Impact Of Health Care Reform On Quality

In the United States alone there are 98,000 deaths per year caused by low quality health care (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2013, pg. 2). This statistic is disturbing because the errors that resulted in death were errors that were preventable. The intent of this chapter is to bring awareness to health care providers that are able to make a change in the quality of health care. In current practice patients are subjected to medication errors, preventable hospitalizations, premature death, and poor care provided due to racial, ethical, or low-income factors.

Healthcare is in a constant state of change with movements that impact rates, access and quality of care. Hospitals have become more competitive due to the rising cost of care delivery and the reduction in reimbursement from payers. This causes difficulty in delivering quality care to all patients, which is being measured by mandated patient perception surveys, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). HCAHPS scores are part of value

Health System Reform in the United States: Impact of Rising Premiums and Opportunities for System Improvements to Enhance Access to Healthcare Services

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

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

Americans to the coverage rolls” (HHS, 2013). This shows that on the potential positive side of

What a wonderful world we would live in if everyone could have health insurance. So many who are sick and in need of good quality medical care. Thanks to President Obama everyone who lives in the great USA will now have the opportunity. Ever heard that old saying too good to be true? We as Americans spend more than any other place in the world on health care. So that being said should we not have the best patient care in all the world? If that’s true then why do Americans seek health care elsewhere?

Obamacare was made to be quality care at a price that many can afford, and in a way that the public can access. Looking at the facts it has in fact helped many people, over 20 million Americans were covered as a result of of Obamacare. This includes Americans who could not receive help before, including low income families and people previously turned away due to a pre-existing condition. The democrats feel that the right way to help people and give care to the American people, is to have the government step in and control the health care of the country. This has proven to be greatly beneficial and democrats believe that it should continue to be utilized, despite the views of the opposing political parties.

Quality health care is an issue in America for everyone, despite our numerous tests and advances in technology. In his article, “Overkill,” Atul Gawande argues against a common assumption that our healthcare system is the best because of these medical advances. In fact, Gawande claims that our health care provides much unnecessary care that often causes harm and that costs a lot . He follows that claim by redefining “low-value care” as “no-value care” and provides considerable scientific data along with his own experience with his own patients to support his claim. He also states logical reasons by referring to expert authorities who critique our health care by viewing it from an economic perspective: like talking about information asymmetry where a doctor is more informed than the patient, thus the doctor has more power over the patient. All of these emphases strongly defend his controversial claim. But what stands out most is how Gawande uses several stories showing vastly different outcomes, depending on how informed the patient and doctor are including offering non invasive treatments. We need to explore how his unusual storytelling strategy exposes how surgeons and patients should care more about quality than the mere quantity of tests and what alternatives are available to change the unnecessary over testing and over-diagnosis which prevent good health care.

In my opinion the force/factor that has had the most significant impact on the development of the US health care system is the development and growth of the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA placed physicians and the medical model squarely in the center of health care development as the 20th century began. At the turn of the century the AMA did not have the influence in the country that it commands today. However, that began to change in 1904 when they reorganized and pulled the State Medical Societies together to create a cohesive organization of physicians (Shi & Singh, 2013; Ding, 2013). These State Medical societies had been started mainly to protect the people. Physicians felt they needed to ‘protect’ the people from snake

These surveys and reports are made accessible to the community. Leapfrog Group, for example, have inspired and led a program uniting patients and purchasers to use transparency to improve the safety and quality of the health care system. Patient’s make choices according to their personal preference, characteristics, and prior assumptions and their loyalty is a precarious component in a sustainable service success. According to The Walker Company (n.d.), loyalty is driven by the patient’s sense that the hospital, its physicians, administration and medical personnel are working together in a coordinated manner to ensure that their health care needs are met. What is more, some have the financial and personal resources and the time available to identify and research different options, while others lack the means to do

In 1994, Republicans won majority in both House of Representatives, and Senate for the first time in four decades. The Republicans won solely based on a contract called the Contract with America, which contained ten new reforms to give Americans a better future. In 1996, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat candidate, gave the annual State of the Union Address, which included various proposals, some liberal and some conservative. Although Bill Clinton and Congressional Republicans had different viewpoints on health care reforms and conflicting attitudes towards the opposing political parties, their ideas on budget stabilization and feelings toward restoration of American dream were the same.

Receiving care from a physician cannot compare to ordering a restaurant meal. Even if patients have identical conditions, the severity of the problem and the overall health of the patient dictates their treatments. When healthcare consumers leave a rating on Yelp, or other review sites,

Patients often have a limited knowledge of illness and medicine, yet they desire more control over their healthcare. In many healthcare settings, patient care is inconsistent and "patients' quality of

Quality is one of the most essential elements of healthcare. As stated by the Agency of Health Research and Quality, “Everyday, millions of Americans receive high-quality health care that helps to maintain or restore their health and ability to function” (Agency of Health Research and Quality, 2014). Improvements have become vital to the success of health care organizations and in the Healthcare Quality Book, it is explained that quality in the U.S. healthcare system is not at the standard that it should be (Ransom, Joshi, Nash & Ransom, 2008). Although this has been a reoccurring issue, attempts to fix the insufficiency have been less successful than expected.