The Quality Of Care Of The United States Health Care System

As Americans we should all be afforded access to healthcare. Access to healthcare is an individual right according to the human rights amendment. The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all. The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions and a clean environment (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015). However there are strengths and weaknesses to every healthcare system and the U.S. Healthcare system is not exempt. I plan to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the U. S. Healthcare system (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015).

Many people believe that the current of health care in the United States is the best health care in the world however it has major shortcomings that has become more visible for the whole world to see. The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world based on health expenditure per capita and on

The problem is defined in America’s healthcare ranking as the most expensive, least available, and poorest quality health care in the world.

In late 2013, Ebola virus disease (EVD), a deadly and lethal disease, remerged in West Africa spreading to various countries in the region. In humans, the disease is spread through contact with infected bodily fluids leading to haemorrhagic fever (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Originating in 1976 in equatorial Africa, past outbreaks with a few hundred cases had been contained within rural, forested areas in Uganda and Congo (Piot, 2012). In 2014, a total of 20, 206 cases and 7,905 deaths were reported to have occurred in up to eight countries worldwide. Of all cases and deaths resulting from the disease, 99.8% occurred in three neighbouring West African countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (WHO, 2014). With a case fatality rate from about 50% to 90%, and the absence of preventative or curative therapies, the Ebola epidemic has led to overall global alarm and further elucidated existing global health disparities that perpetuated the epidemic with these West African countries.

Healthcare is a complex industry that is consistently changing to meet the demand of improving quality patient care. As a member of the healthcare team, we are obligated to provide safe patient-centered care. However, patient care within the facility this nurse is employed is not as effective as it should be. The organization currently utilizes three different charting systems, two electronic health information systems and a paper chart. Each with its own purpose of use. To make matters worse, not all healthcare providers have access to both electronic health information system. Depending on the individuals professional role within the organization, access would be limited to one or the other. Nurses are the only one

Primary care is the backbone of many industrialized nations, but is the US one of them? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The US lags behind such developed nations in its accessibility of primary care by a huge difference. The United States healthcare system fails to ensure the timely preventative and primary care for its residents. The current estimates indicate that there is merely one physician for every 2,500 patients. Not only Medicare beneficiaries, but also privately insured adults struggle in accessing the right primary care physician at the right time. Moreover, maldistribution of physicians only exacerbates the problem, especially for those residing in health professional shortage areas (HPSA).15 Approximately, sixty-five million Americans live in designated primary care shortage areas.13 Such underserved population faces higher disease and death rates and health disparities that then result in higher rates of hospitalizations and emergency department visits—in other words, expensive medical bills.21 More governmental control on the geographic location of primary care physicians can be a first-step to fixing the shortage problem.

According to Joe Conason, "America 's current health care system wastes considerably more than a trillion dollars every year. We know that because countries such as France, Germany, Japan and Finland, with comparable standards of living to ours, spend roughly half what the United States spends annually on health care per citizen, while covering everyone and achieving better results." (Conason, 2009) The United States healthcare financial systems are severely flawed - affecting the overall cost control, services, and care made accessible to its clients. The rising costs in healthcare are reaching new highs, and with rising costs, there doesn 't seem to be much change in the quality of the care being given. Clients coming in and out of these

Hospitals in the United States offer top quality care to its citizens but regrettably not everyone receives equal access to this care. There is an alarming difference between qualities of care received by some population groups relative to other population groups.

falls short compared to other countries stating that our annual deaths due to medical errors are in the tens of thousands (Filson, Hollingsworth, Skolarus, Quentin-Clemens, & Hollenbeck, 2011). They view this lack of quality of care as depending on what provider you see and where. The United States compared to other countries is in last place when it comes to mortality rates and quality of care (Davis, K, et al, 2014). The authors go on to say that the millions of people who are uninsured and those who are considered to be under insured only add to the gap of quality because these individuals do not have access to basic health care and this also adds to the $130 billion spent on those folks who are not insured or that do not take advantage of preventative

Obamacare was made to be quality care at a price that many can afford, and in a way that the public can access. Looking at the facts it has in fact helped many people, over 20 million Americans were covered as a result of of Obamacare. This includes Americans who could not receive help before, including low income families and people previously turned away due to a pre-existing condition. The democrats feel that the right way to help people and give care to the American people, is to have the government step in and control the health care of the country. This has proven to be greatly beneficial and democrats believe that it should continue to be utilized, despite the views of the opposing political parties.

The reality, from analysis of facts, is that American health care is superior. This inescapable conclusion derives from actual data, not opinion. The world’s leading journals are filled with studies demonstrating the superiority of American medical care to care found in other countries with systems more heavily controlled by government bodies. These studies verify better survival from serious diseases like cancer, better access to treatment for the most prevalent chronic diseases, wider access to preventative care and cancer screening, broader availability of the newest life changing medical technology, wider access to innovative, lifesaving cures and safer, less invasive treatments, more rapid access to highly trained specialists, and ultimately far better access to the world’s leading doctors and medical scientists who themselves are the source of the world’s leading innovations by any metric

Many would argue that here, in the United States, we have the best healthcare in the world. We benefit from the most up to date medical technologies, medications, and services. People come from every corner of the world to take advantage of our top notch physicians and facilities. But is this reputation warranted, and if so, at what cost? The average annual cost per US resident is $7,681; this comprises 16.2% of our gross domestic product. These costs rank us among the highest of industrialized nations (Lundy, 2010). Does this high expenditure equate to better outcomes? According to the National Scorecard on US Health System Performance (2008), the US received a 65 out of 100 possible points.

In order to put the U.S.’s healthcare system in perspective regarding the actual quality of care currently used let’s take a look at two other developed countries, Japan and Canada and compare.

Health care in the United States has had a steady rise in terms of the cost of running the service and receiving the service. Due to the heightened costs of running the health care sector, the pinch has been transferred to the consumer. In this case, the health care service seekers are the consumers. Among the significantly affected consumer group is the low income-earning individuals. These individuals already struggle with welfare costs and an increase in health care costs seems overwhelming for them. According to recent studies, community-based health care projects have helped in reducing the costs associated with the service. The portfolio project discusses the cost of health care as a

Healthcare system is the main concern in the U.S. The United States healthcare has many strengths and weaknesses. For Starters, our biggest strength is that we have the strongest most educated professionals, doctors and researchers in the world. America is so well educated and experienced that all professionals are so dedicated to what they do. Our main weaknesses are that America has so much fraud that is always over looked.