Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), consumers are utilizing different resources to gain more knowledge about healthcare choices. While many consumers survey websites from healthcare organizations, they also viewed websites from quality agencies and medical information sites generated by their favorite search engine. These websites provide information on medical concerns that influence the choices that consumers make regarding healthcare. By using quality agency websites, consumers can acquire essential information on healthcare organizations and providers in order to make educated decisions about the quality care they receive.
Background
Healthcare in the United States has evolved from simplistic delivery methods of
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By utilizing independent resources, consumers can educate themselves on important information about selecting care and diverse healthcare services available.
Since consumers are becoming more involved with their healthcare decisions, organizations and providers must adapt to consumer requisites and utilize independent resources to ensure the viability of their businesses. In 2008, a study reported that 81% of internet users and 66% of adults utilized online health information as a source for health related issues (Ha & Yun, 2011). Some examples of online health information resources comprised of search engines, organizational websites, and governmental agencies that participate in health related issues (Ha & Yun, 2011). By accessing health related information, consumers empower themselves with knowledge to assist in healthcare decisions and wellness management (Ha & Yun, 2011). As a result of consumers becoming better educated about healthcare, administrators must explore internet resources in order to maintain quality and services that is expected by consumers, and maintain the reputation of the organization.
The Joint Commission One agency that consumers utilize to assess healthcare organizations is the Joint Commission. The Joint Commission is an independent agency that provides accreditation and certification for quality, safety, value, and
With the implementation of any new program there are bound to be unforeseen errors that causes the plan to be seen as failing when in reality it is just working through some issues. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is going through that process right now. A simple example to point to is the website that was built for the new healthcare system crashing when it was launched. The ACA is also exposing flaws in how healthcare is funded and also projected. With an estimated 32 million people gaining access to healthcare sharing of patient information is going to be vital, new technology will have to emerge to help with the surge of patient information. Along with the expansion of access to healthcare it is exposing the lack of qualified
In 2010 the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into act to help reform healthcare in the United States. Before and after the act was effective, many people were concerned with how it would affect our country as a whole and on an individual basis. Many people say that the ACA is helping our country and others are not so sure. The goal of the act is to give millions of uninsured Americans access to quality health care and by also making it more affordable. Although there seems to be many positives from this act, not everyone agrees that it was the greatest idea to obtain optimal health status. As many people know, children are now allowed to stay on their parents insurance until they are twenty-six years old.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a health reform law that was signed by President Barrack Obama on March 23, 2010. The full name of the law is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). One week later the President also signed a law called the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act (HCERA), which was a supplement that made several changes the PPACA. What the country currently refers to as the ACA or "Obamacare" is both of these laws combined. (McDonough, 2012)
In the last four years, the United States has implemented a new reform in our medical system called the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Its goal is to reform the health care system, by providing Americans with a more affordable health insurance policy. It also tries to compress the growth of healthcare spending in the United States. The ACA offers Americans better health coverage because of the widespread reforms that are included. These reforms will expand our healthcare coverage, hold insurance companies liable, lower health care costs, guarantee more choice for patients, and improve the quality of healthcare for all Americans (Markette, 2011, p. 12). As the law has passed, there have been many people affected. For example, the craft supply
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was created by President Obama back in March 2010 to help reduce healthcare costs and improve healthcare quality for uninsured Americans. The ACA was implemented to reduce the cost that was growing with Medicare and Medicaid because they have increased over the years threatening the entire federal budget (Amadeo, 2017). People who are not working and are unable to cover their healthcare expenses usually end up on Medicaid which is paid for by the government. The others who are over the age of 65 are on Medicare and have their premiums supported by the federal government. However, people who make too much money or who are too young to qualify for either
Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) signed into law in March 2010, a few things have changed in the provision of physical therapy services, in specific productivity standards and reimbursement in outpatient physical therapy clinics. The Affordable Care Act has resulted in an increased demand for physical therapy services primarily due to the construction of the Health Insurance Marketplace. This created new health insurance options to help Americans acquire health insurance, who previously were not able to afford it. Although the ACA is a very extensive and complex piece of legislation, it has ultimately resulted in more individuals who are eligible for physical therapy services. This increased demand not only comes from the ACA but also from reimbursement cuts from insurance companies, subsequently causing physical therapists to overload their schedules as a means to offset these cuts. These demands are without factoring in the aging baby boomer population, which is expected to increased the physical therapist need by 30% from 2008 to 2018 (cite). Physical therapy is about providing the best patient care, however patient care is also a business and businesses are centered on revenue. Below are some of the current proposed solutions along with personal solutions and insight on the productivity issue.
Primary care access is a growing concern for all Americans and the reason behind this concern is an imbalance between demand for care and capacity to provide care. Demand is growing as the population expands, ages, and faces chronic illnesses and the capacity is shrinking as the ration of primary care clinicians to population drops (Ghorob & Bodenheimer, 2012). A primary goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to improve access to quality health care for uninsured Americans, largely through public and private insurance expansions (Polsky et al, 2015). At the same time, the architects of the law recognized the need to increase the availability of primary care providers to meet the increased demand for health care (Pg. 538, 2015).
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a primary debate topic since it was enacted in 2010. The conservatives completely disagree with the Affordable Care Act and believe that “Democrats used it as an assertion of power than they used it to improve health care conditions” (“Republican Views on Health Care”, 2014). They believe that the act was a waste of taxpayer’s dollars and would inevitably ruin our health care system. In contrast, the liberals supported the ACA and “pride themselves on the fact that health care costs are growing at the slowest rate since 1960” (“Democratic View on Health Care”, 2014). The liberals believe that every American should have access to health care by making premiums affordable. However, in order to do so
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced the transformation of the United States healthcare system. The purpose of the ACA was to improve access to health care services for all Americans through insurance system reform. The objective was to deliver medical coverage to low income individuals through Medicaid however, the poorest uninsured consumers were not integrated in the income recommendations for participation (Carpenter, 2012, p. 27).
In the U.S. “Decreasing the number of uninsured is the number one goal of the Affordable Care Act(ACA), which provides Medicaid coverage to many low-income individuals” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2015, p.1). Despite the success of the ACA enrollment of millions of people with health insurance, the most at risk and pressing group of our population are our children. This is a group that needs our attention and their health should be the country’s number one priority. This is a vast difference from Canada, where every child has health care coverage for life because of its Universal Health Care. Bodenheimer and Grumbach (2013) noted that over the years, “reformers in the United States argued for the passage of a national health insurance program, government’s guarantee that every person is insured for basic health care”(p.187). But this effort was not only defeated time and time again, but it was constantly shoved under the rug. It was not until a great effort was pushed by President Obama that we started to see some changes in our health care system. Still a lot of work needs to be done, especially for our children. Stronger measures must be implemented to make sure that every child has an opportunity to live a long and healthy life. This is especially geared towards children living in rural areas, “where access to health care is especially low or non-existence” (Rosenblatt & Hart, 2000, p.1).
Abstract: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most comprehensive reform of the U.S. medical system since Medicare. President Obama’s signature legislation vividly changes the landscape of the group insurance market in the United States. The ACA, which was signed into law on March 23rd, 2010, carries mandates that require Americans to have health insurance (2014 in 214 words, 2013). The ACA increases entitlement insurance and subsidizes private insurance, but reduces reimbursements under Medicare. The ACA is set to raise taxes in various ways, but projecting the financial stability and the health of this fundamental reform has been very difficult to conclusively determine. Projections of the impact of this act was required as part of the legislative process, but the forecasts and projections that were first submitted to the Congressional Budget Office have been rescinded with a current statement from the CBO essentially saying that “the financial impact of the ACA cannot be ascertained” (Conover, 2013).
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010. The goal of the ACA is to provide affordable health insurance coverage for all Americans. The ACA was also designed to protect Americans from insurance company schemes that may increase patient costs or restrict care. Millions of Americans have benefitted by receiving insurance coverage through the ACA, especially those who are unemployed or have low-income jobs. Some could not afford insurance because they could not work due to a disability or family obligations. Others could not get health insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions. “More than 45 million Americans are uninsured, and as a result, they experience increased morbidity and mortality”
America faces a choice, keep the health care coverage it has, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or scrap it and come up with something better. While the ACA in its entirety leaves room for improvement could do better, much better. Currently the United States spends more on health care than any other country. According to a Huffington Post article (2013) the U.S. spends about 17.2 percent of their GDP on medical care. Health care per capita is approximately $8,608, second only to Switzerland, which spends $9,121.
Like many, my previous opinion regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was primarily based on political and philosophical differences with the legislation and its supporters/opponents. While I continue to have an ideological difference to many of the principles in the ACA, I do now realize that this legislation does have some theoretical positive aspects regarding a shift towards more managed care and the increasing encouragement of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). This shift has the potential to be helpful in terms of cost controls as it makes a substantial shift towards outcomes and away from fee per service care. ACOs also have great potential for helping to reduce overall costs in high risk, high cost patients (Powers & Chaguturu, 2016). This can be extremely beneficial as this high cost group is only a small percentage of our population but makes up the majority of our healthcare spending. It appears that the legislation at a minimum also helped to increased public awareness that we have a cost and quality problem, and I believe this recognition is helpful long term. However, I am still under the belief that the content of the legislation was built primarily for the benefit of the powerful lobbyists throughout the healthcare industry (i.e. insurance companies, AMA, etc.) and very little was included that would encourage the type of long term changes in the way we view healthcare and personal responsibility to be truly effective.
The American Medical Informatics Association defines consumer health informatics as a field devoted in part to patient-focused informatics, health literacy and consumer education. The focus is on information