Turmoil in the Health Care System
Sara Windon
MHA 622: Health Care Ethics and Law
Dr. Smiles
November 13, 2017
Abstract
This paper will discuss why the current health care system is in turmoil and analyze two contributing factors to said turmoil. While analyzing the contributing factors, this paper will describe, in detail, how these factors impact consumers and the community. Finally, this paper will touch on the benefits of national health insurance and some of the risk factors that accompany it, as well.
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
There are many factors that can contribute to the success or failure of an organization and often it is difficult to pinpoint just one cause. The viability of the health care industry does not solely rely on consumers; it relies on environmental factors, the economy, politics, efficient management, and motivation. There are many contributing factors to turmoil within the health care industry and these factors need to be addressed with caution, accuracy, and in a timely manner so consumers can experience better quality care and the sense of importance.
References
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Shapiro, K., Peterman, N., & Wolnerman, D. (2013). Turmoil in the health care industry: what about the patients. The Americas Restructuring and Insolvency Guide, 100-106. Retrieved from http://www.americasrestructuring.com/08_SF/p100-106%20Turmoil%20in%20the%20healthcare%20industry.pdf
Zinn, J., Guglielmi, C., Davis, P., & Moses, C. (2012). Addressing the nursing shortage: the need for nurse residency programs. Patient Safety First, 96(6), 652-657. Retrieved from
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.
There is a shortage of all health care professions throughout the United States. One shortage in particular that society should be very concerned about is the shortage of Registered Nurses. Registered Nurses make up the single largest healthcare profession in the United States. A registered nurse is a vital healthcare professional that has earned a two or four year degree and has the upper-most responsibility in providing direct patient care and staff management in a hospital or other treatment facilities (Registered Nurse (RN) Degree and Career Overview., 2009). This shortage issue is imperative because RN's affect everyone sometime in their lifetime. Nurses serve groups, families and individuals to foster health and prevent disease.
Healthcare has been a topic of discussion with the majority of the country. Issues with insurance coverage, rising costs, limited options to gain coverage, and the quality of healthcare have become concerns for law makers, healthcare providers and the general public. Some of those concerns were alleviated with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, but new concerns have developed with problems that have occurred in the implementation of the new law. The main concerns of the country are if the Affordable Care Act will be able to overcome the issues that plagued the old healthcare system, the cost of the program, and how will the new law affect the quality of the health delivery system.
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
Since the 1990’s, the interest in nursing and the profession as a whole has decreased dramatically and is still expected to do so over the next 10-15 years according to some researchers. With this nursing shortage, many factors are affected. Organizations have to face challenges of low staffing, higher costs for resources, recruiting and reserving of registered nurses, among liability issues as well. Some of the main issues arising from this nurse shortage are the impact of quality and continuity of care, organizational costs, the effect it has on nursing staff, and etc. However, this not only affects an organization and community, but affects the nurses the same. Nurses are becoming overwhelmed and are questioning the quality of care that each patient deserves. This shortage is not an issue that is to be taken lightly. The repercussions that are faced by both nurses and the organization are critical. Therefore, state funding should be implemented to private hospitals in order to resolve the shortage of nurses. State funds will therefore, relieve the overwhelming burdens on the staff, provide a safe and stress free environment for the patient, and allow appropriate funds needed to keep the facility and organization operational.
The prolonged shortage of skilled nursing personnel has been a serious concern to the healthcare industry, and this shortage has impacted the quality of care delivery. In addition, nursing turnover has also exacerbated the problem of nursing shortage. Nursing shortage has been blamed on many nurses retiring and less younger nurses joining the occupation. There is also an increase in life expectancy (baby boomers) leading an increase in both physical and mental ailment with subsequent demand in nursing care. Nurses are also leaving nursing profession because of inadequate staffing, tense work environment, negative press about the profession, and inflexible work schedules. Even though nursing is a promising career and offers job security, the
Ever since the Affordable Care Act went into effect, the healthcare industry has experienced an increase in hospital mergers throughout the country. Even though Affordable Care Act has made it easier for many Americans to have access to preventing medicine and despite many efforts, the system remains in a complete state of disarray. Patient care has not improved in the industry. Nevertheless, hospital administrators argue that mergers are going to benefit their patients by reducing cost, provide better services and help them to achieve their desired outcome with the minimum use of resources and efforts. On the other hand, experts believe that hospital mergers will influence the healthcare market by causing medical costs to inflate.
The comparison of expenditures by itself demonstrates an environment where growth is occurring in what should be a non-growth oriented industry. As costs for health care rise investment and growth in other areas will continue to stagnate. A troubling parallel aspect of the health care environment is that along with rising costs there is a significant lack of coverage for millions of Americans. The US not only leads OECD nations in expenses per person but also leads the other nations in terms of citizens without basic health care coverage (Blank, 2012).
With so many changes in healthcare and the call to attention to reduce costs hospitals have been at the center of discussion in regards to health care reform. Many hospitals have gone out of business while others have simply gotten bigger and merged due to the complex and fundamental changes in deliveries care. Despite a history of strength and stature in America, the hospital institution is in the midst of massive and disruptive change (Houle and Fleece, 2012).
The cost of industry has a significant impact on health care so much so that while health institutions attempt to save money with cutbacks they see little reward and few gain in return. With technological advances, reduced staff numbers, and further push for greater efficiency the health care industry should see a great amount in savings which then should be pasted on to patients unfortunately this is not the reality. With all of the rising health costs and increased demand, health organizations are being forced to absorb more costs associated to patient care. A majority of the savings that come from cutbacks are being used to make up for those losses so that the institution can stay afloat.
The health industry is a very dynamic environment where healthcare organizations are confronted with many challenges. As change is inevitable in this contemporary healthcare system, so must problem-solving process be obligatory in order to survive and be successful. According to Ginter, Duncan and Swayne (2013), any organization that resist change will find itself out of touch with the needs of the prevailing market. This may require healthcare leaders to be proactive and constantly evaluate processes needed to identify all factors influencing the success of the organizations. In fact, the nature of modern healthcare system makes it critical for leaders to anticipate changes in these factors and how the changes will impact the organization
The healthcare industry is the fastest growing industry in the U.S. economy. Guaranteed success in this industry stems from the many positions developed by U.S. government agencies. Healthcare power is shared among federal and state governments to allow proper distribution of regulation throughout the United States. The need for healthcare will only become greater so it is important for everyone to be educated on who, and what, keep America’s health industry well run.
The health care system is very complexed and it is tremendously different from what it used to be years ago. The United States has one of the poorest health care systems compared to England and Canada. Every new politician feels as if they have the better solution for healthcare (Wilensky, 2008).
Businesses have a very strained relationship with that individual consumers, lenders, investors, and employees. This relationship became strained because of the global economic crisis and the general public in the United cynical business. The challenges faced by businesses in the twenty-first century will affect the community due to the strained relations. Therefore, countries need to rethink the health care community, to repair the social contract, and long-term financial position of the society. The countries need to give impetus to businesses to do business in the twenty-first century to solve the problem (Rosenfeld et al.,
If there’s one thing everyone can agree on in American politics, it’s that our healthcare system does not work as it should. We spend more than any other nation in the world on health care and yet have little to show for it: We’re often ranked lower than other industrialized nations on measures like infant mortality, amputations due to diabetes, or overall mortality. We spend more, but get less for our money.