Healthcare Reforms

Health care reform is a global and constant issue. Most communities are planning, preparing, implementing, legislating and assessing the health care reform as a policy improvement that is a continuous cycle. Globally, the objectives of health care reform are becoming familiar – controlling the growing costs, improving the quality of health care and increasing access to health care services.
Universal Health Coverage
Universal health care coverage is a health care system which provides financial protection and health care services to every citizen within a country. It provides a package of benefits to everyone with the end goal being providing improved access to health care, reduced cost and improved outcomes of health. However, universal healthcare does not provide coverage for everyone for everything (Pineault, et al., 1993). It only implies that everyone is able to access healthcare. Some universal coverage systems are funded by the government while others are based on what the citizen is required by private health insurance.
Universal coverage is determined by three dimensions; how much of the cost is covered, who is covered and what services are covered (Rittenhouse, et al., 209). The World Health organization describes universal health coverage as a condition in which the citizens have access to health services without incurring any hardship in finances. Universal coverage is a powerful concept Public Health offers because it is delivered in an integrated and comprehensive way. One of the goals with universal coverage is creating a protection system which provides equality of opportunity individuals to enjoy. Most people agree that access to healthcare should be considered as a human right but not as a luxury.
Reduction of Cost
Being medically insured does not necessarily assist him or her get a timely and efficient treatment appointment. It does not also give a guarantee that the patient will afford all the required deductibles before an examination. The goal of healthcare reforms is to offer accessibility at a fair price. Of late, the efforts to controlling the costs of healthcare have taken an approach of top-down. However, due to the diversity in delivery systems, there is unlikelihood of a single effective approach to be implemented nationally (Phillips, et al., 2010).
The only sustainable and effective way to minimize healthcare costs is by restructuring payment systems, healthcare delivery and engaging key stakeholders in every process. This can especially be done at the community level where there is delivery of care. Therefore, the most effective way of minimizing care costs and improving population health is by supporting and developing community strategies that all stakeholders are involved. This can be done using actionable and accurate data for purposes of changing all care delivery aspects. For reduction of cost to be effectively done, the following will be needed; reduction of drug costs, improvement of fraud control, reduction of administrative costs, encouragement of preventive public health measures and curbing of duplicative services (Zuckerman, 2014).
Increase in Primary Health-Care Providers
Primary health care providers are required to provide coordination in patient care to avoid duplicate health services. Adequate supply will help the work run smoothly. For an attraction of more family practitioners, restructuring of fees must be done so their income can become closer to that of other specialists. Quality of life such as insurance hassles and excessive paperwork should also be addressed (Pineault, et al., 1993). It would be difficult to get all the care your family needs for a healthy stay without assistance from a primary care provider.
A primary care provider should be the first person one comes into contact with in a health care system. They practice in hospitals and community health centers to diagnose and provide treatment of common illnesses as they spot minor health issues. They also offer preventive health services such as counselling on lifestyle choices and cancer screening. Primary care providers also assist in the management of patients with health conditions that are chronic. People who don’t receive primary health care services usually end up in emergency rooms and get frequent hospital admissions. Without getting screened regularly, a condition like cervical cancer can be kept in check with drugs which can eventually cause life-threatening conditions (Hackbarth, 2009).
Research done shows that someone who gets access to primary health care can live longer, avoid disabilities, avoid absence from work and feel better. Countries with more health care providers per person have reduced cases of heart diseases, stroke and cancer death rates. Health care costs also become reduced when people have primary health care who assist them in coordinating follow-up care and tests. Easy accessibility to primary health care is key to improving the overall quality of care and reducing a country’s medical costs (Rittenhouse, et al., 209).
Powerful Licensing Boards
Stronger laws and more resources are needed for licensing boards to weed out incompetent health practitioners. Affordability and availability of health care need attention to both care demand and health insurance. Physician licensing reform is to ensure the arguments in the paper are straightforward (Phillips, et al., 2010). Mal-distribution of primary care physicians at both national and state level have many communities that are underserved. These communities would benefit from interstate licensure opportunities especially in the context of telemedicine. However, instead of pursuing a system like the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact which is promoted by state medical boards, policymakers should focus at the Nurse Licensure Compact as guidance to making physician care more affordable and available to patients.
Electronic Medical Records
The purpose of using electronic medical records is to improve the quality of healthcare and minimize duplication of services hence saving of money for the health care system (Rittenhouse, et al., 209). For example, the EHR Incentive Programs enables patients to have access to their health information and even electronically communicate efficiently with their healthcare practitioners. Most patients have received preventive care reminders and even used a patient portal to access their data such as lab test results. Security and privacy of these services are of importance when it comes to the healthcare field.
EMRs also provide the ability for sharing health information called Health Information Exchange. There is documentation of each encounter of patients. This information can be shared with providers such as hospitals and specialists. Information sharing will help in quick and more informed decisions for more accurate diagnosis and proper treatment options. It also helps in reducing health care costs. EMR software entails a portal used by patients for access to their health information (Phillips, et al., 2010). This becomes more convenient for patients when they will need to get a track of their medical history and medications in the future. If you want to switch doctors especially if you are moving to a new city, it will become easier for your new physician to get access to your medical history. Emergency care will get to improve as responders to emergencies will be able to easily have access to information about a patient with the help of electronic medical records. EMRs will lead to more effective, efficient and timely care hence healthier patients.
Conclusion
Most political parties have never come into an agreement when it comes to health care. All they can agree on is that the current system is unsustainable and ineffective unless some significant changes are made. In any health care system, the key issues are cost, care and access. Insanity can be defined as “doing the same things over and over while expecting different outcomes.” This has been observed to be playing out as the government has continued to increase its role in the health care system. The failed experiment of Obama-Care has illustrated that a one-sized program can never work.


References
Phillips Jr, R. L., & Bazemore, A. W. (2010). Primary care and why it matters for US health system reform. Health Affairs, 29(5), 806-810.
Pineault, R., Lamarche, P. A., Champagne, F., Contandriopoulos, A. P., & Denis, J. L. (1993). The reform of the Quebec health care system: potential for innovation?. Journal of Public Health Policy, 14(2), 198-219.
Reforming America's Health Care Delivery System," by Hackbarth, presented before the State Finance Committee Roundtable on Reforming America's Health Care Delivery System (2009).URL: http://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/042109ghtest1.pdf
Rittenhouse, D. R., Shortell, S. M., & Fisher, E. S. (2009). Primary care and accountable care—two essential elements of delivery-system reform. New England Journal of Medicine, 361(24), 2301-2303.
Successful Strategic Planning for a Reformed Delivery System," by Zuckerman, from Journal of Healthcare Management (2014).URL: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=107853130&site=ehost-live&scope=site