Significant health care events and outcomes

¶ … managed care has now permeated the general atmosphere of health care and the healing process in society. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the evolution of managed care and its practices and how they impact profession of health care and its subsidiaries. This essay will include personal opinion on these impacts and discuss how managed care in its current status is not aligned with many of my beliefs and values.

Evolution of Managed Care

The nature of modern managed care is very invasive and permeates deeply throughout society and law. Managed care spans a wide range of entities, organizations and influences. They are often heavily regulated, managed and studied. Managed care entities have grown and evolved significantly in the past decades. There are many reasons to why managed care as evolved in this manner and how these causes have materialized into effects that have placed many challenges in the face of health care professionals in today's competitive and often money centered culture as it applies to healing and health care.

The idea of some other entity having significant decision making power in something so personal as health care is at the core of the debate for the value of managed care and its place in society. Sloan & Hall (2002) agreed with this summation when they wrote " sources of dissatisfaction with managed care are well documented. Although most consumers are satisfied with their actual experiences with managed care plans, and the observable quality of care remains high, the public has a generalized concern that managed care plans will lower quality of care, in part by restricting access to beneficial care in an effort to save money for the plan, " (p.170).

Managed care was created to address another significant problem dealing with health care insurance. The creation of these managed care planning organizations were market driven and were tailored to minimize financial risks when dealing with health issues. Employers, individuals and insurance companies all became very competitive with one another to minimize their own personal risk in the equation. As a result, a skewed and unfair market was soon monopolized and managed care organizations were created to mediate this effect.

Managed care organizations are therefore used as creative consultants to help minimize costs, many times at the risk of the consumer or patient. Deom et al. (2010) documented in their research that "doctors may believe that utilization review will reduce total health care expenditures but that quality of care and access to treatments may suffer. In addition to quality and costs, managed care tools may also have an impact on doctors' autonomy and on their relationships with patients." This impact on the profession leaves a dearth of leadership and questions the authority of many trained physicians and creates a sense of helplessness in many ways.

Opinions On The Impacts

The health care system is in a current of upheaval and confusion which serves to usher in new and necessary practices and eliminate those practices that have been detrimental to the profession. The impact of technology has provided great leaps in knowledge and learning. The ability for the medical profession to keep up with these discoveries has left many in general panic about the actual lack of control that humanity may have on its evolution.

As a result a trend of paternalistic micro managing has emerged within many spectrums of society including the health care profession. The rise of terrorism and fear-based control has added to the confusion and have sent many running, unwisely, to the government and legal authorities to fix a problem that is largely medical and/or personal. The collectivization of the health of our society has been done in order to save money on insurance costs which leads to something better.

The language being used today in this debate is dangerous. Health care professionals have been taught and conditioned to view people seeking their assistance as patients in need of help. Managed care organizations view these people as consumers. The difference between consumer and patient is very large and suggest something dehumanizing and callous to the general population and disregards their dignity as human beings and citizens. This subtle use of words and languages puts people at a disadvantage and limits their ability to see their role in this manipulative game of commerce.

Managed care has grown into the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare. The obvious and explicit politicization of something as important and integral within society as health care and healing suggests that managed care is opposed to many of the values espoused within the Hippocratic Oath and those sources of inspiration that guide those into this profession. Managed care ignores the professional training and practices of those professionals who have spent their lives dedicated to this effort. Such undermining practices creates a sense of worthlessness and devalues the environment to a point of helplessness.

The benefits of managed care in some circumstances provide ample evidence to continue the practice, but the long-term effects of this radical shift towards federal controlled health care has not been fully realized. The basic tenets of healing and health care suggest treating patients as individuals and realize that a unique and subjective approach to their well being must be incorporated in their treatment. When the patient is treated as a faceless number, only to be measured in the financial statements of a large insurance company, something is lost in the process where we view our common man as nothing more than a tool to be used for personal gain.