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Future Direction of Health Care Essay

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Deanna Kitzke Future Direction of Health Care HCA 421: Health Care Planning and Evaluation Instructor: Michele Reed October 23, 2010 Future Direction of Health Care The future direction of health care has begun to make dramatic changes in the last year. With the new Healthcare Reform Bill in effect, many of those Americans that do not currently have health care coverage are going to be able to have it now. There has been a lot of controversy over whether or not this bill is a good idea and if it will help or hurt the American public. Other advancements in medical records have also impacted how patient information is stored. The Affordable Care Act has gone into effect slowly over the last year and will begin to have a positive …show more content…

When electronic medical records are in place, the need for most paper documentation is eliminated, as well as having to store all of the paper documentation. This would take the idea of “Going Green” and recycling to a new level if all health care facilities would start using electronic medical records. Another advantage of electronic medical records is the ability for all in a health care team to coordinate care. This helps avoid duplication of testing, prescribing medicines that in combination might be dangerous and the ability for anyone on the medical team to understand the approaches taken to a condition. A person with complex health issues may see several specialists, and can easily become confused by overlapping or contrary advice. (Christensen, 2010) Not only does having medical records electronic make things much more efficient, it will make documenting patient information much quicker. Getting lab results, x-rays, pathology reports and prescriptions entered without error due to poor handwriting or having items get “lost” on the way back are both benefits of electronic medical records. The term pay for performance or value-based purchasing is set up to reward hospitals, physicians and all other health care providers for meeting a predetermined set of measures of quality and performance. As the baby boomer generation is getting older, health care is making changes to accommodate them. Pay for

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