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Healthcare Delivery System And The United States

Decent Essays

Healthcare delivery system in the United States is different and unique from most of other developed countries around the world. Understanding of the history of healthcare is important to analyze the characteristics of the healthcare system today. I will be contrasting the delivery of healthcare in the United States, during the preindustrial era and today in this paper. The contrast will involve a framework that is given below. 1. Access to healthcare 2. Quality of medical practice 3. Cost of healthcare 4. Medical Institutions
Access to Healthcare
Access to care can be defined as people’s ability to obtain healthcare when needed. It may also mean the availability of resources of care for people. Access is one of the main elements of health status. In preindustrial America, people were dealing with most problems of illness within their family, neighbors, and community. They had learned to rely on themselves in dealing with their own needs. Women were a big part of medicine of the domestic household. Mothers and wives were expected to have skills of family care and that was part of their responsibility. The demand for medical services was low. Occasionally, families had physicians come to their homes for treatments. Lay healers, bonesetters, and botanic practitioners were common. They used folk remedies that had passed down through generations. Families had mastered such a wide range of skills and self-reliance that there

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