Positive Outcomes Via Health Screening

It is no secret that the cost of American healthcare is becoming increasingly more expensive. However, the issue of the rising cost of healthcare and its severity needs to be recognized as a major problem. Health prices are steadily increasing in the United States, and there is no sign of it stopping. Since 1970, spending on American health care has grown 9.8%, which is a rate that is growing faster than the economy (“New Technology”.) Furthermore, health insurance premiums are also increasing at a rate five times faster than American salaries, which makes it difficult for families to afford health care coverage (Zuckerman 28). Therefore, it has become an obligation to address why the cost of American health care is soaring and to seek out a solution to lower the cost. Many would jump to the conclusion that the United States simply charges too much for their medical services, but there are deeper influences that need to be analyzed. The causes of the rising cost of health care are people not using preventive health care, the development of modern technology, and the treatments being overprescribed. A possible solution is to have preventive health care services available in clinics of low-income areas.

Not only has the cases of preventable chronic diseases increased over the years affecting half of the U.S population, they account for 86% of the health care costs. Programs and policies that address risk factors and causes of these diseases at their roots would not only promote public health but reduce the cost of health care both in treatment and hospitalization.

Since 1980, the United States has taken on 10-year plans that outline certain key national health objectives set to be accomplished during a 10-year timeframe (Shi & Singh, 2015). These initiatives are founded on medical care with prevention services, health promotion, education, community health care, and increased access to integrated services. The initiative, Healthy People 2010: Healthy People in Healthy Communities, launched in 2000. The initiative emphasizes the role of community partners such as

This was to be accomplished through education and preventative care, the third goal (Strategic Goals, n.d.). By focusing on this strategy of promoting preventative care, this can help combat medical bills (Adepoju, Preston, & Gonzales, 2017). This cuts down on overall health care spending (Weiner, Marks, & Pauly, 2017). While there are serious health concerns within the upper and middle classes, there are significant issues going on in low-income populations, particularly inner-city and rural areas. The ACA was designed with initiatives to bridge these disparities. To combat these diseases, there is going to have to be better patient education initiatives. In these areas, there are few places to access quality care for these individuals. However, if we educated them on the importance of their health and controlling chronic illnesses such as hypertension, and promote prevention services, the health care system and the patients would both benefit. Preventative health

In the United States, nearly one in three women ages 18-64 live at or below the 200% poverty level. Poverty level is based on an annual earnings of a household and how many people reside within the home. A 200% poverty level for a single woman is currently set at $23,760 per year. According to the Kaiser Women’s Health Survey from 2013, 15% of women categorize their health as fair or poor and about 43% have health conditions that require monitoring and treatment. (16). Since the passing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there have been great efforts to improve quality of health care among patients, providers and coordinators. The rate of uninsured Americans fell from 18 million in 2014 to

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

There is a confluence of factors that is related to providing adequate health care on a systemic basis within virtually any population setting. While attempting to address the health care needs of such a setting is always a challenge, this challenge becomes exacerbated by varieties in social and economic conditions, as well as those that apply to race and ethnicity. The problems that plague contemporary health care coverage in the United States are myriad and even more complicated by the fact that many of these issues are interrelated. Three of the most salient of these difficulties concern health care coverage, health inequities, and ineffective health promotion. However, prudent analysis of this topic indicates that of these three areas, the one that is most problematic is that of healthcare coverage. The logic behind this fact is fairly simple; improved health care coverage can ameliorate many of the issues that stem from ineffective health promotion and health inequities.

Since the preventative care policy went into effect, the federal HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) estimates that approximately 137 million people have received no-cost coverage for preventative services. However, there needs to be in an increase in public awareness regarding the policy. In March 2014, a report showed that less than half of the population (47%) knew that the affordable care act eliminated out-of-pocket expenses for preventative care (“Preventative Services Covered by Private Health Insurance Plans”, 2015). Since the implementation of the policy, there has been a drastic improvement in women’s healthcare. Before the ACA, women faced many challenges in the health insurance market. In 2012, a woman could

Healthy People 2010 and now Health People 2020 is a governmental sponsored program in which there are science-based objectives for the health of all Americans. The program was established to: 1) encourage collaboration across regions and communities; 2) empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health and to take some responsibility for their healthcare, and 3) to measure the impact of health prevention activities across the nation. The power of the initiative is that it encourages prevention and communication across states, regions, ethnicities, and communities (About Health People, 2012).

Every Woman Matters (EWM) a state-run federally funded program, is designed to remove barriers to preventive breast and cervical cancer screening by raising public awareness of the risk and making screening more financially accessible to low-income women (Backer et al., 2005). Eligible women received a clinical breast examination, mammography, and Papanicolaou smear test at reduced or no cost (Backer et al., 2005). EWM program used the GAPS Model. This practice based intervention study was designed in collaboration with the Nebraska Health and Human Services EWM Program (Backer et al., 2005). In this study, seven primary care practice clinics were enrolled. Participating clinics were advised of the study’s purpose, and during the informed consent process

A person’s ability to access healthcare services has a significant effect of his or her health, yet 1 in 4 Americans do not have access to primary care providers who they can receive preventive care services or regular health services (Healthy People 2020, 2014). Approximately 1 in 5 Americans (i.e. approximately 48 million in 2012, OECD, 2014) do not have medical insurance (including children and adults under the age of 65). The ability to access healthcare services is linked to social, economic and environmental factors. A lack of medical services in rural and remote areas, shortage of healthcare professionals, cost of medical coverage, lack of transportation, communication barriers, etc. all have a profound effect of a person’s ability to access healthcare services. According to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (2012), the percentage of individuals’ age under 65 without insurance decreased 0.6%, differences in rates of health insurance exists by race and ethnicity and level of education. In an attempt to improve the nation’s access to healthcare services, one provision of the Affordable Care Act implemented in 2013 provides additional Medicaid funding for states providing low cost access to preventative

1) Determinants of health include socioeconomic status, habits and behaviours, genetics and biology, the environment, and health care1. However, the public perception of health focuses almost exclusively on health care. The media perpetuates this, and historically is good at pushing the government to take action, as seen with the Hurricane Katrina public health disaster2. Currently, the media tends to focus on Obamacare and the PPACA. This means that other aspects of public health, such as habits and behaviors, are mostly forgotten. Prevention programs are becoming more popular, but because people spend more money on insurance that tends to be the point of concern. Reminding people that there is more to public health than health care is a good start. Increasing the use of preventative health care would result in a savings of up to $4 billion3, and educating the public on this

Educating the community in preventative care will greatly increase the longevity of the community. The reason why this will affect me as practice manager is because the more knowledgeable the community the less likely people will have chronic health conditions/ episodes. People who have chronic health conditions can rack up a high health care bill and for the most part, have a hard time paying it off. In some cases, never pay it off and the health care organization takes on the bad debt. Therefore, if health care organizations can educate the community it can dramatically decrease the chance of consuming bad

The US is facing a chronic disease epidemic and health expenditure is exceeding economic growth. About 133 million Americans or 1 in 2 adults have at least 1 chronic illness. This accounts for more than 75% of health care costs and 70% of deaths each year, costing the US $153 billion annually in lost productivity.*Heart disease is preventable by 80% and most that are at risk are unaware. One study shows that chair side medical screening for diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension could save the health care system $42.4 million or $13.51 per person and $102.6 million that’s $32.72 per person over a one year period. These numbers are calculated before the cost of labor and strictly rely on patient compliance and adherence to

It is no big secret that many people do not have preventative healthcare like they used to. As we get older, we need more tests and immunizations. With the baby boomer generation growing older, we have more elderly people than ever before. To keep them living longer, we must help them, so we can help ourselves. Preventative healthcare “is critical to helping people live longer, healthier lives and keeping health care costs down.” (Centers for Disease Control, 2013)