Transparency in Health Care
Janessa Choquette
Rhode Island College
Abstract
This paper takes a look at four published articles that delve into the topic of how transparency in health care would affect patients, providers, and the system as a whole if the United States ever took this route. The articles break down how the lack of transparency that is currently in place in the United States is either not good, or fine, for the health care system. The research that was conducted to write these articles was completed both online and offline, through phone interviews, online surveys, and face-to-face conversations. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether changing to full transparency in health care will result in better health outcomes in the United States than we have now, a worse impact, or none. Each article gives perspectives from different people within the delivery system to ensure that all aspects are being considered before a decision is being made.
Transparency in Health Care The truth is that transparency in the delivery of health care means completely different things to different people. Consumers, physicians, and providers all have different views as to what transparency would do to benefit or degrade the health care system. There have been numerous studies completed, and articles written, about how the lack of transparency in health care is negatively impacting the delivery of quality care. Many individuals in the past who work in
Health care has been an area of discussion for some time now. In the United States, the current health care system is a private system that allows individuals to choose their own method of care. Despite the freedom that comes with the independent nature of this type of health care system, the true disposition creates more problems than it solves. The privacy of the health care institutions has caused affordability and access to become serious issues with this system. Additionally, those with lower socioeconomic status fall short of the ability to access the same pool of resources as everyone else. Due to the issues with affordability, access, and the poor infrastructure of the health care system, a universal health
Over the course of our countries history, the delivery of our health care system has tried to meet the needs of our growing and changing population. However, we somehow seem to fall short in delivering our goals of providing quality, affordable and accessible healthcare to our citizens. The history of our delivery system will show we continuously changed the delivery of our system however never mange to control cost. If we can come up with efficient ways to cut cost, the delivery of quality care will follow.
Over the past decade, government operated and privately owned health care organizations have made improvements identifying patient disabilities, discovering alternative treatments at the patient’s discretion, identifying the cause of diseases, and discovering lifesaving cures. The current United States health care delivery system has undergone enormous changes throughout the years. People the United States utilize health care services for many reasons: to prevent disease, to prevent future illnesses, to eliminate pain, and promote a healthier lifestyle to patients. The Patient Protection and
A powerful force for change can be created by embracing transparency. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, “transparency is a broad-scale initiative enabling consumers to compare quality and the price of health care services so they can make their own informative choices among doctors and hospitals. This initiative is laying the foundation for pooling and analyzing information about procedures, hospitals and physicians services. In order to create value driven health care, there are four steps to turn raw data into
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) strives to improve the quality of the lives of Americans. The most current healthcare policy that endorses the ACA, is the ObamaCare initiative that has received a fair share of both support and criticism. (Hwang, et al. 2013) talks about the “Effects of the integrated delivery system on cost and quality”. According to the authors, most people criticize the American healthcare system because of its complexity, high cost and excessive fragmentation. The same scholars confirm however that the fragmentation and the provision of various services, benefit different people that require healthcare attention. The article focuses on several advantages of the integrated healthcare delivery systems (IDSs) in the United States. Furthermore, the scholars identify existing gaps, which include the various arguments of current health policy experts that have endeavored to discuss health policy issues in America. Americans can also access health care services through virtual technologies, which allow them to have different electronic health record databases. (Hwang, et al. 2013) uses relevant materials from peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed articles to describe the fluctuating nature of healthcare service delivery in America. Conclusively, the authors agree that the virtual systems create room for accountability, academic research in healthcare and efficient service delivery.
Some people may argue that letting patients know every bit of medical information can create unnecessary
The cost and quality of health care and access to it is one of the foremost aspirations in national health care. And the overall main aims of reforming the American health care system is to reduce costs, enhance the quality of and access to health care [1].
However, prior to the existence of the ACA, the American healthcare system left a lot to be desired and still today leaves room for improvement. The basic issues underlying efforts to improve the United States (US) health care system remain, as they have for decades, concerns for costs, access, and quality (Sultz, 2006). Even though knowledge, technology, and
By utilizing independent resources, consumers can educate themselves on important information about selecting care and diverse healthcare services available.
Healthcare in the United States has reached a level of complexity which has perplexed Presidents, Congressional members and private industry for over a century (Palmer, 1999). While the healthcare system has evolved over the last century, policy decisions which have attempted to effectuate changes to cost, quality and access have been
I chose to review title VI of the Affordable Care Act, which encompasses transparency and program integrity. This section of the Affordable Care Act focuses on keeping Americans informed about their healthcare choices and reducing fraud and abuse in programs funded by the federal government. “It attempts to strengthen doctor-patient relationships using new medical research and access to more data to allow doctors and patients to make the decisions that work best for them” (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d.).
A major change is occurring in the healthcare system as the United States continues to move toward enhancing patient care quality and access while also decreasing cost. This significant transformation is driven by a variety of forces, including changes in managed care, a shift from pay for service to pay for quality, and ever-evolving client characteristics. This paper aims to discuss each of these factors and the ways in which they make this major transformation a difficult one for the nation to undergo.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) strives to improve the quality of the lives of Americans. The most current healthcare policy that endorses the ACA, is the ObamaCare initiative that has received a fair share of both support and criticism. (Hwang, et al. 2013) talks about the “Effects of the integrated delivery system on cost and quality”. According to the authors, most people criticize the American healthcare system because of its complexity, high cost and excessive fragmentation. The same scholars confirm however that the fragmentation and the provision of various services, benefit different people that require healthcare attention. The article focuses on several advantages of the integrated healthcare delivery systems (IDSs) in the United States. Furthermore, the scholars identify existing gaps, which include the various arguments of current health policy experts that have endeavored to discuss health policy issues in America. Americans can also access health care services through virtual technologies, which allow them to have different electronic health record databases. (Hwang, et al. 2013) uses relevant materials from peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed articles to describe the fluctuating nature of healthcare service delivery in America. Conclusively, the authors agree that the virtual systems create room for accountability, academic research in healthcare and efficient service delivery.
Transparency in Healthcare is one of the many debatable changes in the recent healthcare reform. Consenting for pricing, outcomes reports, and standardized performance metrics to be easily accessible to all patients is causing a debate among physicians and insurance not let alone the public. Transparency will bring light into healthcare cost and pricing while enlightening the availability of information needed by consumers to make informed healthcare choices based on their selected physicians. The aspired goal is to implement transparency in healthcare to be recognized, as an important role in which the rendering physician’s contracts will be value based and not quantity driven. The consumer or also know as the patient will have fundamental information on the insurance plan product purchased by him or her, allowing them to understand their patient responsibility towards the rendered cost with
As a matter of fact Wise and Yashiro, 2006 assert that there some individuals who describe the America’s system as being fragmented and inefficient, considering the staggering statistics regarding how Americans spend more on health care compared to other countries in the world. Additionally, they suffer from massive insurance costs and uneven quality of care, and thus understanding the debate about the two diametrically opposed viewpoints requires an in-depth understanding of the current health care issues in the United States (Rashidian, Joudaki, Vian, & Baradaran, 2012).