Essay on Health Care Consumerism: New Marketing Trend

Regulations that prevent insurance companies from participating in interstate commerce have caused competition to grow stagnant in the United States. This lack of competition has allowed the adoption of wasteful procedures by healthcare providers, which in turn passes the increased expenses back to the insurance companies. Therein, insurance costs increase, crippling consumer’s cash flow and quality of life. While healthcare costs continue to rise, people must scrutinize the current healthcare system.

To guarantee that its members receive appropriate, high level quality care in a cost-effective manner, each managed care organization (MCO) tailors its networks according to the characteristics of the providers, consumers, and competitors in a specific market. Other considerations for creating the network are the managed care organization's own goals for quality, accessibility, cost savings, and member satisfaction. Strategic planning for networks is a continuing process. In addition to an initial evaluation of its markets and goals, the managed care organization must periodically reevaluate its target markets and objectives. After reviewing the markets, then the organization must

Health care is a huge benefit beyond the 1900’s. People try and receive healthcare from their job, but for others who may not have a job, or the job does not provide them with sufficient help, they will most likely look into the affordable care act. Which brings up this article named, “With New Health Law, Shopping Around Can Be Crucial” by Amanda Cox. This article encourages the customer to stick

With the current healthcare reform, all organizations around the globe are aiming to redesign their operations. Healthcare systems, that use the omnibus leadership model, need to function in an environment in which the needs of society will have a positive reaction. Nevertheless, the dynamic culture leadership model argues that healthcare organizations need to always work in ways that they can definitely give services that the society can use (Kennedy et al., 2011).

There are many challenges that are defining the future strategic direction of health care such as information technology advancements, access to health care, maintaining a skilled workforce, proposed health care reform and legislation, and rising costs. I will look at these challenges and how an organization may adapt its direction and strategies in accordance with these challenges.

Blue Cross, the only remaining non-profit insurance agency within the private sector, was unable to compete, forcing their surrender to the for-profit industry in the mid 1990’s (Rosenthal 18). This significant change within the health insurance industry marked the beginning of a war between consumers, insurance agencies, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and politicians that would last decades. Many American citizens would find themselves either uninsured or with skyrocketing premiums and copays, resulting in horrific debt whether they had coverage or not. So, while the American public struggled, quite literally, to survive, private insurers were making billions off their most vulnerable clients. Now, many wonder what happened to the original vision; that which had been exemplified by Blue Cross not long ago. When did it become acceptable for companies to profit off of the sick and injured? When did it become acceptable for insurers to turn their backs on those who need it the most? Over the course of her book, Rosenthal argues that in staying quiet, the federal government and the American people have enabled the monopolization of the healthcare industry (although the recent decision made by the U.S. senate not to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, as well as the ACA in itself, was a positive development). It has become increasingly evident that a system in which private-sector insurance agencies exist cannot be

The thought process behind consumer-driven health plans is that consumer activities can be improved in ways that will lessen the cost and

Health care spending in the United States of America as a percentage of the economy has reached astonishing heights, equating to 17.7 percent. This number is shocking when compared to other counties; in Australia health care is 8.9 percent, in United Kingdom 9.4 percent, in Canada 11.2 percent. If the American health care system were to hypothetically become its own economy, it would be the fifth-largest in the world. While these statistics sound troubling, they lead us to look for answers about the problems surrounding our system. The first health insurance company was created in the 1930s to give all American families an equal opportunity for hospital care and eventually led to a nationwide economic and social controversy that erupted in the 1990s and continued to be shaped by the government, insurance companies, doctors, and American citizens. In this paper, I will go in to detail about the various opinions regarding the controversy, the history behind health insurance companies, and the main dilemmas brought out by the health care crisis. Greedy insurance companies combined with high costs of doctor visits and pharmaceutical drugs or the inefficient hospitals all over America can only describe the beginning to this in depth crisis. Recently, the United States health care industry has become know for the outrageous costs of insurance models, developments of various social and health services programs, and the frequent changes in medicinal technology.

Over the past 30 years, the American healthcare system has been afflicted by the continuous rise of healthcare cost. One of the reasons for the increase in healthcare cost is that in today’s society people are living longer lives than they did in the past and the prevalence rates of contracting chronic diseases and developing life threatening injuries are causing the United States healthcare system to suffer a financial crisis. Another reason for the rise in healthcare cost includes but is not limited to expensive hospital visits, complex procedures, and cost of prescriptions. Consumers find several ways to reduce healthcare cost for the insured and uninsured individuals. Some patients questioned where

In the early 1930’s, the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Organization led consumers to hospitalization and medical coverage under their own charter for everyone who sought coverage for one prepaid fee.  Years later, other insurance companies, such as Kaiser Permanente began to offer coverage to consumers within their geographic boundary. However, health care spending is on the rise. Over the last couple of decades the expenditures have risen from 724.0 billion dollars in 1990 to 2,486.3 billion in 2009(US census, 2011). Today, we are a nation with Health Care Reform signed into law by President Obama

In the healthcare field, there are forces that drive practice and develop change within an organization. There are both internal and external forces in which not one organization is immune to (Kotter, 1996). By establishing a vision of the company, a sense of purpose and direction is created, working towards change within the forces (Huyer, 2014). When people participate in a vision, they work towards a common goal and identify what needs to be changed in order to reach that vision. In this paper, a presentation of Banner Health will be discussed, along with its mission and stakeholders, driving forces, viability, as well as an analysis of forces, a response to change, a vision for change, and an evaluation of change.

Health care consumerism positions the consumer at the center of their own health care. Consumers are able to make informed health care decisions and be an essential element of the decision making process. It is a trend and focus of the recent government regulations and standards that reduces the roles of insurance and employers. Health care consumers have direct access to health care services and the ability to make informed decisions. Examples of the movement towards increased education and information include the direct-to-consumer advertising of medical products, prescription medications, medical conditions and treatments. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the leading factors that have fueled the health care consumerism era, evaluation of health care consumerism on the health care leaders and marketing in the 21st century, compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of health care consumerism, explain points of agreement and disagreement in the articles for this assignment, justify and evaluate the most significant challenges in addressing consumerism by health care marketers and leaders.

"People have been brought up to believe that health care is an entitlement," says (Jeanne Holland, executive director of Northeast Physicians-Hospital Organization) at Beverly Hospital. "They think 'Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and health care on demand. ' Consumers need to change their thinking."

The healthcare system has seen significant change over the past decade. This is due to improved technology, healthcare reform, and the economic crisis (Hendren, 2010). With the changes that are occurring,

There is a move from a noncompetitive insurance environment to a competitive one because the competition was not by hospitals to provide the best and cheapest care, but rather among the insurers to get the healthiest patients. Consumer driven plans are central to the process because they are ideal for risk selecting the young and fit who have been driven to new plans. Healthy people could watch their account balances grow which leaves the truly sick behind in traditional plans. This particular type of competition is being used to attract the healthy and in turn lead to price increases because insurers have little incentive to control the prices medical providers are charged. It is the responsibility of the patients to worry about the cost and the patient does not have the same power as the insurance competitors do. According to a key South African regulator, Alex van den Heever of the Council for Medical Schemes, “Competition based on the shifting of risk