Future challenges in US health care and technology impacts

Future Challenges Facing U.S. Healthcare:

One of the major issues that the United States has encountered in the recent years is the country's healthcare system especially in the wake of the need for healthcare reforms. However, even with the ratification of healthcare reform policies by the Obama administrations, the country's healthcare system is likely to continue facing some challenges in the future.

Current Healthcare Problems in the U.S.:

The current healthcare system in America is facing some difficult issues lack of health insurance, quality of healthcare services, and staffing shortages and difficulties. Based on analyses at the beginning of 2010, approximately 47 million people in America have no healthcare insurance. Consequently, these people forgo visits to the hospital for preventive care and are unable to pay for healthcare services. The lack of healthcare insurance by a huge portion of America's population is also attributed to the high costs of healthcare insurance. With insurance companies being the biggest payers of healthcare insurance, the lack of insurance for many people is a major issue in America.

The second major issue is attributed to the quality of healthcare services that are hugely affected by the rising number of patients who need attendance from doctors and nurses (Bryant, n.d.). This huge number of patients who need attendance is affecting patient care and the quality of work and life of healthcare workers. This difficulty has been compounded by the shortages in healthcare workers and the difficult working conditions for healthcare professionals in certain parts of the United States. The increasing shortages of healthcare workers and increasing number of patients hinders the provision of top-quality healthcare.

Ways Technology Impacts Healthcare:

The rapid technological advancements have affected almost every facet of today's society because of its impact in virtually all industries. Some of the major impacts of technology on healthcare include improved patient care, enhanced worker efficiency, and increasing in healthcare costs. Technology has improved patient care by making safer and more reliable than before since doctors can easily record and access a patient's medical history and confirm whether they are giving the correct treatment (Krueger, 2010). Moreover, technology has also improved the efficiency of healthcare workers since these professionals are easier to reach and they can access important medical information through online databases.

Through technology, doctors can consult with their colleagues from other parts of the globe regarding important medical information. Despite of the numerous positive impacts of technology on healthcare, it has also resulted in some negative impacts including the increase in healthcare costs. Due to the rapid changes in medical technological procedures, healthcare costs have continued to increase.

Impact of International Healthcare on U.S. Healthcare System:

While the United States spends approximately $2 trillion on healthcare expenses every year as compared to any other industrialized country, it's likely to be affected by health care systems at the international level. Regardless of its huge healthcare expenditures, the United States is still ranked together with Mexico and Turkey as the only countries within the OECD region that lack universal health coverage. As a result of this ranking and statistics, healthcare at the international level will affect America's health care system.

The major impact of healthcare at the international level on America's healthcare system is on its industry competitiveness in the global marketplace. According to reports by various analysts, a growing number of businesses in America are less competitive at the global marketplace because of the increasing healthcare costs in the country (Johnson, 2010). The economic difficulties in the United States have increased the burden of healthcare costs on individuals and businesses.

While the country recently adopted new healthcare policies based on the healthcare reforms that were enacted into legislation by President Obama, the provision of healthcare insurance has proven to be a major challenge for many employers. Large businesses and employers are likely to provide health insurance as a benefit to employees as compared to their small counterparts. The increasing dollar figures have placed a heavy burden on companies operating in America and can make the country to be at a substantial competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace.

Ethical Challenges Associated with the U.S. Healthcare Reforms:

Healthcare reforms in the United States have brought numerous important ethical issues regardless of the benefits that it has also brought to the country healthcare system. Actually ethical issues and social justice became the basis for arguments against efforts towards healthcare reforms. One of the major ethical challenges that the country is likely to face because of the healthcare reforms is the need for fairness in financing. This ethical issue is likely to occur in the future because the current system places a tax surcharge on high-income earners to support extended coverage (Saltus, 2009). Secondly, the failure by the healthcare reform policies to eliminate inequalities is the other ethical challenge that the country to likely to face. While the policies seek to provide universal health coverage, even the fairest health systems haven't eradicated inequalities. The increased expenditure on healthcare costs is also regarded as a major ethical and economical issue since America needs to control its rising healthcare costs.