Rising Cost Of Health Care Essays (Examples)

Healthcare: The Effects of Rising Costs on the Middle Class

The rising cost of healthcare and the effects on the middle class

Healthcare

Effects of Rising Costs on Middle Class

The purpose of this paper is to define the income and social levels of the middle class in the United States and to examine and determine the effects that the rising costs of healthcare have had on the middle class. Further this work will examine the hospital closures in the State of California in relation to the trending which appears to be lessening the availability of the individual in attaining care while at the same time increasing the costs and access to healthcare effectively barring many in the United States Middle Class from receiving proper care for their health.

Introduction:

Healthcare costs have inflated to the point that no longer can every individual feel that healthcare is available for them…

Rising Health Costs

Perception or Deception: The public face of rising health care costs

The Obama administration worked its way through the political minefields and signed into law its healthcare reforms in 2010. Some of the changes are underway, bringing about systematic modifications and other changes said to directly impacts costs. The expected result is a system that serves more people at reduced costs. And yet, as recently September 2011, when the reforms were beginning to take hold, the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation was already projecting that consumers would begin paying at least 9% more in their premiums than in 2010 -- a tripling of the standard increase from the past. Various explanations were offered, including linking 1% to 2% of the rising cost to Obama reforms. But what of the other cost differences? Why were they going up so much more? Are these increased being added because of true…

(Menzel, 1990, p. 3) Fisher, Berwick, & Davis alude to the idea of integration in health care, with providers linking as well as creating networks of electronic medical records and other cost improvement tactics.

The United States and other nations over the last twenty or so years, have begun a sweeping change in health care delivery, regarding the manner in which health information is input, stored and accessed. Computer use in the medical industry has greatly increased over the last thirty years the culmination of this is fully networked electronic medical record keeping. (Berner, Detmer, & Simborg, 2005, p. 3) the electronic medical record trend began in the largest institutions first, as hospitals and large care organizations attempted to reduce waste and improve patient care, while the adoption has been much slower among physician's practices and smaller medical institutions. (Hillestad, et al., 2005, pp. 1103-1104) Prior to this time medical…

S. healthcare structure do not include the unobserved disparities. This may sound very rudimentary, even silly to point out, but in by understanding that the numbers are actually worse than they appear, and that the rising costs of healthcare services re associated with both what we see and can't see, it is easier to understand how costs rise so quickly.

It is also a sobering fact that what we cannot observe is still out there, existing beyond the scope of the government and social programs designed to help people overcome obstacles to access to healthcare and health insurance. The ethnic group that is most unobserved within the bounds of many of the studies and statistics related to the disparities in the U.S. healthcare industry is non-Mexican Latinos (Bustamante, et. al., 2009). This group represents a major portion of the U.S. population that currently lacks access to healthcare. In understanding this…

In fact Congress should pass a bill that gives that prescription drug benefit to Medicare patients.

QUESTION NINE: In the United States, healthcare is so expensive that over 45 million people are without health insurance. It is a broken system, leaving out many people, especially children. Recently the executive branch vetoed a bill that would have provided health insurance to millions of middle and low-income children, indicating a lack of government concern for the well being of the population. Bush said it was too expensive, yet it's not too expensive to continue spending billions on an unpopular war in Iraq. Meanwhile, for the past 45 years, Canada has had a "government-funded, national healthcare system..." based on these five principles, according to www.medhunters.com.One, it is universally available to permanent residents; two, it is comprehensive; three, it is available regardless of income; four, it is "portable within and outside" Canada; and five,…

Healthcare spending and GDP

With the renewed comprehensive healthcare system, the obvious challenge that came with it is how to finance it. The huge projections of the financial inputs needed to efficiently run the program portends a challenge to the government and is likely to spin out of control and be unaffordable in the long run after a few decades from now. This is informed by accompanying supplies and services increasing in cost like the essential original drugs that have been noted to have increased in prices among other services within the healthcare. In many countries people are expected to pay for their own health care. Therefore the ability of people to pay for their health care or the affordability of the healthcare has become a policy issue in many countries and especially an issue of urgency. The issue of healthcare spending has been a topic for debate over the…

Healthcare

Why access to healthcare has become an issue in the U.S.

According to a 2010 Gallup Poll, Americans named access to services the "top issue" in health care ("Americans Name Healthcare Access Top U.S. Health Issue," 2010). Empirical research also reveals that access is the top problem in the American health care system at the moment, as "tens of millions of adults under age 65 -- both those with insurance and those without -- saw their access to health care worsen dramatically over the past decade," (Galewitz, 2012). The reasons for the problems related to access stem from social justice and cost barriers (Galewitz, 2012). Health care is simply too expensive for most Americans. As a result, many are delaying seeking treatment. The situation is as true for the insured as the uninsured, showing that health care access is a systemic problem (Young, 2012, p. 1). The 2010 Patient…

Drug costs have gone from 26% of health care spending by private insurance companies in 1990 to 44% in 2006 (Kaiser Foundation, 2008). This issue has not been adequately addressed by health care reform. Instead, a deal appears to be made for $80 billion in concessions from the pharmaceutical industry in exchange for its support of health care reform (Kirkpatrick, 2009).

The underlying trend in each of these major issues in health care reform is controlling the rising cost. Malpractice reform seeks to control the cost of insurance to health care providers, so that they can pass those savings along to consumers. The public option provides a plan for affordable health care coverage for uninsured and underinsured Americans. This is deemed necessary because private insurers will not offer insurance to those it feels will demand too much in terms of health care costs going forward. Reducing the cost of health…

The topic on "Social Marketing in Healthcare" advances how social marketing tool predominantly used in marketing consumer items can be effectively applied in the healthcare field. In addition, the development of social marketing research is an effective means by which information can be collected from consumers. This adds weight on this subject. In today's age, all activities are caught up in the information technology web. This is possible through the creation of systems of collecting, analyzing, and sharing information. This opportunity is now available to the healthcare workers because they can conduct consumer research through social marketing avenues. The information collected will then be used to develop efficient healthcare programs for consumers (Aras, 2011).

The key Points

The key points in the article include the need for health workers to use social marketing tools in conducting consumer research prior to developing and implementing healthcare programs. In this case, the article…

These needs are only beginning to be addressed in Canada and while there do not appear to be many well-established initiatives there is a growing recognition of the need for such if Canada's healthcare sector is to gain and retain the necessary workers to deliver optimal healthcare in Canada.

ibliography

Polls & Research (2006) Health Care, Environment Top Issues in Canada. 1 Nov 2006. AngusReid Global Monitor. Online available at: http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/13653

ack, Chris (2008) Current and Emerging Trends: Occupational Health and Safety in the C Healthcare Sector. 19 Sept 2008. Prepared for the OHSAH Stakeholder Meeting. Online available at: http://www.ohsah.bc.ca/media/240-OHS-Current-and-Emerging-Trends-full.pdf

Canadian Institute for Health Information, Workforce Trends of Registered Nurses in Canada, 2006 (Ottawa: CIHI, 2007).

Canadian Nursing Advisory Committee, Full-time Equivalents and Financial Costs Associated with Absenteeism, Overtime, and Involuntary Part-time Employment in the Nursing Profession, February 15, 2002.

Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, What's Ailing our Nurses? A…

reputed "health crisis" currently facing Americans. The author explores several aspects of the health care crisis and analyzes the validity of those claims. The author presents an argument that there really is not a health care crisis and it is a fallacy. There were six sources used to complete this paper.

Why do People Believe the Crisis is eal?

What Evidence is There That it is Not eal?

What are some of the things giving the appearance it is...shortage of students etc.

What are some of the ideas that can help the problem?

For several years now Americans have been inundated with information about the health care crisis. News channels cover the crisis and pipe it into living rooms. Magazines publish articles about the causes and history of the health care crisis and politicians use the health care crisis to sell their platform and garner votes. It seems that everywhere…

Human esource Management in Heath Care

ole of HM in Health Care

Impact of Human esource Management in Health Care

HM and Strategic Plan of Organization

ole of HM in Health Care

The various types of staff I the clinical and non-clinical sections who are responsible for intervention in individual and public health is known as the human resources in health care system. The knowledge, skills and motivation of the employees and the staff of the health care system who deliver health services are responsible to a great extent for the performance and the benefits that people can derive from the health care system.

While the health care system is also dependent on various other forms of physical resources like medicines and machinery, there needs to be a balance between the physical and the human resources in the system. However, what is more important is the management of the human…

Healthcare Costs

A number of factors have affected the costs of healthcare in the United States over the past 3 decades, and there has been a corresponding impact on the nursing field as a result. To determine the facts about these issues, this paper reviews the literature to identify those factors that have had an effect on increasing healthcare costs over the past 30 years following by an analysis concerning how nursing has been impacted by efforts to contain costs. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning factors affecting healthcare costs and their impact on the nursing field are presented in the conclusion.

Factors Affecting Healthcare Costs in Past 30 Years

Although the $2.8 trillion healthcare industry in the United States has become more efficient over the past 30 years, there have been some forces at work that have continued to drive increases in the costs of…

At which point, the overall costs of care will be passed on to the tax payer in the form of higher taxes. This leads to a decrease in the overall quality of care and it will not slow the price increases, as the government seeks to restrict access to these services. Then, when the program becomes broken (such as: what is happening to Social Security) removing or reforming the bureaucracy is nearly impossible. (Messerili, 2010)

A second argument that many critics make about universal health care is: it will stifle innovation. Whenever, the government is running any kind of program, they will place a large number of restrictions and regulations on the industry. When this takes place, you are causing some of the best and brightest minds to seek careers in other fields, as the restrictions from the government are too cumbersome. A good example of this would be: the…

"Studies of the relationship between managed care penetration in the health care market and expenditures for Medicare fee-for-service enrollees have demonstrated the existence of these types of spill over effects" (Bundorf et al., 2004).

Managed care organizations generate these types of spillover effects by increasing competition in the health care market, altering the arrangement of the health care delivery system, and altering physician practice patterns. Studies have found that higher levels of managed care infiltration are linked with lower rates of hospital cost inflation and lower physician fees are consistent with competitive effects. "Other studies demonstrate the impact of managed care on delivery system structure including hospital capacity, hospital admission patterns, the size and composition of the physician workforce and the adoption and use of medical equipment and technologies. More recent evidence has linked market-level managed care activity to the process, but not the outcomes of care" (Bundorf et al.,…

Healthcare Economics

When considering the ever-changing and highly competitive economic landscape of the modern world; governments, businesses and institutions must remain diligent in their care and compassion for their citizens and staff members. With the current exponential growth and advancement of technology and the computerization of business and learning, voters, workers and consumers have become much more connected to the organizations they patronize (Kurzweil). Accordingly, these important groups are faced with the continuous task of finding new ways to understand and subsequently accommodate the needs of their followers, while simultaneously securing lucrative business models and job environments. One of the most important needs presented in all demographics is reliable healthcare. Thus, with the inelasticity in the demand for healthcare, countries need to determine an applicable system, whereby citizens can have access to the medical services they will inevitably need. Collective access to healthcare represents the main problem in field of…

As a result, millions of Americans remain unable to bear the heavy financial toll of medical expenses. Indeed, the problem of a lack of insurance for many is related to the problem of the cost of healthcare. So confirms the article by Consumer Reports (CR) (2008), which finds that "health-insurance premiums have grown faster than inflation or workers' earnings over the past decade, in parallel with the equally rapid rise in overall health costs. Industry spending on administrative and marketing costs, plus profits, consumes 12% of private-insurance premiums." (CR, 1) This reiterates the case that the undue imposition of costs by the healthcare industry -- a reflection of a free-market industry with little to no regulatory oversight -- has negatively impacted the accessibility and quality of healthcare for many of the poorest users.

Moreover, these users are most vulnerable to the long-term economic damages provoked by unexpected healthcare costs. So…

Unless the physicians can succinctly argue their case for care and services, the managed care entity will, for reasons of medical necessity, deny access to care and services.

What Cost-Added atio Based on Illegal Immigrant Population?

The argument by opponents that loopholes exist that would allow illegal immigrants to access Obama's proposed legislation on healthcare services is rendered moot in lieu of the fact that those illegal immigrants are currently receiving healthcare services Medicaid and through Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). The Federal eimbursement of Emergency Health Services Furnished to Undocumented Aliens states:

"Section 1011 of the (Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) (P.L. 108-173)) MMA appropriated $250 million dollars in FY 2005 through 2008 for payments to eligible providers for emergency health services provided to undocumented aliens and other non-specified citizens who are not eligible for Medicaid (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2009, found online, p.…

At the same time, 25% of Americans do not have any kind of health insurance coverage or not enough to pay for all of their expenses. (Amadeo) This can have an impact upon their financial well being, as a person must spend money that they do not have, to treat different conditions that could be life threatening. Once this begins to occur, is when the total number of bankruptcies will begin to rise sharply. As nearly half of all the filings that are made are: medical related, due to the overwhelming costs and the inability to pay them. (Amadeo) These different challenges are creating sudden shift in the economy that are: having short- and long-term impacts upon economic growth.

What is happening is rising health care costs are beginning to become a hidden tax on: businesses and consumers. As they are slowly eating away at any kind of added investments…

The article states, "The enormous human and economic costs associated with occupational stress suggest that initiatives designed to prevent and/or reduce employee stress should be high on the agenda of workplace health promotion (HP) programs" (Noblet, LaMontagne, 2006, p. 346).

Along with the article's assertion that reducing employee stress should be beneficial to both the individual and the company, the article also documents the many problems that can occur due to stress in the workplace. The article espouses, "For employees, chronic exposure to stressful situations such as work overload, poor supervisory support and low input into decision-making have been cross-sectionally and prospectively linked to a range of debilitating health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, immune deficiency disorders and cardiovascular disease" (Noblet, p. 347). Many of these illnesses are debilitating and can be long-term which adds to the company's cost due to employee absence(s) directly affecting the company's bottom line.…

Healthcare Costs

Discuss the Challenges of eference Pricing-describe it, is it currently feasible, what are the pitfalls if it was part of your job assignment to build and manage such a program to control cost. What are the advantages and pitfalls if you are an individual using this "reference pricing" as an element of your personal health insurance program?

eference pricing has enormous potential to curb rising healthcare costs. In this situation, the insurance company or other stakeholder sets a target price that reflects what is considered a fair market value. Then if the consumer selects a healthcare service that is less than that amount, they are obligated to pay nothing. However, if the consumer selects a service that is greater than the reference price, then they are obligated to pay the difference. This system gives the consumer an incentive to participate in controlling costs whereas they might not otherwise…

United States and National Healthcare Insurance:

A Winning Proposition?

Physical health and well-being are among the most basic needs and desires of human beings. We all hope that neither ourselves nor our families will ever be the victims of sickness, incapacitation, or any other malady. We hope too that if we ever do require the services of professional Healthcare providers we will not be bankrupted by the expense. Yet, it is a fact of life, that good Healthcare does not come cheaply. Especially in the United States, physicians hospitals, and other forms of medical care are extremely expensive. Like their counterparts in so many other fields, American medical practitioners are among the most highly paid in the world. A serious illness, especially one requiring hospitalization, can spell financial ruin. It is of course for these reasons that so many Americans have Healthcare insurance. Nevertheless even this insurance is very costly.…

Behaviors Allocation

Cost behaviors in health care organizations are complex, and the costs are classified according to the relationship they have with the volume of the care provided. It is, therefore, important to address the cost allocation and how health care organizations can leverage costs to operate more effectively. There are five ways in which health care is funded. These include taxation of a municipality, state, or county, private (voluntary) health insurance, payments made out-of-pocket by patients, socialized health insurance (such as government-run options), and donations that are made to health care charities (Bond & Bond, 1994). Most countries offer a mix of those models for paying health care costs, and what the health care organizations do with that money is dependent on the needs of the organization itself and the patients in need of health care from that organization. In cost allocation, a business unit (a department, for example)…

Abstract

Growing health care expenditure contributes greatly to the American government’s financial wellbeing. Citizen burden when it comes to funding these expenses, in the form of growing taxes and increased long-term loans, constitutes the chief effect of this upsurge in governmental health expenses. Dealing with this issue necessitates active participation of every healthcare worker in process map creation and estimation of resource expenses surrounding patient treatment throughout the care cycle. Suggestions for curbing growing healthcare expenses include avoiding preventable ailments and bringing about healthcare value improvements through the: 1) Elimination of needless process and process variations which fail to add value; 2) Delivery of appropriate processes at appropriate places, with relevant clinical capabilities suited to the processes; 3) Quicker cycle time; 4) Optimization over the complete care cycle; and 5) Reimbursement reinvention.

Introduction

Tackling health care is one of the most significant economic issues in America today. The Brookings Institute…

Mex Am / Hispanic Am. Hlth Care

Sub- cultural Scholarly Paper: Hispanic-American Health

Due to the rising cost of health care and lack of communication and cultural attitudes towards health many Hispanics are faced with poor health, obesity, and in most cases serious illness. This paper provides insight into health concerns, dilemmas of the subculture, and the specifics revealed in the interview process as relates to the individual, the family and ultimately, the community and the culture's collective society.

Subcultural Scholarly Paper: Hispanic-American Health

Criteria:

The theoretical framework used to evaluate this subculture is Purnell's Model. This is a subculture study of Hispanic-Americans in relation to their lack of knowledge concerning their personal healthcare.

Description of Subculture:

One way to address the challenges of providing health care to differing cultures is through advances in the development of competence among cultural providers in the healthcare field as per the minority which…

Outpatient Clinic Center

For all health care facilities, having a code of ethics is critical for establishing acceptable practices for everyone to follow. This helps to improve the quality of care and professionalism. (Bryant, 2012) To fully understand how this can enhance an organization requires examining an outpatient clinic in the United States.

This will be accomplished by looking at the Anxiety Disorder Outpatient Clinic at Johns Hopkins University. During this process there will be a focus on: the background of the facility, its organizational structure, two potential ethical dilemmas, how to implement the ethical code and consequences for violating different provisions. Together, these elements will provide specific insights as to the way the facility can address any challenges and enhance treatment options.

Background of Facility

Johns Hopkins University has two different outpatient clinics they are operating. These are located at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Bayview Medical Center. Established in…

Conclusion

ased 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 American society pays for having high-quality services but that is what has developed. Hopefully, a system can be devised that allows for more broad-based coverage while retaining the availability of quality care.

Recommendations

The United States health care system cannot continue as it has for the past several years. Costs are far too high and are escalating at a rate that is out of control. Relying on employer-based insurance plans must be abandoned and some form of public financing…

Universal healthcare would benefit a large segment of the population, and it should be implemented as quickly as possible to ensure the nation's health and to save money.

There are some clear arguments against universal healthcare. One of the most well-known and cited is the idea that the Federal Government is not capable of efficiently managing healthcare, and they cite the problems with the Veteran's Hospitals and Medicare as a very real example of that mismanagement and inability to control costs and other aspects of universal healthcare. Many government agencies are indeed inefficient, understaffed, and mismanaged, so care must be taken to ensure this does not happen with any agency managing universal healthcare. There should be strict controls and measures in place to ensure the agency is managed efficiently and provides the best results, and there should be measures in place to ensure the quality and delivery of healthcare services,…

Strategic Management of a Healthcare Facility in St. Louis

In the late 1800's and early 1900's St. Louis was a major center for automotive and other heavy manufacturing but the industrial restructuring of the Midwest during the latter half of the century has resulted in consistent economic decline of the St. Louis region. Today however as the rest of the country faces a slowing economy this region is showing new signs of growth. [Kotkin, 2002] Due to changing socio-demographics, the demand for health care and advanced medical technologies is growing consistently with a concomitant rise in health expenditure. [Zhou 2001] Health expenditure in the U.S. has risen from 7.4% of the GNP in 1970 to 15% of the GNP in 1995.[Zhou, 2001] The Health care sector deals with not only the clinical medical services, but also include methods which finance them, for e.g. insurance, benefit schemes, Medicare and Medicaid. eforms…

Ethical Analysis of Healthcare Rationing

The topic of health care rationing has been the subject of debate in the U.S. The last few years as government expenditures on health care have far exceeded budgeted levels. Central to the concern is the ethical issue over whether it is better if fewer Americans profit with a greater amount of health resource allocation or if the majority benefit to a lesser degree for an equity in health care benefits. In the essay, "We've Got To Ration Health Care," (author unknown) the position is taken that America would fare better to follow the course of health care action seen in other western countries, where it is considered better to ration medical procedures to the extent that a system provides "the highest possible level of basic health care that can be delivered to all the people." With the growing concern over health care rationing, and…

health care system has focused on the prevention and cure of disease and illness. When people got sick, every bit of energy and finances went into trying to figure out how to stop it. This was true even when the patient had a disorder or a disease that was deemed incurable. For many years when someone got a disease in which there was no cure, it did not change the method of treatment. The medical community, the family and the patient continued to try every possible avenue to stop the progress. Often times the patient would submit to painful and disorienting treatments, because they didn't want to disappoint their family members or their doctors. At the same time the medical community was expanding the length of life so that many people were living longer than ever before. These two things began to clash. At what point do people stop trying…

Two elements that are extremely useful in the examination of health care. In this regard therefore, quality is also differentiated along SES. Persons who are higher on the socioeconomic ladder experience better "desired health outcomes."

The access to quality health care also has cultural and SES elements to it. Dressler & Bindon (2000) identify cultural consonance as a factor in determining blood pressure in African-American communities. The implications of this work are that cultural elements play a big role in health care quality and access. Whites tend to have greater access to better health care than minority groups. This access is in terms of the proximity of quality physicians, medical services, and facilities.

The ethical implications of the differential access to health care are troubling (Kulczycki, 2007). This is primarily because a health care discussion is a life and death discussion. Quality health care is the right of every citizen,…

The information contained in Health ars is of tremendous benefit to all readers. e need to take more control over our own health, especially given the rising cost of health care insurance and the exorbitant prices of doctor and hospital bills. Preventing problems depends largely on paying attention to our genetic history: finding out what problems our mothers, fathers, and grandparents and adapting our lifestyle accordingly. Reading Day's book also encourages readers to learn more about common problems and possible solutions that involve diet and lifestyle changes. Taking responsibility for our health is one of the main themes in Health ars. Readers should take heed of what Day believes to be a crisis in modern medicine: the inability or unwillingness to practice common sense prevention.

I would recommend Health ars highly for several reasons. First, I believe that the health care crisis might be one of the most important problems…

Health Care Reform

FDR's New Deal and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society were early attempts for the United States government to play a broader role in creating more extensive social policies. More recently, when a recession pushed inflation to an all-time high, Ronald Reagan led a popular political campaign in which he pronounced that the federal government should have a smaller role in American society. He believed that socialism was an evil worth fighting. This sentiment undoubtedly caused the Clinton Presidency to fail when trying to enact a series of measures to reform Health Care. The debate has regained momentum with Obama who has enacted a health care reform bill known as the Affordable Care Act. Republicans who been vocal critics of the bill and have vowed to overturn in before its inception. This paper will introduce some of the economic mechanics that are responsible for fueling the debate.

Background on…

Healthcare

Hand-held devices and portable digital assistants (PDAs) are being integrated into the health care setting in the United States. It is important to understand which devices are being used, how they are being used, what they are being used for, and why. Understanding the role that hand-held devices and other portable electronics play in health care can help to inform organizational policy, and help health care administrators better implement electronic medical records.

History of use

The first documented PDA was the Newton MessagePad, issued by Apple in 1993. It was described as being "revolutionary" (Wiggins, 2004, p. 5). Palm, Inc. developed the next big handheld device: the Palm Pilot, in 1996. By the late 1990s, PDAs were equipped for Internet access, and memory capacity and other features improved with each product release. Microsoft also entered the portable electronic devices marketplace in the 1990s. The devices were not yet being…

Healthcare Administration Mission Viejo Executive Summary

Over the last several years, the healthcare delivery environment has been continually evolving. This is because consumers are demanding efficient ways for receiving a variety of services. That is focused on reducing costs and enhancing quality. The result is that the entire system is continually changing to keep up with them. In the case of Golden Age Hospital (GAH), they are reaching a crossroads with rising number of seniors locally and nationally. This is in response to the rising demographic and many local facilities feeling overwhelmed. The new location can be utilized as an integrated business model that will achieve these larger objectives. In the long-term, this will make them more competitive and able to respond to changes in the way industry is operating. Those who are able to do this will see their employee turnover rates decrease and they can enhance the care…

Healthcare in Canada: To Privatize or Not to Privatize

To Privatize or not to Privatize: Healthcare in Canada

Canada prides itself in one of the most generous healthcare systems in the world. Canadians do not have to rely on their employers for health insurance or to pay out-of-pocket for their medical procedures as the greater part of their healthcare bill is footed by the government. This has had the effect of making the country a rather healthy nation; however, its health comes at a cost. Canada currently spends over 9% of its GDP on healthcare -- the highest amount in the developed world. This proportion can be expected to rise over the coming years as the Baby Boomer population ages. Privatization has been proposed as a possible way of reducing the government's expenditure on healthcare. This text assesses the potential costs and benefits of healthcare privatization.

Open letter to the…

Globalization and American Health Care

What explains the directionality of flows in health care? Patients, health workers, managerial practices?

Globalization has brought in the information revolution and this has again brought changes in the medical profession and the way health care is being administered. It has also brought in unforeseen problems and expansion of the health care issues and running debates on health care is still strong. The flows of healthcare primarily have to deal with the patient -- how the patient is induced to seek treatment and the process of the treatment and the final discharge and post treatment care. This also involves lot of information exchange, and abiding by insurance contracts, payment options and quality care for the patients. (Phillips, 2005)

The second set is the personnel who include doctors, paramedics and all staff. The flow of work of these sections follows the patient and there are changes…

Expenditures on health care has been mounting faster than the economy for many years, representing a challenge not only for the government's health insurance programs, but also for the private sector. As health care expenditures consume a larger share of the nation's economic output, Virginians along with all Americans will be faced with progressively harder choices to make (the Long-Term Outlook for Health Care Spending, n.d.).

orks Cited

"About Your Benefits." 2010, viewed 14 February 2011, from

"Benefits Descriptions." 2010, viewed 14 February 2011, from

"Current Inflation Rates: 2000-2011." 2010, viewed 14 February 2011, from

"Eligibility, Enrollment and Plan Choices." 2010, viewed 14 February 2011, from

"Five health insurers raise rates in Virginia."2010, viewed 14 February 2011, from

Martin, Keith L. 2010, "Virginia passes budget cutting Medicaid, other health services," viewed

14 February 2011, from < http://ifawebnews.com/2010/03/15/virginia-passes-budget-cutting-medicaid-other-health-services/>

"Monthly Premiums for Non-Medicare Eligible Retiree Group." 2010, viewed 14 February 2011,



Martin,…

Drug PricesIn the New Directions in Health Care podcast entitled Why are U.S. Prescription Drug Prices So High? by the Commonwealth Fund (2017), hosted by Sandy Hausman, and available at The Commonwealth Funds website: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/interactives-and-data/multimedia/podcasts/new-directions-in-health-care/high-drug-prices, the Commonwealth Fund takes a look at the problems patients are having with rising prices in health care drugs. The Commonwealth Fund is well-suited to address this topic as it is, according to its mission description, a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for societys most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults (About Us, 2018). The Commonwealth Fund publishes numerous reports, studies, letters and articles about the state of health care in America today. Its political leanings have been rated slightly left of center as it seeks to avoid partisan politics and…

The idea with this part of the strategy is to be able to form some kind of a partnership with these individuals. This will help to push for a transformation inside the organization. As, these people will help to provide everyone with: a reason for adapting and pushing others to do so (indirectly). (Turner, 1999, pp. 162 -- 163)

Once this occurs, you could then have these individuals become a part of a committee. They will have the responsibility for making specific recommendations about how this can be implemented. This is important, because this will help everyone to realize that some kind of change is occurring inside the facility. Over the course of time, this will lead to shifts in the operating environment by giving people reason for embracing these changes. (Turner, 1999, pp. 162 -- 163)

The Effectiveness of the Plan

To determine the effectiveness of the plan the…

The experiences of seniors within the healthcare delivery system will alter how all Americans view healthcare. The healthcare delivery systems and overall organizational structure in the United States has been slow to adjust but that rest of the world is currently in flux that will migrate into our system. Technological advances in communication have made telehealth and telemedicine vialbel solutions to our outdated healthcare industry orgainzational structre. While these types of advances are only in their infancy, "...there seemed to be broad acceptance that telehealth and telemedicine had provided positive benefits to the worlds healthcare delivery system." (Telehealth Applications) Our technoloically challenged seniors have actually discovered the trend within the healthcare system and telehealth and telemedicine seems to be an advance that will find worldwide support so we as a nation will be reqquired to jump on the bandwagon.

In conclusion, this article review focused on new Healthcare Delivery Systems…

Day treatment programs can provide services at less cost because the patient goes home at night after being treated during the day, which often is used for rehabilitating chronically ill patients (Sharfstein, Stoline, & Koran, 1995, p. 249). The mere fact of having more choice benefits some patients by giving them more say in their care.

Patient-focused care involves a method for containing in-patient costs for hospitals and for improving quality by "restructuring services so that more of them take place on nursing units rather than in specialized units in other hospital locations, and by cross-training staff on the nursing units so that they can do several 'jobs' for the same small group of patients rather then one 'job' for a large number of patients" (Kovner, 1995, p. 186). Kovner notes a number of barriers to this type of care. One reason has been that hospitals have not had to…

Health Care Strategic Management

The deliberative model in healthcare is expected to meet quite a few of the needs of the American public regarding the general area of healthcare. Of the many areas that may decide to look at this problem, an attempt is made here to look at two specific problems. One is the need of patients taking medicine properly and the other is the needs of patient care among all Americans. The problems in taking medication have been taken up on the issue of individual needs of patients for education on medicine taking. The education needs of patients in this area are not being met by healthcare providers. It may be worthwhile to take up a study to develop medication taking instructions for patients which can be used by health care providers in the long run. The aim should be to reach an approach which will be based…

(Wolf, 2008) When you put all of these different elements together, it means that denying health care services to undocumented workers and their families will cause their underlying levels of health to slowly deteriorate. If something serious does occur, these people will more than likely be forced to fend for themselves.

Conducting research in these two areas would be beneficial in influencing health care policy / outcome by: highlighting the overall human cost of the problem on the industry and society. Where, the act of denying them access to health care and the lingering effects could be considered a human rights issue. As a result, the research that would be conducted would be beneficial, in highlighting the overall harsh conditions that these families are forced to endure. Once you present the situation in this light, this will shift the debate from one of a cost issue to being about: basic…

On the other hand, the industry will most likely insist on the service quality segment rather than on the price transparency. A constant improvement of the services provided within the healthcare facility will not only produce the appropriate competition on the market, but it will also provide the incentives for the other healthcare organizations, thus rising overall quality levels in the market. This will rather change the way hospitals price their services rather than price transparency.

Nevertheless, price transparency will change ridiculous situations in which the client is charged $35,000 to change a battery in a pacemaker. It will drive such prices lower, encouraging price competition.

ibliography

1. A Call for Transparency in Healthcare Cost and Quality. On the Internet at http://blogs.msdn.com/healthblog/archive/2006/05/16/599064.aspx.Last retrieved on June 30, 2007

2. Feld, Stanley. What Is Real Price Transparency? Medicine: Healthcare System. May 2007. On the Internet at http://stanleyfeldmdmace.typepad.com/repairing_the_healthcare_/2007/05/what_is_real_pr.html.Last retrieved on June 30, 2007…

Healthcare Changes

Changes to Healthcare Practice and Delivery: A Study of Two Detroit, MI Healthcare Facilities Separated by Twenty Years

Changes to technology and to the political and regulatory landscape have led to many changes in the ways that businesses in all manner of industries operate. Increased communications capabilities, the shrinking size and cost for advanced technologies, and a variety of other changes have provided many businesses with an opportunity to operate more efficiently, and in so doing have also made many industries and markets more competitive. An examination of some typical businesses operating in these industries today as compared to their counterparts that were in operation twenty years ago provides ample evidence of the changes that have occurred and the ways in which businesses have adapted.

The healthcare industry has by no means been immune from these changes, but in fact has changed more than many other industries due…

Healthcare Access

The health of any single person is the most important and most limiting factor about that person's ability to complete physical tasks and live a useful and purposeful life. Healthcare is a term that is widely used but never discussed in how it can best be accessed. The purpose of this essay is to identify and describe a useful plan that helps solve the dilemma of people acquiring a proper and useful source of healthcare. The ethical component of the situation will also be introduced to help demonstrate how practical this plan can be.

To many, healthcare is often associated with doctors, nurses, hospitals, drugs and surgery. It seems that more people are sick or are diseased with some sort of affliction than ever before. Tanner (2008) made the point that "a closer look shows that nearly all health care systems worldwide are wrestling with problems of rising…

Health Care Situation: Medical Error Due to Doctors' Bad Handwriting

Identify a health care news situation that affects a health care organization such as a hospital, clinic or insurance company.

I have identified the following health care news situation as the topic of my paper: "Poor Handwriting of Doctors and its implied risks for the Patient, Hospital and Medical Malpractice Insurance." Poor handwriting of physicians resulting in poor legibility of entries into patients' medical records carries very dramatic risks for all above-mentioned interest bearers. It can result in severe health danger for the patient and - in extreme situations - even cause a patient's death. Doctors' bad penmanship has long been seen a problem within organized medicine and the patient safety movement. Three American Medical Association (AMA) policies dating back to 1992, urge doctors to "improve the legibility of handwritten orders for medications" and review all orders for accuracy and…

Contracts with doctors often contain a clause which doesn't allow the doctors to discuss

Health care 7 with their patients financial incentives to deny treatment or about treatments not covered by the plan (Glazer, 1996). This has caused many consumers, especially those with chronic illnesses, to form organizations with the American Medical Association and physician specialty groups to promote legislation forbidding "gag rules" (Glazer, 1996). One group, Citizen Action, has 3 million members and "has been lobbying in state legislatures for laws that would require plans to disclose how they pay their doctors; give patients the right to choose specialists outside the plan; and provide appeals for patients who get turned down for expensive treatments" (Glazer, 1996).

The doctor-patient relationship is also affected if a patient must switch to a new doctor under managed care. Having a longterm relationship with a primary doctor is important because he or she is…

Health Policies Medicare

hen everyone in our country finally starts to reach the age of 65 years of age or older, then every person will become eligible for Medicare. It is clear that there are some elderly that are having minimum health concerns while others recurrently are dealing with medical issues for which they will have to seek out treatment by the doctor. However, research is starting to display that there are at least five top conditions that are enhancing on medical and drug spending. It is obvious that Heart disease circumstances are the number one medical issue that the those that are considered elderly are facing and that is becoming very costly to them. Most are unaware that the second one is the disease cancer and it could be internal or external for various elderly patients. Other issues such as joint ailments a lot of the times can cost…

Others believed that cost control would become a matter for distant and impersonal government boards, with a direct effect on care, and that the reduced competition brought about by the federal government's entrance into the insurance market in any form would simply lead to rising healthcare costs without any real control or oversight. These two pictures of dire futures brought about by the healthcare bill seem to be mutually exclusive, with one predicting uncontrolled expenses and the other control so tight that care is potentially denied for expense reasons alone, but both were a part of the argument against the national healthcare bill.

Oversight

There has also been considerable debate regarding exactly who will be overseeing the program. There was considerable talk of "death panels," a deliberately fear-invoking image of a bunch of suit-wearing individuals determining when it was time for a person to die rather than continue to receive…

(Findlay, 2001, 90 -- 119) (McLeod, 2003, pp. 895 -- 908)

What is the possibility of bias entering the study? If the study is susceptible to bias, state and explain the type of bias that may enter the study and what steps can be incorporated to minimize the entry of bias.

The possibility for bias in the study is low. The reason why, is because researchers will have limited access to the patients they are seeing (through: the use of anonymous surveys). This will dramatically reduce the possibilities of bias existing. (Findlay, 2001, 90 -- 119) (McLeod, 2003, pp. 895 -- 908)

ased on your hypothesis/proposal, how will the proposed generated results help to develop an effective health policy for the target population of your chosen topic?

The proposal will help to develop an effective health policy. This is accomplished by: providing specific insights about how the increasing utilization of…

The research thus concludes the essence of having quality and effective legislation addressing the aspects of overall oral health of the people.

Additionally, the Canadian Dental Association also relates several issues of the overall body health to the oral health of the individual. In view of the article on the relation "oral health -- good life," the article gives information on the essence of good oral health, indicating some of the illnesses of ill oral health (Chattopadhyay, 2011). In this article, the relation between the ill oral health and the overall health of the body is that the mouth is the ingress to the body. Therefore, an individual with ill oral health is at the highest risk of having infection that affects the whole body system severely. According to this article, it emphasizes the need for dentists-patient relation as the dentists is the only person with the skill, expertise and…

Figure 1 portrays the state of Maryland, the location for the focus of this DR.

Figure 1: Map of Maryland, the State (Google Maps, 2009)

1.3 Study Structure

Organization of the Study

The following five chapters constitute the body of Chapter I: Introduction

Chapter II: Review of the Literature

Chapter III: Methods and Results

Chapter IV: Chapter V: Conclusions, Recommendations, and Implications

Chapter I: Introduction

During Chapter I, the researcher presents this study's focus, as it relates to the background of the study's focus, the area of study, the four research questions, the significance of the study, and the research methodology the researcher utilized to complete this study.

Chapter II: Review of the Literature in Chapter II, the researcher explores information accessed from researched Web sites; articles; books; newspaper excerpts; etc., relevant to considerations of the disparity in access to health care services between rural and urban residence in Maryland…

NPV and IBN

Net present value analysis can be used with respect to IBN in a real life investment situation where healthcare organizations are looking to decide where to invest revenues or capital for future expenditures. It may help healthcare organizations calculate the value of cash flows within the organization over varying time periods. Net present value analysis allows organizations to consider the difference in future cash flow values compared with the cost of raising capital for future investments. Organizations can use this analysis to decide whether or not to incorporate certain expenses into IBN.

A healthcare organization can use net present value analysis for example to pick between varying investment projects for example. A hospital could for example decide whether to invest more of its resources in improved technology and security measures or whether to invest more resources in research geared to finding new treatments for cancer patients that…

They have a strong balance sheet that enables them to acquire capital easily and cheaply, but they are shifting their staff to physician ratio from 6.11 to 7.5, indicating that their administrative cost structure is going to increase dramatically as a result of their current expansion strategy. Whether or not this represents a weakness that can be exploited by MCMPC remains to be seen, but it may materialize as a weakness in the future. There is the threat, however, that given the declining morale at MCMPC some of the clinic's physicians may defect to Innovative in order to advance their careers and improve the professionalism of their working environment.

The external environment provides a number of challenges for MCMPC. The unfortunate reality is that the company is ill-equipped to address many of these challenges. They have proven unable to build the key resources in specialists and referrals, and they have…

They must understand the capital outlays required for health care and make plans to fund these outlays. Firms that budget for health care effectively are the ones that are spending on prevention and increasing co-pays, to ensure that outlays are reduced and inflows are increased.

Analysis: The rising cost of health care is a major concern for firms. They need to remain competitive, but increasing amounts of their budget are tied up in health care costs. The estimate of $29,000 per employee just on health care costs ten years from now has a profound impact on the budgeting process. Firms have several ways to address this issue. In the article it was discussed that firms seek to lower the cost of health care by reducing the need for it. Over the long run, a logical conclusion is that firms will make investments in technology or techniques that allow them to…

Health Conundrum

Healthcare Financing and Nursing

Healthcare is one of the most contentious subjects in the United States today, with the financing of the healthcare system the specific issue of concern in legal, ethical, and pragmatic spheres. The debate surrounding this industry has impacted all areas of the healthcare industry, including the nursing profession, in a variety of complex ways that are both direct and indirect. ising healthcare costs without a rising ability to pay has created a strain on many medical institutions, and a rising demand for are with the rapidly aging population of the United States (that is, with a much larger older generation(s) in the country, the overall demographic of the nation is shifting quickly towards more elderly and care-intensive individuals) has not been adequately met with a rising provision of services (Kovner et al. 2011). The following paragraphs will explore several implications of this situation on…

Although the Medicare prescription drug program has provided access to medications for seniors at a lower cost to the government than was originally expected and has lowered the out of pocket costs for the consumers, there is talk about needing to overhaul the program. Critics contend that the government should be able to negotiate lower costs for prescription drugs than private insurances can. It is also felt that the entire program is too confusing for the elderly beneficiaries and needs to be made more understandable (Wechsler, 2008). All of these proposed changes come with Medicare still trying to uphold there objectives of providing affordable prescription drugs to seniors.

It is believed that even with these proposed changes taking place there is still a need for greater education about the program as a whole. It is hoped that with increased education that consumers will be more informed about the choices that…