The High Cost Of Healthcare

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.

Medicaid is a vital lifeline for some 72 million Americans. Two-thirds of all Medicaid spending supports senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Cutting Medicaid would jeopardize the quality of healthcare, long-term services, and nursing home care for tens of millions of Americans. There are significant cost issues in America’s healthcare system that must be effectively addressed, but these challenges will not be remedied by benefit cuts to vulnerable

“At least 44,000 people, and perhaps as many as 98,000 people, die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented, according to estimates from two major studies.” (IOM, 1999) A follow up report in 2001 pointed out how health information technology (HIT) and health information exchange (HIE) can be used to reduce errors and improve efficiency and effectiveness of our healthcare system. This new national focus

Medical errors can be a significant threat to the the health of Americans and can lead to the downfall of a health care system. These errors can be anything from a data entry error or simply a patient’s information getting into the wrong hands. The importance of a health care system is to provide extraordinary care all while protecting the rights and information of their patient. A new generation of federal efforts emerged in order to address these concerns, in part through the effective use of information technology. Thus, the Health Information Exchange was born. The Health Information Exchange (HIE) is a system that allows health care information to be appropriately and securely shared electronically across organizations within a region,

In today’s fragmented healthcare system, clinical decisions are made based on the available information. Unfortunately, the available information is not always complete. Patients have been using an increasing number of providers and health systems, many of which have no way to effectively communicate clinical information. This forces healthcare providers to make decisions based on incomplete information at the cost of outcomes to the patients and dollars to the health system. It is estimated that the use of health information exchange (HIE) could save $78 billion in healthcare costs per year (Shortliffe, 2014, p425). A concerted effort to solve this problem began in 2009, when The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Federal governmental agencies and offices cooperated to develop the “Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020,” which will help to improve quality of care, privacy, efficiency of the health care system, exchange of electronic health information with many stakeholders effectively. The ONC works together

Traditionally the American health care system relied heavily a repayment model referred to as fee-for-service which is described as a form of repayment that generates a greater emphasis on the volume of patients seen rather than healthy outcomes produced under a physician’s care. The fee-for-service repayment method poses multiple issues such as: duplicating services which in turn renders some of the services unnecessary, utilization of expensive technology because of the revenue generation rather than as a valuable diagnostic tool and crowding caseloads to an unmanageable level in order to achieve highest level of reimbursement. The aforementioned events not only have the possibility of being unethical but also drive up the cost of health care in the United States. Currently, health care costs have not only increased, but the Office of the Actuary projected that U.S. healthcare spending will make up nearly 20 percent of the economy in 2019. One would argue that if as a country we are spending so much on health care that we should be a “healthier” nation, but this is not the case. Even though America continues to be the largest spender on health care, collectively we experience a lower life expectancy rate compared to other industrialized countries (hfma.com, 2011, p. 2). To assist with climbing health care rates healthcare purchasers have called for repayment reform. One such reform that has been on the forefront is Value-Based Health Care (VBH), also known as outcome

The current NS healthcare system is facing the challenge of using numerous health information systems to provide patient care including SHARE, DIS, PHR and client/provider registries (Rowinska, 2015). These systems are complicated, fragmented and expensive to maintain in their current state resulting in an unsustainable healthcare

This week’s reading delves into the definitions of the processes and terminology that drives the way that Health Information Technology would operate in the ideal environment. These policies and procedures create the foundation for organizations to build a more interoperable health environment. Currently, each health care establishment seems to operate like its own country. Although they may belong to the larger continent, they may have their own language, currency and customs. This is great when operating within the country, but once a citizen needs to travel to a neighboring republic, the language, currency and custom just doesn’t translate as well. Important information may just be lost in translation. To attempt to bridge this issue, the

Health Information Exchange (HIE) signifies the transmission of health-related data between healthcare facilities, according to national government standards. HIE remains an essential component of the health information technology (HIT). HIE technology must facilitate reliable and secure transfer of data between diverse systems and also enable access and retrieval of data. The purpose of HIE development is to improve healthcare delivery and information gathering. An HIE is not an information system within a single organization. A true HIE involves multi-directional flow of information electronically between providers (hospitals, physicians, clinics, labs) and other sources of administrative or clinical information provided by health care providers

There are many studies done focusing on the rising cost of health care and some of the findings states that the rising cost of healthcare premiums is a worldwide problem, however I also think they are higher in the U.S. In 2015, U.S. health care costs were $3.2 trillion. That makes health care one of the largest U.S. industries, equaling 17.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product in comparison to the late 1960s healthcare cost was only $27 billion which was 5 percent of GDP, which comes at a cost of $9,990 per person each year. The main reason for the rising cost of healthcare is a combination of government policies and lifestyles changes, such as, the insured, uninsured same sex partners, weight, smoking, drinking etc., just to give a

Currently, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced their vision for attaining national interoperability in the Health IT infrastructure. Claiming that “achieving this goal will only be possible with a strong, flexible health IT ecosystem that can appropriately support transparency and decision-making, reduce redundancy, inform payment reform, and help to transform care into a model that enhances access and truly addresses health beyond the confines of the health care system.” (“A 10-Year Vision to Achieve an Interoperable Health IT Infrastructure,” n.d.)

Health information exchange organizations (HIOs) provide the ability to electronically transfer valuable clinical information between several different health care information systems while preserving the meaning of the information being exchanged. Health Information Exchange Organizations also provide the base for secondary use of clinical data for dedications such as public health, clinical, biomedical, and consumer health informatics research as well as provider quality valuation and improvement. Most Health Information Exchange Organizations currently are regional health information organizations (RHIOs) such as the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC.) Data is safer since it is stored electronically in a secured environment protected

At this time in the changes in our health care structure, I feel it necessary to talk about the (NHIN) National Health Information Network. I will explain a few things about NHIN and how NHIN will improve and reduce errors in our networking systems. The NHIN will allow not only the medical organization, but also the patient themselves to access their medical information via the internet. This program will focus on following the consumer’s medical information throughout their lifetime. (Rubin, 2009)

Information is an important factor in healthcare. Having an effective health system requires up to date, precise, applicable, and attainable information. Hospitals and doctors, acting as providers, spread and refer information to patients. From the other hand, patients do also produce, access, operate, and interchange information regarding their health situation. Information and computer technologies (ICTs) help in managing the flow of this information to attain benefits in efficiency, effectiveness, and quality and safety of healthcare delivered to patients.