Evaluate The Impact Technological Changes Have Had On The Economics Of Health Care

According to jhsph.edu, “health economics is an applied field of study that allows for the systemic and rigorous examination of the problems faced in promoting health for all. And health economics aims to understand the behavior of individuals, health care providers, public and private organizations, and governments in decision making” (Howard, n.d.). Overall, health care economics are important to patient care in the aspect of becoming a completely satisfaction based institution. For example, some hospitals receive additional funding from Medicate if the hospital has a high patient satisfaction rating. It also blows my mind that of most countries, the U.S. spends the most money on healthcare, and still has a very high rate of infant mortality

Throughout the history of the United States, the economics of the health care system has experienced many changes. There are many factors to consider that has been the drive behind many of the changes within the health care system. Medical and surgical technologies are some factors that relate to the changes in health care. Besides these factors, allocating sources to fund health care services has always been the most critical factor. One might consider the economic term supply and demand when looking at the history of health care economics and the primary funding source. Health care funding

Health care costs are a longstanding concern to policymakers. For years, health care spending has been rising faster than the rate of economic growth, raising the question of what factors are responsible for rising health care costs. This paper explores published articles that report results from research conducted on technological innovations in health care and its relation to rising health care costs. The cost increases have a significant effect on households, businesses, and government programs. Health care experts indicates the development and diffusion of medical technology as primary factors in explaining the persistent

Competition between providers has caused physicians and hospitals to offer the most current healthcare technologies and modern, eye-catching settings has contributed to increasing healthcare costs, as well as providing unwarranted highly technical services (Shi & Singh, 2015). Renovations of the physical settings and the acquisition of expensive technologies elevated healthcare services prices to cover the additional costs of providing high technical services and attracting clients.

Worldwide use of computer technology in medicine began in the early 1950s with the rise of the computers. In 1949, Gustav Wagner established the first professional organization for informatics in Germany. Medical informatics research units began to appear during the 1970s in Poland and in the U.S. Since then the development of high-quality health informatics research, education and infrastructure has been a goal of the U.S. and the European Union. (NYU graduate training program, 2010) Changes in the healthcare environment produced fundamental shifts in the delivery of healthcare. The altering landscape of healthcare is creating a huge demand for health data analytics. The growth and maturity of healthcare informatics over the past decade has been a prime catalyst in positioning the healthcare industry for the changes posed by reform measures. By understanding the process of analytics, clinical informatics specialists say healthcare providers have the insight necessary to make the process adjustments in the future.(Riskin, 2013)

Medical technology encompasses a wide range of healthcare products and is used to diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases or medical conditions that affect humans. This may included but not limited too, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical equipment. Such technologies are intended to improve the quality of healthcare delivered through earlier diagnosis, less invasive treatment options and reductions in hospital stays and rehabilitation times. Recent advances in medical technology have also focused on cost reduction. Medical technology may include medical devices, information technology, biotech, and healthcare services. The impacts of medical technology may involve social and ethical issues. For example physicians may seek objective information from technology rather than listening to subjective patient reports. A major contributor of healthcare expenditure in America is the advancement of medical technology. According to several studies it is shown that there is a correlation between the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and money allocated to healthcare. One of the leading theories is that medical technology is growing faster than expected.

The health care industry is one of the most dynamic and delicate industries in the U.S. having experienced healthy and substantial changes for the last thirty years most of which have aimed to improve health care management and services delivery to the patients. The changes have enabled the integration of technology into the industry such as in the area of informatics, science and research and payment services and clinical treatments. The health care sector has introduced various changes to address disease and health care management such as the Modernization Act of 2003, the Patient Protection Act and Affordable Act, which aim at improving health provision and most

1. Although medical technology brings numerous benefits, what have been some of the main challenges posed by the growing use of medical technology in the United States?

When talking about the United States healthcare system, it seems any conversation centers around cost. Whether it is corporations or employers talking about rising healthcare premiums that are out of control, to American families discussing getting less coverage for the amount of the premium they pay, or the soon to be retired person who wonders how they will make it with the high cost of Medicare premiums and prescription drugs. The challenge continues to be delivering world class healthcare at an affordable cost to all stakeholders. The cost of healthcare continues to impact the dominating delivery system of Managed Care here in the United States.

Although some opportunities may include access to care, the cost of care, quality of care, care delivery, preventive medicine, health information technology (HIT), patient access to personal health records, and better treatments and strategies. Trends reshaping the healthcare system include the growth of the healthcare sector, shrinking share of direct consumer payments, the growth of the uninsured,

Medical cost trend is the projected percentage increase in the cost to treat patients from one year to the next. After significant five-year shrinkage in healthcare spending growth comes to an end by next year as the economy grows stronger it releases a repressed demand for care and services. Despite some higher utilization and cost of new technologies, research for new cures of AIDS, hepatitis C, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, the rise in the expected growth rate in 2015-2016 is tolerable compared to the two-digit annual increases seen through the late 1990s and early 2000s. While the structure of the health care delivery system has undergone significant change over the last decade health care cost inflation slowed recently, primarily as

One of the biggest industries in the United States is healthcare industry, which accounts for over 17.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. This big representation of the nation’s economic activities impacts the overall economy. In other ways, it’s also impacted by the general economy. While the health care industry continues to grow, transformational changes also continue to enforce change in its organizational structure. Change in organizational structure enables health care providers to make arrangement for the change. In this case, the overall health care providers’ advance in new medical technology (to provide the best quality services), financial system, and the entire health care service structure, rules, and regulations are changed. Hence, a health care industry is fronting a noteworthy pressure to reduce health care cost, to prepare for an influential change in how health care is provided, financed and consumed while delivering the quality care (Hicks & Jacobs, 2014, pp. 385-402).

In the article How Changes in Medical Technology Affect Health Care Cost authors give an answer to the question why health care spending increase rapidly last few years. Authors describe what term “medical technology” is mean and how innovations in medical technology can increase people spending on health care. Authors give us a statistic of spending in health care industry in our country for past ten years and compare spending on medical technology and other parts of healthcare spending. For the last forty five years health care expenditures increase from $356 dollars in 1970 to 8.000 in 2013 and it is projected to rise to $12,320 in 2015. A key question is why spending on a health care increase faster than on other goods and services. Researchers

In this paper there will be a brief discussion of three forces that have affected the development of the U.S healthcare system. It will observe whether or not these forces will continue to have an effect on the U.S healthcare system over the next decade. This paper will also include an additional force, which may be lead to believe to have an impact on the health care system of the nation. And lastly this paper will evaluate the importance of technology in healthcare.

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,