Please write an Op-Ed to your newspaper of choice in which you argue for national attention to quality and patient safety improvement OR to expanding access and equity in the U.S. health care system.
For those that write about quality, you may wish to include discussion of some of the following: provide evidence on the current state of quality and patient safety in the U.S. health system:
National attention is currently focused on the debacle of The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) roll out. The Federal Health Exchange website, cancelling of thousands of insurance plans and the dismal enrollment numbers are some of the items inundating our headlines. One of the main goals of the ACA is to improve access to health care. It seems as though,
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This can be best realized through Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), which is enforced through the ACA. Of course EMRs are not the remedy, but they can provide the infrastructure for improvements in data collection. Also, collected data should be more available for public access as it can steer patients to high performers. Of course, the issue with this is that providers may cherry pick patients and procedures to make their numbers look good.
Adjusting Risk
Providers do not have any control over their patient population and hospitals attract specific patient groups based on the services they offer. Interpreting outcome data and rates, especially for different groups of patients may not be the best data to determine quality of care as these rates can also be tied to specific patient characteristics rather than care delivery. Also, comparison among these various groups will be considered to be unfair unless they are adjusted for risk. Including a case mix index is one way to account for the clinical complexity of procedures performed. Even though there are techniques to account for this variability, many of it can go unexplained and has the possibility of inaccurately ranking providers based on patient outcomes.
Changing culture
According to the Institute of Medicine, “the biggest challenge to moving towards a safer health system is changing the culture from one of blaming individuals for errors to one in which errors are treated not
What is your evaluation of the effectiveness of the U.S. health care system in the context of delivery, finance, management, and/or sustainability? What are the issues that prompted a need for health care reform? Support your answer with a credible data reference. Do not use a reference already used by another student.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a topic of dispute since its introduction and continues to be discussed by politicians in the U.S. and throughout the world even after its passage. The Act has many opponents and is the cause of much controversy nationwide, primarily because it introduces higher healthcare costs for the richest citizens. Nevertheless, the ACA is an important stage in the American healthcare development process as it not only allows more people to receive healthcare services, but will also reduce the deficit. However, not everyone agrees. The policy is controversial in terms of cost vs. benefits, but the benefits ultimately outweigh the costs.
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 Affordable Care Act (ACA) is considered to be one of the most radical health care moves in legislation after Medicare. The reason being that it will provide universal health coverage to everyone regardless of circumstance. An evaluation of ACA’s influence on health care will be evaluated in this paper.
In an essay of 1,200 words, provide your assessment, with recommendations, of how the United States, as a country, can best manage quality assurance in the health care workplace going into the future. Questions to consider include:
This article discusses the progress of the ACA as it enters its sixth year. Jost begins the article by first discussing the success of the act, which include a historical drop in the number uninsured, high levels of satisfaction and a slower growth in health care costs compared to previous years. The paper further discusses how the ACA will roll out in the 2016 year. Individuals and large companies will be taxed for failing to gain and provide access to adequate health insurance. One great idea that Jost poses to increase affordability and access of health care was to make the Marketplace more transparent so that individuals can have a better grasp of provider and drug coverage before they apply. Under the ACA there was also a great push to expand Medicare and Medicaid programs through increasing access and coverage. Although this part of the ACA seemed like a great idea as it provided coverage to more individuals, I wonder how this program and the ACA in general will pan out after the election. The ACA will likely see some changes in the near future. Republican proposals to replace the ACA, which I feel are scarce to being with, might remove the community rating, which will reduce the number of people insured, although ultimately leading to a decrease health care expenditure. On the other hand, Democrats will likely expand the ACA and may also offer additional funding for the program with additional
The intent of this paper is to explain what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are and how to build and improve on its principles. Some improvements that can be made in terms of providing the American people with affordable health care as well as increasing the quality of health care and its insurance. I believe that there are five components of the ACA that could change in order to make it better, such as (1) transitioning single payer method; (2) improving the Medicaid program availability; (3) reducing Cost-sharing and Out-of-Pocket limits, improving Minimum Employer Coverage Requirements; (4) refining the network capability principles; and (5) making the enrollment portals more efficient. Both the new president and Congress need to take these issues seriously and correct these problems
Health care in the United States is driven by a patchwork of services and financing. Americans access health care services in a variety of ways — from private physicians’ offices, to public hospitals, to safety-net providers. This diverse network of health care providers is supported by an equally diverse set of funding streams. The United States spends almost twice as much on health care as any other country, topping $2 trillion each year. (WHO.INT 2000) However, even with overall spending amounting to more than $7,400 per person, millions of individuals cannot access the health care services they need.(Foundation 2009) So when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a the Affordable Care Act or ACA) was passed in the summer
Throughout the world today, it is almost crucial as humans that we are covered with health insurance. Many people are fully aware of the decrease in healthcare as time goes by. The Affordable Care Act is advertised all over the newspaper, television/media, and articles that piece together how it affects our healthcare insurance today. Health care is a large and important portion of the United States which requires a lot of attention to have the most successful outcome with patient care and financial stability. The ACA provides allows us individuals to maintain a well-known health care plan that can grow with the changes as they continue to be made. Global workforces around the world will continue to make changes to the healthcare facilities along with the providers joining together. Quality patient care is always the answer to professional medical staff. All in all, I will further be discussing the important information about the ACA and its credentials that essentially make up the current effects of healthcare today and what is yet to come.
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.
Ashton, C., Kuykendall, David H., Johnson, Michael M. (1999). An Empirical Assessment of the Validity of Explicit and Implicit Process-of-Care Criteria for Quality Assessment. 27(8). 798-808.
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as “Obamacare”, has drastically altered healthcare in America. The goal of this act was to give Americans access to affordable, high quality insurance while simultaneously decreasing overall healthcare spending. The ACA had intended to maximize health care coverage throughout the United States, but this lofty ambition resulted in staggeringly huge financial and human costs.
Quality of care has always been a concern in the U.S. health care system. Although great strides have been made to improve the quality of care delivered, many critics still believe that the United States has a long way to go before truly delivering uniform quality care.
With the expected growth in the allied health sector in the coming years due to increased patient care demands, healthcare organizations in the United State will need to take steps to maintain a high quality of care. These steps will include ways to ensure that well trained staff are hired, adequate new staff on the job training and orientation, continuous review of policies for improvements in safety, care, risk management and quality assurance. In addition to focusing on the integration of the incoming allied health personnel, healthcare organizations are expected to review how care is currently provided, and find new ways to provide care and meet the great increase in demand for care.
-Examine at least three (3) examples of quality initiatives that could increase patient satisfaction and potentially reduce healthcare cost. Support your response with examples of the successful application your chosen quality initiatives.