Learning About Inhibition Of Access And Tools For Becoming A Better Physician For Dr. Danielle Ofri

Healthcare has been a long standing battle for the United States. The need to provide access

Every individual in the world deserves to enjoy health and wellness. Maintaining or achieving proper health needs enables individuals to be productive at work and leisure. Traditionally, many people have had barriers obtaining adequate healthcare due to economic constraints or personal inconveniences. Despite impressive technological advances in medicine, the challenge of delivering quality healthcare to the Americans continues to be debated amongst the nation’s political and healthcare leaders. The aging baby-boomers and the increased number of uninsured people add to the equation of population growth which results in limited access to primary healthcare for the entire public. On the

Access to care has become a buzz word in the modern healthcare theater. The prevailing thought is that our healthcare system will experience a significant amount strain as an increasing number of individuals seek care with increased number of individuals being covered by third party payers under the affordable care act. Access to care has become a catch-all term used to describe the inability for an individual or population to seek needed healthcare services. Access to care can be divided into 4 major problems within a healthcare setting to include, physical accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and supply and demand. While the current state of our healthcare delivery system in regards to the changes implemented by the affordable care act has attempted to address affordability and acceptability. The affordable care act may have strained the infrastructure of our system in regards to the supply and demand aspects as well as physical accessibility challenges to many populations.

The dysfunction of the American health care system implies that not everyone has access to the right medication and medical treatment. Middle-class families and chronically ill patients do not always have access to health care, and when they do they do not receive adequate treatment with regards to hospitalization and medical services or quality of service. The lack of payment reform results in

The availability of healthcare is an extremely important issue in the United States. There are millions of Americans that are uninsured in the U.S. A high amount of uninsured people are from minority groups such as Hispanics and African-Americans. High deductible payments, the cost of prescription drugs, and lack of health insurance coverage cause many Americans to choose to live without insurance to save money for everyday expenses beside healthcare. Without health insurance, people do not have access to quality healthcare. Most citizens are aware of the issues in the healthcare system, but the disagreement comes when discussing how the best approach on ameliorating the system. Some believe that a more public and universal healthcare system is the best approach. Others believe that America works best through free enterprise and private institutions, and believe health insurance should be more privatized. However, health care has been shown to work best and be more available through proper public government control as it will allow for all Americans to have access to equal healthcare, in which money does not dictate health.

The issue with health care in the United States is similar to a domino effect. Each sociological factor such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender all inter twine. This domino effect occurs when one factor connects to another factor in which creates a cycle. This cycle involves inequality, discrimination, and unequal distribution of quality. According to multiple research and scholarly articles, the health care system displays many issues and flaws when it comes to the care and coverage for people depending on their social status.

The health care system must change to improve our nation’s health and takes strong steps to address the unsustainable growth of health care costs in America. We still have a long way to go before our health system become effective. We still have population that do not have insurance, have difficulties accessing their health care, or their needs are not met within the healthcare system. It is an investment in prevention and wellness and increasing access to primary care physician.

Everyone should have the opportunity to achieve a healthy life and have comprehensive health care services available to them. To achieve this healthy life, people need to have access to the health care system and to a health care provider with whom they can develop a trusting relationship. However, existing barriers to attaining health care services often lead to disparities which in turn lead to differences in life expectancy, health status and a higher prevalence of certain chronic diseases (HealthyPeople.gov, 2012).

This year being an election year means that the American people are confronted with many issues and disparities that plague our nation. One of these hot button topics is that of healthcare. The United States is the only developed nation without a universal healthcare system, but spends the most for health services. With so many Americans lacking the adequate care needed or facing bankruptcy due to piling medical bills, one must look at the health disparities that are causing this super power nation to inadequately serve its citizens.

Everyone has their own views on what they think the United States healthcare system should consist of. Consequently, the healthcare system has been flawed for many years and does not plan to change anytime soon. According to Luft (2006), “rapid and wide-reaching technological innovation, the ready access to care for the insured, and clinical and patient autonomy” (p.1). These are some of the strengths the US healthcare system are proficient in providing. In contrast, the weaknesses of the healthcare system outweigh the system’s strengths. Luft (2006) examined and acknowledged the following:

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States

Our healthcare system needs major restructuring. Major improvements needs to begin with "all health care organizations, professional groups, and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury, and disability, and to improve the health and functioning of the people of the United States", (Crossing the ……, 2001).

Access to health care refers to the individual’s ability to obtain and use needed services (Ellis & Hartley, 2008). Access to health care affects a multitude of people. Uninsured, underinsured, elderly, lower socioeconomic class, minorities, and people that live in remote areas are at the highest risk for lack of access to health care. There are also economical and political roles that complicate access to health care. Access to health care is a multi-faceted concept involving geographic, economics, or sociocultural issues. With my extensive research on access to health care, I hope to provide influences regarding; who is affected by lack of access, geographic, economic, sociocultural access, and

There are many issues that are causing changings in the healthcare system. Population aging, rapidly increasing costs of healthcare and the growing burden of chronic disease are challenges to health systems worldwide. To meet these challenges will require new approaches to healthcare delivery and comprehensive population health management. Many states are not prepared to tackle this issue yet. The US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world with health status indicators that are only average in comparison

Despite the countless advanced in technology and the abundance of health care organization popping up all over the place, whether they are free standing clinics, hospitals, urgent cares or etc, many people still lack the ability to receive quality health care. This has become a concern throughout the world, but especially a more vocal concern for residents of the United States in the past few years. In this paper we will discuss the reasons preventing access to quality health care and how we can overcome the many obstacles that stand in our way to provide quality health care to many who lack it today.