Abstract This paper discusses the healthcare delivery systems in the United States. Firstly, it gives an overview of how healthcare is delivered to the patient. Next, it points out some of the flaws that have been occurring in this system. Additionally, the author explores some of the factors a patient looks for when rating a healthcare delivery system.
From the Paper "The U.S. health care delivery system was thought to be the best in the world but lately people have started to question this once unchallenged assumption. Some experts have said that our health care delivery system needs to make major improvements. Throughout this paper I will give an overview of the health care delivery system of the U.S. I will discuss the good qualities of our health care delivery system as well as the flaws that occur in it. Additionally I will discuss how health care delivery systems are evaluated. Lastly I will discuss some factors which are important to a patient when it comes to a health care delivery system. The means by which health care is delivered to U.S. patients is changing. The U.S. health care delivery system is comprised of many components including hospitals, outpatient facilities, transitional ..."
Abstract This paper begins with a description of the AIDS virus and how it effects the human body and an explanation of how the virus is transmitted. The paper then examines the costs of HIV infection to the healthcaresystem and how these additional costs affect the healthcare delivery system in general.
From the Paper "In 1982, a disease known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, was officially recognized in the United States (Shi & Singh, 2004). Since that time, the disease has become a world-wide epidemic, with more than 830,000 cases reported in the U.S. (National Institute of Health (NIH), 2003). The disease, caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), has infected scores of people as well, with over 38 million people living with the virus worldwide in 2003. Since the first diagnosis of AIDS in 1982, over 20 million people have died worldwide (UNAIDS, 2004)."
Tags: diagnosis, sexual, contact, needle, sharing, blood, transfusions, immune, systems
An examination of the current US healthcaresystem, highlighting the necessity for the introduction of reform and improvements in order to assist all sections of the community.
Abstract This paper deals with the necessity to introduce a healthcareprogram in the US that is available to all persons and that deals with all relevant issues. The paper highlights the decline in the effectiveness of the current system and calls on the nursing profession to introduce a cost effective program and to encourage co-operation between patients and the healthcareprograms. The paper continues by emphasizing that the nursing profession is in the front line and is able to introduce an affordable medical aid system to suit all facets of society.
Outline:
The issue
Background
Nurse's relevance on the issue
Conclusion
From the Paper "The quality of health care continues to decline and be inadequate as crisis management is more and more becoming the patchwork solution for the nation's ineffectual healthcare system. This is not to say that there are not certain elements that of the current health care system that should not be maintained and continued. Reform should build upon the best parts of the current health care system and begin moving toward patient wellness and care. Nursing organizations realize what is needed in the area of reform and plan to convert rather than eliminate the current health care system."
Abstract This paper discusses the history of national healthcare concepts in the United States. It is an accumulation of slides for presentation and demonstrates the past history of Medicare and Medicaid, as well as HMOs, and PPos. It further discusses the issues involved in the development of a national healthcareprogram, and provides suggestions as to beginning a universal healthcareprogram in the US.
From the Paper " In 1937 a Technical Committee was established to oversee health and welfare activities in the United States. * In 1939 Senator Robert Wagner proposed a health insurance bill that would have provided medical insurance for all workers and their families ("History"). * In 1945 President Truman proposed national health care coverage. * 1960: the Social Security Amendments were enacted which provided grants to States to care for aging people who could not afford the full cost of medical care. * 1960: The Social Security Amendment was further amended to provide for disability insurance for injured workers. * July 30,1965 President Johnson signed H.R. 6675 to provide health insurance for the elderly. ("History"). * 1966: All people were automatically covered at the age of 65 under Medicare. *"
Abstract This paper contends that conventional economics cannot be applied to the modern day healthcaresystem because of the complexity of the payment system that has become so vast throughout time. The paper cites examples of this, and further offers solutions to this problem.
From the Paper "Within the health care payment system there are a wide variety of entities that are considered. Patients, providers, insurance companies, and governmental health insurance all play a significant role in the health care payment system. This complex system, therefore, would be difficult to generalize in economic terms because of the vastness of the elements that affect health care every day. William F. Jessee (2003) describes the health care payment system as "multiple combinations of co-payments and deductibles, multiple coverage policies, multiple billing requirements, multiple coding policies, and multiple fee schedules..." (p. 19). This description can be considered in terms of the patient first. Each patient arrives within the health care system with different financial circumstances. Some patients may have insurance through their employment, or HMOs, and PPOS. Other patients may have government health insurance, such as Medicaid, or Medicare."
Abstract Stakeholders in the U.S. healthcaresystem include private and public purchasers of health plans, physicians, hospitals, clinics, health plans, consumers, and public healthprograms. Each stakeholder wants quick access to information for a variety of reasons. The paper shows that, in light of these important issues, information systems in the healthcare environment is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. The paper examines the benefits as well as the disadvantages of the healthcare industry's move towards dependence on IS. It also presents information on proposed legislation to protect medical records and patient confidentiality.
From the Paper "The intertwined issues of security, privacy, and confidentiality have drawn increased attention to and public unease with the growing use of technology in health care. In 1996, HIPAA mandates included the enactment of federal laws and regulations against unauthorized access to electronically stored or transmitted patient records and misuse of personal health information. These new security standards were designed to protect all electronic health information from improper access, alteration, or loss. The proposed regulations include technical guidance and administrative requirements for those who use, maintain, or transmit electronic health information."
Tags: JCAHO, Health, Insurance, Portability, Accountability, Act, AIDS
Abstract The paper discusses how the healthcare delivery system in the United States has undergone significant change since the initial formulation of healthcare maintenance organizations, employer group insurance programs, and unions that demanded benefits for industrial workers. The paper analyzes how large hospital conglomerates control most of the emergency and in-patient care in the United States. The paper further analyzes how doctors are attached to healthcare management organizations, or public healthcare organizations that regulate how and where physicians can practice medicine.
From the Paper "The health care delivery system in the United States has undergone significant change since the initial formulation of health care maintenance organizations, employer group insurance programs, and unions that demanded benefits for industrial workers. Today large hospital conglomerates control most of the emergency and in-patient care in the United States. Doctors, by and large, are attached to health care management organizations, or public health care organizations that regulate how and where physicians will practice medicine. These organizations claim that by instituting policies for doctors that they ensure a better quality of health care. While technology and science have brought tremendous advancements to the health care industry, (promising that the quality of care will lead to the stabilization of many illnesses, or perhaps even cures) there still remains over half of the American population that is either without insurance, or that cannot afford medical care at all."
Abstract This paper, based in sociological and social psychology concepts, identifies the causal factors for the gap between lower-income Americans and members of visible minorities in the United States and more affluent Americans and members of the majority segment of the population with respect to healthcare access. The author concludes, after an extensive review of the literature, that a universal system of healthcare entitlement is required in the United States. The author suggests that an extensive education is required for low-income persons and members of visible minorities to know the benefits and function of healthcare services, and healthcare providers require education in the social mores of the diverse populations they must serve.
Table of Contents
Problem Delineation
Background on the Problem
Statement of the Problem
Research Questions
Review of Relevant Social Psychology Theory and Literature
Introduction
Sociological Theory and HealthCare The Welfare State
Accessing Contemporary HealthCare Role of Ethics in Accessing HealthCare Alternative HealthCare Delivery Systems Chapter Conclusions
Social Functioning of Low-Income and Visible Minority Population Groups
Introduction
HIV/AIDS Related Behavior
Initiatives to Improve HealthCare Access and Behaviors
The American HealthCareSystem and The HealthCare Experiences of Low-Income and Visible Minority Population Groups
Introduction
The American HealthCareSystem Delivery of HealthCare to the Poor
Care Quality
Alternative Approaches to Delivery
Bioethical Issues
Problems of Accessibility
Initiatives to Improve Access
Chapter Conclusions
Assessment of the Problem
Discussion
Recommendations for Further Research
Annotated Bibliography
From the Paper "One of the major impediments to the attainment of universal access to healthcare in the United States is the functioning of for-profit Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and managed care organizations (MCOs). These organizations are investor-owned organizations that are in business to make a profit on healthcare delivery. Non-for-profit healthcare organizations also must earn a profit on their operations in order to be able to compensate and train staff, acquire new technology, and generally improve the quality of their services. Unlike investor-owned healthcare companies, however, non-for-profit organizations are not driven by share prices and the bottom-line mentality of for-profit companies. Thus, patient-centered care in not-for-profit healthcare organizations may be contrasted with the investor orientation of the for-profit healthcare companies. Recent decisions by for-profit healthcare companies to drop their Medicare healthcare groups because of substandard profit growth illustrates as no amount of rhetoric can the precedent of investor concerns over patient concerns in the for-profit healthcare companies."
Abstract This paper explores all of the myriad and complex causes of the high cost in today's healthcare environment and recommends changes that would be the most likely to positively impact change. Charts and graphs are used to help illustrate important points.
Introduction
Prescription Drugs
Medical Devices and Medical Advances
Rising Provider Expenses
General Inflation
Government Mandates and Regulations
Government Programs and Tax Laws
Increased Consumer Demand
Lack of Consumerism
Litigation and Risk Management
Fraud and Abuse
Managed CareSystem Conclusion
From the Paper "Priority Health also believes that the United States government is at fault for not imposing price controls on pharmaceutical products as do most other industrialized nations, thus leading to drugs costs that are as much as one hundred percent higher in this country. Additionally, the United States government imposes regulations for drug distribution and sales that make drugs less readily available and more expensive than in other countries. Also, government granted patents protect drug for up to seventeen years, limiting competition and driving up prices."
Tags:health, care, spending, managed, care, health, insurance, employers, premium
Abstract My research compares and contrasts the healthcaresystem of the United States and that of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Without a doubt, the most noticeable difference between the two healthsystems is that the United States system works under the managed care model while the UAE system follows that used in one way or another by most of the developed nations: the universal healthcaresystem.
Abstract This paper analyzes the public sector and market system provision of healthcare. It concludes that a private hybrid of both is the best way to proceed. The paper offers an overview of the market and private systems. The author also researches which system produces the best quality healthcare.
From the Paper "There has been much debate about the role of market systems and private systems in the health care field. Traditional micro economic theory suggests that market systems are ideally suited to holding down costs, building efficiencies and providing the highest ..."
Tags: public sector, private sector, market system, market failure, healthcare
Abstract This nine page undergraduate paper examines future aspects of healthcare from the perspective of healthcare administrators and managers. The writer notes that it is evident that challenges must be overcome, despite the numerous problems presented by historical, social, ethical, technological, and financial factors. The writer points out that at the present time, the healthcaresystem in the United States is confronting rising costs and undiminished expectations, and the system is in crisis. Further, the writer discusses that controversial issues of socialized medicine, cost shifting, and budget deficits will have to be addressed if needed reforms of the American healthcaresystem are to be implemented.
From the Paper "In examining future aspects of health care from the perspective of health care administrators and managers, it is evident that they must overcome the numerous challenges presented by historical, social, ethical, technological, and financial factors. At the present time, the health care system in the United States is confronting rising costs and undiminished expectations, and the system is in crisis. Controversial issues of socialized medicine, cost shifting, and budget deficits will have to be addressed if needed reforms of the American health care system are to be implemented. But reforming health care in the United States is contentious because it will affect the level of services and involve tens of millions of beneficiaries and taxpayers."
Abstract This paper presents an assessment of the economics of healthcare costs. The paper argues that the problem is a complex maze of related issues such as funding mechanisms, delivery structures and individual responsibility. Additionally, the paper recommends a national healthcaresystem for managing family healthcare costs that is based on universal access to healthcare.
From the Paper "Health care economics is entering another state of turmoil in the United States as the moderating effects of the managed care concept on increasing health care costs appears to have run its course. The Congress and state governments believed the promises of managed care proponents that managed care would lower health care costs dramatically and are resisting rapid increases in health care costs. Managed care companies are responding by dropping governmentally-funded patient groups including Medicare and Medicaid raising charges to..."
Abstract This paper argues that the above quotation accurately sums up the situation of healthcare in the United States. As is argued, there are many aspects to this mess. The writer points out that the most important is that millions of Americans do not have healthcare, or have insufficient healthcare. Further, the writer notes that millions of Americans are unproductive because of this, and thousands die. Other problems mentioned are that the healthcaresystem is more expensive than it needs to be, due to a number of factors.
Abstract The paper discusses how the shortage of healthcare and poorer standards of quality have tested the ability of society to provide the medical support that the population needs. The paper relates that the present standard of care has raised concerns among healthcare providers and patients regarding the implementation of new methods of improving the standard of care. This paper provides an overview of the healthcare industry's standard of care and suggests concepts that hospital management and healthcare providers could utilize to improve the quality of healthcare overall.
Outline:
Introduction
Standard of Care Conclusion
From the Paper "In the medical profession, the business process perspective refers to internal processes. Metrics based on this perspective allow the managers to know how well their business is running, and whether its products and services conform to patient's requirements. These metrics have to be carefully designed by those who know these processes most intimately, usually includes the identification of mission-oriented processes, and support processes. Mission-oriented processes are the special functions of government offices, whereas the support processes are more repetitive, and easier to benchmark and measure using generic metrics. The patient perspective can be improved by enhancing the quality of care, and perhaps by offering additional services needed by the physicians that are not currently addressed or not stressed enough. The final perspective, financing healthcare, involves timely and accurate funding where the implementation of a corporate database would ideally centralize the majority of the processing of the data in addition to automating the processing of financial data. A hospital or health care provider could successfully implement this perspective by including additional metrics, such as other types of financial related data, such as risk-assessment and cost-benefit data."
