Overutilization In Healthcare

One area where access to care is a problem is in the rural communities. Healthcare professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses all affect the quality and cost of care (Derksen, & Whelan, 2009). Going forward importance needs to be placed on using recourses more efficiently and effectively; these resources include but are not limited to tests, prescriptions,

As mentioned previously, another factor that may contribute to disparities in care is the choice of location for a practice. Many patients, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged, may have difficulty commuting to a practice that is far from their community, especially if it is outside of the area serviced by public transportation. Furthermore, even if they can make it to the practice, they may be placing themselves at an even further economic

‘Some counties don't have certain types of doctors” (Leonard 2). If an individual only has one insurer that supports that area, that insurer may not cover that doctor or hospital in that area, which can result to that individual driving far out of their area, just so they can see a doctor or get their medical treatment for a reasonable price. Individuals are also being limited with options because their insurers may see them as costly, and they could force the individual to go to under resourced hospitals (Goodnough 3). This shows that even if an individual does not live in a rural area and has plenty of options to choose from, they can still be limited in location because their medical treatment can be seen as too expensive, and the insurance company has to figure out a way to save money.

Specialized physicians tends to stay in urban areas due to the presence of hospitals offering them more up-to-date technology, better hours, and more resources available to them. Underserved (rural) areas tend to have fewer resources for professional support due to lack of budget and location. Rural practitioners tend to serve a larger number of patients, which means longer hours and less one-on-one time with patients. Also, most physicians serving in the rural areas report longer hours of work, more call and less quality time away. “From a professional point of view, unfavorable working conditions, professional isolation and the lack of continuous medical education opportunities deter many health care providers.” 1

One area that has contributed to the rise of healthcare costs are the varieties of healthcare services offered to the patient. Competition between providers has caused physicians and hospitals to offer the most current healthcare technologies and modern, eye-catching settings in order to attract and retain clients (Shi & Singh, 2015). Reimbursements for costly procedures and hospital services have been compensated at a higher rate which has also supported the expansion of hospital and specialty procedure settings (Schroeder & Frist, 2013). Renovations of the physical settings and the acquisition of expensive technologies have elevated healthcare services prices to encompass the additional costs of providing high technical services and attracting clients and cause the over-utilization of expensive treatments.

In the United States, health care has become a huge expense and has threatened the economy; additional measures need to be taken to address the rising cost of care. An individual spends an estimated eight thousand dollars a year in health care expenditures. Therefore, we need to recognize that how a physician reimbursement for payment has a vast impact on the economy and the rising cost of health care.

Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in

I argue that advances in technology, nondiscretionary costs, and lack of competition in the medical equipment, pharmaceutical retail and insurance markets are the main reasons behind the high cost of health care. In this paper, I will use and analyze various resources like America’s Health Care Crisis: Who’s Responsible by Nancy Levitin, Health Care USA: Understanding its Organization and Delivery by Harry A. Sultz and Kristina M. Young, and Epidemic of Care by George J. Isham and George C. Halvorson to prove and support my argument, which is that advances in technology, nondiscretionary costs, and lack of competition in the medical equipment retail market, are the specific factors behind the rising cost of health care. I will also propose different strategies that will help achieve lowering the price of healthcare. Many people across the nation are unable to seek medical attention due to insufficient funds. If people do not receive health care, communicable diseases may spread more often on a large scale and life-threatening diseases may go undiagnosed leading to an increase in death rates. Making health care affordable can be achieved by making advanced technology less expensive, decreasing the amount of nondiscretionary costs, and increasing the competition in the medical equipment, pharmaceutical retail and insurance markets.

With an expanding and aging population, the demand for physicians has never been higher. Rural regions across the country are already experiencing physician shortages, specifically in primary care. According to the Association of America Medical Colleges, the United States will have a shortage of more than 130,600 physicians by 2025, equally split between general practitioners and other medical specialties. Although its true that the number of medical students being trained in the United States is increasing due to the opening of new medical schools and expansion of class size, the number of practicing physicians will not increase unless the number of residency slots is increased. The number of residency training slots is the bottleneck to increasing the number of practicing physicians. New doctors need to complete a residency-training program in order to practice medicine, and these training slots are becoming progressively more competitive. The programs are limited in size, and the increasing number of medical school graduates leaves medical doctors without a enough training slots. The looming doctor shortage will only get worse if medical school graduates continue to be left out of residency training programs, and are forced to wait till the following year to re-apply.

They found that patients in higher-spending regions received sixty per cent more care than elsewhere. They got more frequent tests and procedures, more visits with specialists, and more frequent admission to hospitals. Yet they did no better than other patients, whether this was measured in terms of survival, their ability to function, or satisfaction with the care they received. If anything, they seemed to do worse.” (Miller, 2012)

According to projections by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the nation will be short more than 90,000 physicians by 2020 and 130,000 physicians by 2025. Everyone deserves a better health maintenance, but sometimes there are not enough providers to make it happen. In the last two decades, the United States and some cities around the world have faced some serious problems because of the shortage in their health system structure. A shortage is when something in a certain area is not sufficient when it is the most desirable. That is the same thing that the country has experienced recently. There is a lack of physicians and nurses, who also characterize the primary care providers in the nation. The shortage results

Texas faces a growing demand for Primary Care services, particularly in rural and underserved regions. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that 16,830 primary care physicians were in active practice in Texas in 2009, or approximately 68 for every 100,000 people. The national average is 81 per 100,000 people. This shortage is compounded by a prevalent misdistribution of physicians across the state. Of Texas’ 254 counties, 118 were considered whole county health professional shortage areas, or HPA’s, and 71 contained either special populations or geographic areas that qualified for the designation of partial-county HPSA. Twenty-six counties had no primary care physicians in 2009.

The United States spends more on health insurance than any other nation, and the outcomes of such spending is still considerably lower than in other countries. A study conducted by a group of individuals at the Commonwealth Fund that involved eleven countries - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States found that the US ranks last in critical areas like efficiency, equity, and healthy lives[7]. View the image 1 in the appendix section to see the rank result from their study. Results like these are the reason why health care costs are the focus of groups like the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, and is the target of many health

Medical care is regarded as one of the least important determinants of health. The focus on medical research, new technology, and budgets for new high tech medical care, plays a key role in the evolution of future prevention and treatment. Access to sufficient preventative and curative care are close related to individual health, as well as population health. People who live in states where the primary care physician-to-population ratio is higher are more likely to report good heath than states with a lower ratio. Access to primary care physicians can lower the mortality rate, increase life expectancy, and improve birth

When my family came to the U.S. we lived and continue to live in cities that are considered high-poverty neighborhoods. Having resided in different underserved areas and utilizing community health centers for my medical needs have given me insight into the causes of inefficiencies in providing health care services for those with limited access to such services. This has helped me identify solutions that I will bring to my work as a health care provider in the underserved