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The natural history of disease is an epidemiological model, showing how an individual’s health condition will progress over time without any interventions. Intervening at the weakest link in the chain of progression of specific diseases sometimes means addressing the symptoms of a problem long after the disease has progressed past a treatable point. Usually, high technology, high-cost solutions are required when intervening late in the stage or progress of a disease. On the other hand, focusing on prevention and the application of lower cost and less invasive solutions to preventable problems can promote public health and reduce burdens on the healthcare system.
Most diseases do have a natural progression or natural history, which can be altered via strategic healthcare interventions (CDC, 2017). The natural history of disease model starts with the stage of susceptibility, the point at which the individual is at risk but has not yet acquired the disease. During the susceptibility stage, a person can receive a vaccination, for example, or practice healthy lifestyle choices like good diet, exercise, and not smoking. Exposure is the first point of weakness. If a person has been vaccinated and is exposed to the disease, their chances of progressing with the disease are almost negligible compared to a person who is exposed. Genetics and other individual factors might determine whether the individual’s natural history progresses further to the next stage of pathological changes and what the CDC (2017) calls the stage of...
From the subclinical disease stage, the individual exhibits symptoms. This could be where the child first exhibits signs of gaining weight or being overweight, for example. The manifestation of clear symptoms is usually when a physician offers a diagnosis. An official diagnosis has tremendous implications, not just for the trajectory of the disease but also for access to funding via insurance.
A medical care culture that focuses on prevention helps to eliminate the costs associated with the current model of intervening at the weakest link. Maintaining health through prevention is a far more cost-effective and sensible approach to healthcare. However, hospitals and other health care institutions, whether voluntary or for-profit, make choices based on financial solvency and the bottom line. In order to remain in business, healthcare institutions need to respond to market pressures, which does not necessarily mean promoting prevention. The profit-driven, market-driven model of healthcare in the United States affects public attitudes towards health and wellness. Insurance companies may offer the means by which a person can receive a high-cost, high-technology intervention at the weakest link in the natural history of the disease, but fail to provide the means by which a person can receive the preventative services needed to maintain health. “The treatment-oriented rather than prevention-oriented health care philosophy is encouraged by an insurance system that, before managed care, rarely paid for any…
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2017). Natural history and spectrum of disease. Retrieved online: https://www.cdc.gov/ophss/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section9.html
Nichols, L. M. (2012). Government Intervention in Health Care Markets Is Practical, Necessary,and Morally Sound. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 40(3), 547-557. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720x.2012.00688.x
Sultz, H. A., & Young, K. M. (2011). Health care USA: understanding its organization and delivery (7th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
American Healthcare System has been at the center of debate for many years. One of the most pressing issues confronting the healthcare system is Medicare and its beneficiaries. The purpose of this discussion is to focus on the ramifications of moving Medicare beneficiaries into managed care organizations (MCOs). Our investigation will illustrate that moving the Medicare beneficiaries into MCOs are a bad idea because there will not to be
Health Care System From the International Perspective: PPP Healthcare Reid (2009) actively seeks an international cure for healthcare that the United States just cannot seem to manifest although other developed nations are able to deliver universal healthcare at a cost that is reasonable and reports that the U.S. pays more healthcare than does any other developed country in the entire world up to as much as 16.5% of the GDP. This
Conclusion Based on the information currently available, the Canadian health care system is the more utilitarian and is, therefore, the better approach but those facing the need for advanced and expedient care would certainly argue otherwise. Therein lies the problem and therein lies the challenge for American society. Even the most ardent proponents of employer-based insurance plans would dare not argue that having great numbers of uninsured is the price that
Admittedly, there have been some minor improvements since 2007. Specifically, legislation enacted in 2009 by President Barack Obama eliminated the ability of health insurance companies to exclude certain individuals from coverage and to deny coverage to beneficiaries in need of expensive healthcare services by simply canceling their policies. That legislation extended the maximum age that children may remain on their parents' policies as well. Unfortunately, the Obama administration essentially gave
These stakeholders are also vital in the promotion of the application of standards-based technology. This is critical as it enhances the safety and security of the citizens as they pursue low-cost health care services and products within the context of the United States. The federal and state governments have also been influential in the development and implementation of policies towards addressing security and privacy issues in relation to the utilization
Access and Availability The biggest problem in terms of access to healthcare is in rural areas. Our investigation found that there are very few if any rural clinics or healthcare facilities. Access to healthcare is also limited to those that can afford insurance or qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. The unemployed and the poor are at a major disadvantage when it comes to gaining access to healthcare. The location of healthcare facilities