable (“What is Value-Based Care”,
Overall, the increase within health care costs is effecting our nation significantly. Not only does it affect consumers but also organization. As it continues to increase everyone is finding themselves unable to pay for such changes. Reducing such growth within the health care costs requires a collaborative, inclusive, and dual-party approach. Strategies for reducing the costs include but not limited to: promoting prevention and healthy living, improving patient safety, and promoting transparency on medical costs and quality. If the nation works on such improvements, hopefully we will be able to turn the health care system into something we can all afford once again.
The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.
American people look at their insurance bills, co-pays and drug costs, and can't understand why they continue to increase. The insured should consider all of these reasons before getting upset. In 2004, employee health care premiums increased over 11 percent, four times more than the rate of inflation. In 2003, premiums rose 10.1 percent and in 2002 they rose 15 percent. Employee spending for coverage increased 126 percent between 2000 and 2004. Those increases were lower than expected. (National Coalition on Health Care, 2005, Facts on health care costs). Premiums have risen five times faster than workers wages, on average. If medical spending continues to rise by just two percent more than personal income, by 2040 Medicare and Medicaid would hit 18.5 percent of the gross domestic product, leading the federal deficit to be 20.7 of the gross domestic product. (Melcer, R., 2004, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Rising Costs of healthcare pose huge challenges).
The balance between quality patient care and medical necessity is a top priority and the main concern of many of the healthcare organizations today. Due to the rising cost of healthcare, there has been a change in the focus of reimbursement strategies that are affecting the delivery of patient care. This shift from a fee-for-service towards a value-based system creates a challenge that has shifted many providers’ focus more directly on their revenue. As a result, organizations are forced to take a hard look at the cost of services they are providing patients and then determining if the services and level of care are appropriate for the prescribed patient care.
Rising medical costs are a worldwide problem, but nowhere are they higher than in the U.S. Although Americans with good health insurance coverage may get the best medical treatment in the world, the health of the average American, as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality, is below the average of other major industrial countries. Inefficiency, fraud and the expense of malpractice suits are often blamed for high U.S. costs, but the major reason is overinvestment in technology and personnel.
... is an abstract model that proposes an exploratory plan for health services and evaluating quality of health care. In accordance with the model, information about quality of care can be obtained from three categories: structure, process, and outcomes. In addition, not long ago The Joint Commission include outcomes in its accreditation valuations (Sultz, & Young, 2011, p. 378).
In the healthcare system, quality is a major driving compartment for patient outcomes. The quality of care reflects the outcomes in a patient’s care. According to Feeley, Fly, Walters and Burke (2010), “quality equ...
The recommendations would lead to increased costs, but again, the benefits in quality of primary care and efficiency of nursing practice that will result from this far outweighs the financial resources put in, into the long-term. The result will be a nurses’ commitment to patient-centered, quality, safe, and reliable care, as well as improved efficiencies in health care
Another factor being looked at in quality of care is patient satisfaction. There has been some debate as to whether the patient’s perception of their care truly reflects the quality of care. I feel like this can be looked at from both angles. The nurse to patient ratio certainly factors into this as well as the acuity of the patients which can vary dramatically. Just stepping onto the floor we have a long list of “to do’s” for our patients; doctors to call, test results to look for, protoco...
Understanding quality measurement is essential in improving quality. Teams need to be able to understand whether the changes being made are actually leading to improved care and improved outcomes. For data to have an impact on an improvement initiative, providers and staff must understand it, trust it, and use it. Health care organization must understand the measurement of quality provided by the Institute of Medicine (patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, compliance, efficiency, safe, timely, patient centered, and equitable. An organization cannot improve its performance if it does not know how it is performing. Measuring quality improvements is essential as it reflects the quality of care given by the providers and that by comparing performance