HS230M2 Blog
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Purdue Global University *
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Course
230M2
Subject
Health Science
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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docx
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6
Uploaded by MajorTroutPerson689
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How healthcare policy can impact cost, access, and qu
ality in the U.S. healthcare delivery system
Melinda Rogers
Purdue University Global
HS230M2 Forces that Impact HealthCare
Professor Jennifer Claire
February 13, 2024
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Introduction The idea of the "iron triangle of health care" illustrates the trade-offs between the three main aspects of health care: access, quality, and cost. This paradigm states that any improvement in one of three areas will ultimately result in a compromise on the other two. For instance, a strategy that makes health services more accessible would result in worse medical care at higher costs. Value in a healthcare system is represented by the ideal triangle state, which combines high
access and quality at a reasonable cost. (Carroll, 2012) I'll look at how the healthcare iron triangle impacts patient care in many situations and places in this blog article. I'll also go over a few of the obstacles and chances to improve the value of healthcare delivery. (Can COVID-19 Disprove the Iron Triangle of Health Care? - 3M Inside Angle, 2022) The idea of the "iron triangle" in healthcare refers to the trade-offs that exist between the three aspects of healthcare: quality, cost, and accessibility. This idea holds that enhancing one aspect typically means sacrificing another, making it challenging to establish a universal, reasonably priced, and superior healthcare system. (Luellen, 2018)
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The collection of choices and actions that influence the population's health outcomes and the health care system is known as health policy. Depending on its objectives and structure, health policies can affect all three points of the iron triangle in either a favorable or negative way. (Health Policy - Healthy People 2030 | Health.gov, n.d.) The idea of the "iron triangle" is frequently applied to project management and healthcare to highlight the inherent trade-offs between three crucial elements. These elements consist of:
Access: Discusses the simplicity and availability of receiving medical care or accomplishing project objectives.
Cost: Denotes the financial limitations, including spending plan and out-of-pocket costs, related to delivering medical care or finishing a project.
Quality: Denotes the degree of proficiency or efficacy in medical services or project outcomes.
According to the iron triangle, enhancing one factor frequently means sacrificing the other two. Let's examine an illustration of each situation:
1. Cost
: Definition: The cost of medical services, treatments, and procedures is expressed in monetary terms. It includes both direct and indirect costs, including missed productivity from illness and medical expenditures, insurance premiums, and out-of-pocket expenses.
As an illustration:
Hospitalization costs are all of the expenses related to a hospital stay, such as lodging costs, prescription drugs, outpatient procedures, and diagnostic testing.
Costs of Prescription Drugs:
The amount that patients must pay for their drugs, which might differ depending on the brand, generic substitutes, and insurance coverage.
Relationship:
Quality-Cost Trade-off
: Sometimes cutting expenses (like by purchasing generic medications)
might hurt the standard of care.
Access-Cost Trade-off: Reducing expenses might make access better for some, but it might also make it more difficult for others to get because of financial concerns.
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