Healthcare Delivery of Quality Health Care

The good old saying; health is wealth is as valid today as it was at the time when it was said. Health is the most important construct of human happiness. It is a unique element which cannot be substituted by any other thing on the face of earth. It is no exaggeration to say that all the facilities and privileged of life can be enjoyed only by the healthy person.

Keeping in view the importance of healthy life for human beings, many of the advancements made by mankind revolve around healthcare. Diseases are very natural and one may suffer from diseases because of a factor which is not identified by human beings as yet. However, there are many causes of bad health which have been explored and accommodated in the healthcare system so that man is better able to enjoy the luxuries of life.

Since mankind has always remained concerned about the efficient use of scarce resources, strategic planning has enjoyed much importance in the research centric circles. The responsible bodies have taken special measures to evaluate the quality of healthcare facilities provided to the masses. This evaluation is crucial to identify the need of improvement to these facilities. The improvement is necessary from two perspectives.

The advancements in science and technology have upgraded the human lifestyle and medical healthcare facilities need to be modernized to make them efficient and affordable.

The industrialization has posed serious threats to people of modern age. Many new health risks are identified which cannot be managed without advanced healthcare systems.

In lieu of these two factors, strong relationship is established between strategic planning, performance improvement and information systems so that delivery of quality healthcare can be assured. Strategic planning is required for sustainable development in healthcare sector so that future generations are not deprived of their due share of resources. Performance improvement measures are required to align the healthcare facilities with emerging challenges so that effective plan can be devised. Information systems are used as tools to fulfill various requirements of healthcare system. Information systems are gift of modern technology which has automated many operations and relieved human being from the hassle of pondering upon recording and analysis of daily matters. Nowadays, information systems are powerful enough to highlight discrepancy in the current procedures and need for advancements in them.

The paper explains the relationship between strategic planning, performance improvement, information systems and the delivery of quality health care. The specific issue to be explored in the paper is related to deficiency of Vitamin D in adults. The paper casts light upon how these factors are related with each other and why they are crucial to develop an effective healthcare plan. This topic is selected as the modern world has deprived human beings from various physical activities which used to keep him fit in the past. It is also important to explore since many diseases are diagnosed whose treatment is not present in the modern medical science. The physicians may misdiagnose the disease and prescribe the wrong treatment which may harm the lives of individuals.

Statement of Problem

As mentioned earlier, the paper revolves around the issue of deficiency of vitamin D in adults. Statistics show that highest vitamin D deficiency is found among the men with the age between 20 to 39 years (CBC News, 2010). The problem statement is

Many of the adults report headache, back pain and difficulty in placing the feet on floor after getting up from sleep. The family physicians refer...

Almost all the individuals are deficient in Vitamin D The result is, they have degenerated bones even in adulthood and complain about the health phenomenon which may take place in old age. What are the possible causes for this issue which is on continuous increase? What measures are likely to reduce it and does the modern lifestyle contribute to evolve this issue?
The topic is important to explore as the health of adults is extremely important not only for them but also for the nation. They are supposed to perform the most responsible jobs and adulthood is the period of life in which they have maximum responsibilities. Declining health at this age may have bad impact over the overall image of society.

If the issue is not resolved in the present era, it is likely to accelerate and give birth to weaker generations in the future. It is evident that in welfare states, governments will have to invest a lot in healthcare facilities as the number of unfit people is bound to grow. It is also possible that government may need to launch immigration schemes to attract the healthy talent from various corners of the world.

Before going into the details of causes and treatment measures, it is important to explain the levels at which Vitamin D is measured. The test of Vitamin D is conducted by collecting blood sample and testing it for Serum content. Mentioned below are the levels of vitamin D possible in the human being (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

If Serum 250HD is found to be less than 30 nmol/L, the person is reported as Vitamin D deficient.

If it is between 30 to 49 nmol/L, vitamin D inadequacy is reported.

50 to 125 nmol/L is sufficient.

Serum 250HD more than 150 nmol/L is possible harmful to the health of individual.

Research Sources

Natural News (2005) conducted considerably rich research on vitamin D and its requirements in the human body. It states that the only and the greatest source of Vitamin D is ultra violet rays present is sunlight. These ultra violet rays cannot pass through glass hence sitting in the sun does not always means exposure to sunlight. It presented another important finding about the myths of vitamin D that it is found in calcium rich foods. It stated that a person, who drinks almost ten glasses of milk daily, can get only minimum required level of vitamin D and will be ranked as vitamin D inadequate person. The article specifically addressed the people living in the countries far away from equator that the requirement of sunlight exposure to have sufficient Vitamin D in body is directly and positively related to the distance from equator. The countries which are away from equator get less share of ultra violet rays and their citizens are more likely to be vitamin D inadequate.

US National Institute of Health (NIH, 2012) conducted research on essence of Vitamin D It states that nerve system, immune system and muscles are directly linked with vitamin D The deficiency of vitamin D causes serious disturbance in these systems. A person may become obese, subject to increased cholesterol and his bones are more likely to have rickets.

Having discussed it, it is important to highlight the causes of vitamin D deficiency. People misunderstand that it can be obtained from food items or supplements. No food item or supplement can be the substitute of vitamin D Many people are confused about the fact that sunlight is the source of vitamin D at what time and to which duration. People feel that passing through sun is sufficient to have adequate level of vitamin D Many people are of the view that they live in hot areas hence it is impossible that they are vitamin D deficient.

As mentioned earlier, people report the health issues which are linked with other deficiencies and life style. It is difficult to establish their direct connection with deficiency of vitamin D The diagnosis is incorrect most of the times and only experienced family physicians send the patients for vitamin D Its test is usually expensive and people tend to bypass direction to have this test. There are always excuses for non-exposition to sunlight and people find it really difficult to spare 30 minutes every day to sit in direct sunlight.

Here comes the role of strategic planners and healthcare system evaluators. The responsible bodies should embed all the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency in health care information system and the health issues of all patients must be matched with them. There should be strong system of monitoring the vitamin D level in human body on regular intervals after the patient is declared to be vitamin D deficient.

In the context of information system, it is important to mention that if people move from one location to another, their health data should be moved to the other country to develop required health plan for that very individual. As mentioned earlier, vitamin D deficiency is the function of season and geography as well; there should be proactive measures to judge that the moving people may be prone to different level of vitamin D production in their body if the areas are significantly far from each other. The role of Bio-Informatics is crucial in this regard. It helps health systems to communicate with each other and generate the reports which are helpful in devising effective health plans (ABCC, 2012).

Since provision of healthcare facilities is the prime responsibility of government in welfare state, it should ensure…