Patient – Centric Systems: Essay The goal of health care reform in the United States was threefold, provide access to all individuals, reduce the costs associated with care, and increase health outcomes. While there is still debate as to whether the Affordable Care Act is the proper means to attain these goals, the healthcare industry is changing. Much momentum for the change is focused on the individual patient and their ability and desire to be in charge of their own healthcare (Rickert, 2012). This is a significant change from a period not too long ago when physicians were seen as superior individuals who knew the best care for all of their patients; and individuals followed doctor’s orders. Additionally, most health insurance …show more content…
Patient as center of the Health Care Universe Summary Every person is a consumer in some way or another. Maybe it’s fuel for the automobile that is used to reach work, or maybe it is electronics such as iPad, mobile phone, or any other good or service. Prior to making most any purchase, individuals have to make a decision by doing some type of cost/benefit analysis. For example, just buying a loaf of bread can be difficult as there are so many choices of brands, types, and prices. Depending on what you will use the bread to hold, a hot-dog bun maybe the right choice, but then a decision has to be made if it is to be white or wheat. Wheat may taste better, but is it worth the dollar price difference? Another example would be using an internet site such as Angie’s List to search, select and schedule a service. Decisions in healthcare can work the same way with individuals selecting healthcare providers based on location, costs (in-network/out-network). However, the healthcare sector is not known for price transparency. It is difficult, if not impossible, to know the cost of a knee replacement surgery prior to the actual surgery. While some companies have recently developed applications to do just that, many still have too many variables and always have the
“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice.” Public Health Reports. Association of Schools of Public Health. n.d. Web. 14 July 2015. This paper claims that the PPACA will cut the number of uninsured Americans in half. The act attempts to provide nearly universal coverage and improve the quality and equity of said coverage through reforms to insurance standards and the marketplace. It also attempts to improve the quality of healthcare and the efficiency of its delivery by allowing consumers to edge the system into a more integrated state and measuring performance. It attempts to encourage preventive medicine by targeting chronic illnesses and funding community-based medicine. These changes will bring huge opportunities for improvement in the system, many of which are subtle and nuanced and will only be seen as the plan rolls into act over the next few
"In the past two decades or so, health care has been commercialized as never before, and professionalism in medicine seems to be giving way to entrepreneurialism," commented Arnold S. Relman, professor of medicine and social medicine at Harvard Medical School (Wekesser 66). This statement may have a great deal of bearing on reality. The tangled knot of insurers, physicians, drug companies, and hospitals that we call our health system are not as unselfish and focused on the patients' needs as people would like to think. Pharmaceutical companies are particularly ruthless, many of them spending millions of dollars per year to convince doctors to prescribe their drugs and to convince consumers that their specific brand of drug is needed in
The Affordable Care Act, or, “Obamacare” as it has been dubbed by the media and general public was approved on June 8, 2012 when the “The Supreme Court of the United States upheld most provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by a 5-4 vote” (James, "Affordable Care Act and Pharmacy: Big Changes Ahead?"). This vote and approval has completely reshaped the landscape of the healthcare field, not only from a provider’s aspect, but from a consumer’s aspect as well. The need for healthcare reform was made apparent due to the growing
For healthcare to be fair and permeable for every person, America’s leaders will have to identify the current issues dividing the population. This means removing prejudices and developing a plan that can be seen as universal. It should help to increase the types and availability of health insurance and give those not coverage the means to secure coverage. Passing a new healthcare bill that will establish a plan that is “option driven” will place the overall decision and type of coverage in the hands of the public. This will remove the stigmata off of leaders, doctors, and health maintenance organizations. But, the two major factors that will
Americans have been faced with a new health care reform act known as Affordable Care Act initiated in 2010. Why was it so important for this nation to reform is health care system? How are we sure the ACA is improving our system for the American people? For many years, the health care industry has left many Americans uninsured. With health care costs on the rise and very few able to afford costs, and the quality of care in underserved areas not what it should be has left this nation largely unhealthy. Several landmark reports, including the Center for Disease Control factsheets and the Healthy People 2020 have astounding statistics confirming these alarming rates and clearly identifying the need for reform. The Affordable Care Act is the starting foundation for Americans to start investing in their own promotion of wellness and disease prevention. By choosing healthier lifestyle changes, individuals can make a difference which in turn will improve our nation’s overall health for the better.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the 2010 health reform act that could extend insurance coverage to as many as 32 million Americans, which also included policies that affect the quality of coverage insurers must offer (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). In addition to this, the ACA created a range of programs focused on furthering change in how medical care is organized and delivered, with a goal of reducing costs and improving quality and outcomes (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). However, these goals come at a cost. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact the ACA had on the population it affected in the United States as a nation, but specifically in the state of North Carolina; describe the impact of economics of providing care to patients from the organization’s point of view; examine how patients were affected by the ACA in terms of the cost, quality, and access to treatment; and explain the ethical implications of the ACA.
In today’s day and age, American households can all agree that health insurance is not a luxury, but a necessity. Without it, costs of emergency room visits and prescription medicines can be financially devastating. However, in the past many families and individuals have taken the risk of not being insured due to the high cost of the insurance itself. To attempt to reform this unfair system, the Obama administration signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. The law, coined “Obamacare,” has received much opposition due to its expansion government programs and increase in spending. It brings to question how much the government should be involved in an area that for the majority of America’s history, has been
Questions are constantly circulating around the new Affordable Care Act. Many do not know what it does and the government is trying to make it out to be a big savior to the medical field for doctors and patients alike. The Affordable Care Act has also been given the name Obamacare because of its ties to the President. He believes that increasing the amount of people on insurances of any kind that meets his “standards” will help health care become more available and more profitable. Unfortunately, these claims are not true as Obamacare is clearly going to negatively impact health care in all aspects. The problems start for patients who get on government healthcare programs, such as Medicaid, with the fact that the treatment plans are extremely
The article empowering patients to become better healthcare partner references this thought process. The article says with the increase of newly insured patients into the healthcare system hospitals need to find ways to save money. Some hospitals are looking at partnering with patients on their care outside of their appointment. HG Clinic used patient’s suggestions to implement the e-statement options empowering patients to be involved in their decisions. Patients could continue to be used to assist with their care and services. (2015,
Creating a health care reform plan for the U.S. health care system is no easy task. Multiple things must be taken into consideration. These include making insurance affordable, making sure the plan is economically feasible, and creating a plan that will still work in the future. What hindered the reshaping of health care into a sustainable system in the past, are the health sectors interests that prefer the status quo. By continuing to cling on to yesterday’s model, the health care industry is creating its own peril (Schaeffer, 2007).
It has been six years since the Affordable Care Act has been implemented into the United States healthcare system. As the pieces and provisions of this monumental federal statute become understood and executed, it is transforming the demand for care. Prior to the ACA, a significant number of Americans were marginalized and unable to obtain coverage. This system was faced increasing healthcare costs, placing greater financial strain to everyday Americans, businesses, and public health insurance systems. The ACA did not only help ensure health coverage for all (almost
On March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or “Obamacare” was signed and put into effect (DiMichele, 2017). From then to now, many people in the United States are split from fully agreeing to completely against this certain reform. Throughout different types of research and speaking to an interviewee, I have found multiple reasons that the ACA is good and why it can be bad (or Pros and Cons). One important pro that I found was that with Obamacare, anyone can have the choice of their own Physician or place of care for their needs, then just being able to get care from an Emergency Room (ASPA, 2015). This lets the patient have more freedom to make their own decisions based on their own healthcare and what they
In the current U.S. system the free market prevails and companies, in this case, major insurance providers “compete” for business. This competitive business approach should in theory drive costs down. For some reason, however, an argument can be made that it has produced the opposite result in profiteering. The nation’s largest insurer, UnitedHealth, boasted over a 10 percent revenue increase in 2013 according to Forbes (2013). Health insurance affordability contributes to the disparity in access to health care, as evidenced by the fact that there are millions that are still uncovered. A greater majority of certain minorities lack both health insurance and the financial resource to seek out either health care or insurance. While insurance companies reap huge profits the percent of private sector companies offering health insurance has dropped to less than 50 percent (Kaiser, 2013). There is decidedly a lack of coordination of care for this at risk population as well, since treatment is rendered sporadically and with continuously changing providers. The last major challenge is that of improving the quality of health care. According to a 2010 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG), an estimated 13.5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries experienced adverse events during their hospital stay and an additional 13.5 percent experienced a temporary
Harrington, S.E. “ US Health Care Reform: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” Journal of Risk and Insurance 77:703-708
In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, concerns have been raised regarding the Republicans’ desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act, informally referred to as Obamacare. The ACA was originally enacted into law in 2010 and has been annually provisioned to expand its ability to not only improve the nation’s access to health care, but also to reform the health care delivery system. Through the ACA, private and public insurance has become more available and affordable, new health care delivery models have improved quality of care, and several workforce policies have made primary care a more desirable profession for medical students.