Safety, Information Management, And Innovation In Health Care Delivery

Medicine is a career field/topic that is constantly evolving, developing and branching out. Medicine is described as the practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases, sicknesses, and other ailments. There are a multitude of medical careers with each one specializing in something different from the other, but with all sharing the same idea of helping others in a time of need. How can a career in medicine benefit a community? The answer can be found by exploring the many medical careers offered, an understanding of the crisis that occurs in the lives of people with little or no access to medical treatment or health insurance, and exploring the different ways in which medical care can be taken to the less fortunate around the world

and locally in the community. Medical care is an element in life that every individual needs and deserves.
Having no health insurance has a lasting effect not only on the person’s physical health but on the economy as well. People who are uninsured may in fact receive poorer medical care because of this. Editor Jeffrey Wilson believes in, “Treatment Without Insurance”, that people with no insurance tend to receive sub-quality medical care than people with health insurance. This article includes on page 2 that,”A report released in 2000 by the Consumers Union (the publisher of Consumer Reports) revealed that the uninsured in general do receive lesser care than the insured.” Being uninsured when it comes to medical care tends to have a “trickle down effect” on the health and overall treatment of the individual.
With millions of uninsured Americans, insured Americans “feel the effects.”On page 1 in the article,”Medical Care” from Opposing Viewpoints in Context, there is an example of how this is happening. The article states, “In an effort to maintain profitability, many insurance companies have begun to shift some of the costs onto the consumer in the form of higher deductibles—the amount the insured person must pay before coverage begins—and co-payments—the insured person’s share of the medical expenses as outlined by the plan.” People who are insured are having to pay higher out-of-pocket expenses in order for the insurance companies to maintain their profits. The economy is also very much affected when it comes to Americans not having health insurance. The same article,”Medical Care”,states in bold that,”In 2008, health-care expenditures reached $2.3 trillion, or $7,681 per person, in the United States.” The U.S. is incurring a lot of debt because of the crisis that is going on that involves people not having health insurance.
As the world is ever-changing and evolving, so is the medical field.
Barbara Wexler in the article, “Change,Challenges, and Innovation in Health Care Delivery” asserts that the sites where healthcare is delivered, patterns of disease, and threats to U.S. public health have all changed. She claims that, “ Sites have shifted from inpatient settings to outpatient settings, disease has shifted from acute infectious diseases to chronic conditions, and threats have shifted from bioterrorism to pandemic influenza.” The article begins its explanation by including that, “Since the 1970s the U.S. health care system has experienced rapid and unprecedented change.” Each year, there is a shift in almost every aspect of medical care from the primary locations where medical treatment is given to what doctors and health care workers are seeing as the most common health conditions. Barbara Wexler further on in the article, “Change, Challenges, and Health Care Delivery”, states her concern if the medical field will be able to keep up with the ever evolving technological advances. On page one of the article, she states that,” Many worry that the health care system is already unable to deliver quality care to all Americans and that it is so disorganized that it will be unable to meet the needs of the growing population of older Americans or to respond to the threat of a pandemic or bioterrorism.” With the ever changing world we live in comes new advances in technology and the growing concern if the healthcare industry will be able to keep up.
The most pressing challenges and opportunities the healthcare system faces today includes safety, information management, and innovation.

Safety involves preventing medical errors, information management includes providing timely access of medical information to patients, and innovation is centered around new ideas to make medical care more efficient.

Barbara Wexler, as editor of the article,”Change, Challenges, and Innovation in Health Care Delivery” state's,” Equitable distribution refers to access to care that does not vary in quality based on the characteristics, such as race, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, of the population served.” Safety and information management as well as innovation should all be the same in quality no matter the demographics of the

patients.
The development of communication and information management technologies has changed the way healthcare is delivered. Barbara Wexler includes in the same article, “Change, Challenges, and Innovation in Healthcare Delivery”, information about telemedicine. She says that, “Telemedicine may be as simple and commonplace as a conversation between a patient and a health professional in the same town or as sophisticated as surgery directed by way of satellite and video technology from one continent to another.” The article, “Rural Clinics Embrace E-Health” also views telemedicine as a way to reach out to the people of Zimbabwe who are in outlying communities. Sam Kundishora who is in charge of this project believes the whole idea of introducing telemedicine to rural health facilities is,” to see an improvement in the delivery and provision of cost effective and accessible health services, particularly to people in rural areas.” The whole idea and hopeful outcome of this project is to, “improve the process of consultation, diagnosis, treatment, distant learning in medical updates and prevention of epidemics” Telemedicine is a prime example of the developments going on in the medical field.
There is a wide variety of health care related jobs out in the world today, with different skill sets that come with every job.

Skill sets, as well as knowledge, vary from job to job. Roxanne Nelson, as author of the article,”Where the Jobs Are--Health Care: From High-Tech to High-Touch, Explore a World of Career Opportunities in Medicine and Health” states that,”Health-care jobs of every kind can be fulfilling. They require different skill sets and kinds of knowledge, and they offer a wide range of ways to help people.” The article,”Health Care Occupations” projects that “ Employment of healthcare occupations is projected to grow 19 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.3 million new jobs.” With a career field as big and developing as the medical field, there is sure to be a job that would fit

anyone.
Roxanne affirms that some medical jobs may require working directly with people but not always in clinical settings. In her article she includes that,” The work of opticians, physical and occupational therapists, speech pathologists, pharmacists, ultrasound technicians, and mental health counselors is considered hands-on. People behind the scenes are as important as those on the front lines, from those who work with computers (medical information) to those who work with words (medical transcription).” The wide variety of jobs available in the medical field allows for a wide variety of people to work together.
Education is also another element that varies in the medical field. Different jobs in the medical field require different years of schooling. In her article, Nelson further elaborates on this idea by stating that, “People who want to be doctors can plan to spend about a decade attending college and med school and getting further training. Some health-care jobs require only a two-year college degree, a certification course, or on-the-job training. Some positions, such as dental assistant or pharmacy technician, provide basic training and experience and serve as stepping-stones to more highly skilled and higher-paying jobs.” Even though some careers, such as doctors, require ten years or more of schooling, other careers may only require two. Even with this education gap between careers, the people in these careers work with each other everyday. With a wide variety of careers offered in the medical field, comes a wide range of education levels.
Nelson, further on in her article, includes that Allied Health jobs are present in the medical field with 200 different job types that require different education levels. She states that, “ Allied health jobs are usually organized into two large categories: technicians/ assistants and therapists/technologists.” Technicians and assistants are not required to have as high an education as the therapists and technologists they work under. They work under the supervision of the more educated therapists and technologists. Medical assistants have a very important role in the medical field. The article, “Medical Assistants” affirms that, “Medical assistants complete administrative and clinical tasks in the offices of physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Their duties vary with the location, specialty, and size of the practice.” Without medical assistants, physicians would have no aid in patient evaluation.
There are many ways in which health care can be taken to underserved communities locally, nationally, and internationally. Developments in communication and information management technologies has improved the availability and quality of medical care. Online distance learning programs and the availability of reliable information online has increased people’s awareness and concern regarding sickness. Wexler in her article, “Change, Challenges, and Innovation in Health Care Delivery” includes that,”Health care data can be easily and securely collected, shared, stored, and used to promote research and development over great geographic distances and across traditionally isolated industries.” With healthcare data having the ability to be stored and shared online, more advanced medical care is reaching more people. The development of technology in the medical field will continue to allow more people to be reached and served.
Wireless technology in hospitals is another way in which better medical treatment is becoming more available to people. Wexler, in her article, includes information about the advantages hospitals with wireless technology have over hospitals without this kind of technology. She states in, "Ten Lessons from the Top 100" (Hospitals and Health Networks, July 2007), Alden Solovy asserts that the most wired hospitals have better outcomes than other hospitals on key measures including mortality rates, the AHRQ's patient safety measures, and average length of stay.” Wexler affirms that this technology is primarily used to improve patient flow and workflow, to measure and analyze process movements, to facilitate electronic ordering and bedside medicine matching, and to identify patients with possible worsening conditions.
Online patient-physician consultations is another example where medical care is being delivered outside of hospitals and clinics. Wexler, in her article, includes information about the idea of people being able to receive medical treatment if for some reason they could not make it to the doctor's office. People are able to receive medical care from the comfort of their own homes if they are unable to make it to the doctor’s office. Wexler says that, “Stone notes that "early studies indicate that e-medicine methods improve the productivity of providers, reduce the number of office visits, and saves money."” Not only is the access to medical care broadening in this idea, but the cost to patients is far diminished compared to the normal fees acquired through visiting a normal doctor's office.
To help meet the medical needs of the underserved population, there are a growing number of free, sliding fee scale and income based health care clinics. Most of these are housed in buildings but there are mobile clinics as well. At these clinics, patients can receive a doctor visit, needed medicines, follow-up care, specialty referrals when needed, health education, chronic disease management, and even vision and dental care. The free clinics do not cost anything for the customers. Some clinics operate on a sliding fee scale- prices for the medical services are variable based on a customer’s ability to pay. There are also income based clinics where customers pay what they can afford based on their income. In the Tulsa area there are various free or sliding fee scale health clinics: Good Samaritan Health Services (mobile clinic), Morton Comprehensive Health Services, Neighbor for Neighbor, Community Health Connection Tulsa Eastside Clinic, Community Health Connection Tulsa Kendall Whittier, Bedlam Clinic South St. Louis, Health Outreach Prevention Education, Neighbors Along the Line and various other clinics. These clinics serve the uninsured and low income persons - the underserved.
Electronic e-counters allow patients to communicate home monitoring results that can be added as documentation to a patient’s permanent medical record. Wexler favors the idea of electronic e-counters by saying in her article that, “Another advantage is that less time devoted to telephone calls improves the efficiency of the physician's office, thereby boosting productivity and potentially reducing practice expenses.”With a boost in productivity and a reduction in practice expenses comes more time and money to be utilized in reaching more people who desperately are seeking medical treatment.
Medical care is an element in life that every individual needs and deserves. There is a downfall effect that occurs when people are uninsured or have no or limited access to medical care. There are many different career fields in medicine that all require different skill sets and education. All in all, advances in technology have allowed medical treatment to branch out in underserved communities. People who at first had limited access or no access to medical care, now have a renewed hope.