Healthcare Cost, quality, and access
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Grand Canyon University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
302
Subject
Medicine
Date
May 28, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
5
Uploaded by kns2711
Health Care Cost Katelynn Sheline College of Science in Healthcare Administration
HLT-205: Health Care Systems Joseph Anderson
October 16, 2023
1
Health Care Cost
The current cost of health care within the United States is at an all-time high with no decrease in cost to be seen in the near future. Healthcare costs per person per year reached roughly 12,914 dollars in 2021 (Historical | CMS, n.d.). One of the largest contributors to the rising cost of health care is private healthcare. Unlike public health care systems, private health care has few regulations or policies they have to stay within regulation of. Meaning, healthcare providers can charge for medical care how they see fit even if it is unjust and or unaffordable by most. Healthcare is a highly profitable filed and even unethical at times when it comes to making a profit. Hospice for example, they spend less on nursing per patient, resulting in worse quality of care and more patients dropping out compared to their non- profit counterparts (Geyman, J. (2018). Meaning while they are charging patients more, they are in return giving a lesser quality of care to these patients in return. One of the biggest issues with accessing healthcare in today’s world is contributed to private healthcare. Unlike public health care, private healthcare is not required to follow as many
laws and regulations therefore making polices unaffordable for most individuals not allowing them the opportunity to have healthcare coverage. One the other hand, if patients are unable to afford private healthcare, they are often assisted by the government with public health care. While yes, they induvial now have health coverage, often many providers do not accept these health care policies leaving these induvial without health care treatment once again. Lastly a large contribution can be attributed to the fact of America is a very large population and ever growing. While we are constantly growing, the number of facilities providing health services is not (Te, Bu, 2021). Therefore, causing an overflow of patients with no way to receive medical care in a timely manner and of goof quality. 2
Delivering a great quality of care can be a stressful and very difficult thing for healthcare providers to provide. With an overflow of patients that require medical help, providers are unable
to spend the time needed with each patient in order to ensure they are thoroughly taken care of medically. When patients are not treated properly, they can continue to undergo complications with their health. For example, insufficient evidence or help for patients with medical conditions such as epilepsy may result in poor quality of care Physician factors contributed to unmet needs, including insufficient knowledge about conditions such as epilepsy (Mahendran, M, 2017). Specific diagnosis can require a lot of testing and time with providers to truly get to solving the problem. On the other hand, they issue can also be correlated to the lack of providers. If there are
not enough facilities for providers to operate out of, patients are also not receiving the care they need. Like most things in our ever-evolving world today, medical technology is always advancing. There are many positive factors to this, along with some negative consequences. While medical technology can make healthcare much more advanced and adaptable, it does not lower the cost of receiving this care. The implementation of new equipment and technology often makes medical treatment a higher cost out of pocket for patients. However, most often these newly developed technology forms are more beneficial than past tools used and often provide patients
with more advanced care. While progress and advancement in care are not always the outcome of medical technology, more times than not it is successful (National Academies Press (US), 1991).
With the continuation of advances in medical technology, I believe that while we may be capable of providing excellent care to patients, it may become unaffordable,
and patients may begin to struggle to receive the medical help they need.
However, these technological advancements can also make processes simpler for patients. Such as attending appointments 3
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
virtually rather than traveling to see a provider. With more virtual capabilities, patients are also capable of talking with providers online with questions regarding their health care. There is certainly a large benefit to quality of care that patients a receiving with medical technological advancements, but it is all worth it is patients are unable to afford the care they need.
4
References
Geyman, J. (2018). Crisis in U.S. Health Care: Corporate Power Still Blocks Reform. International Journal of Health Services, 48(1), 5–27. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0020731417729654
Mahendran, M., Speechley, K. N., & Widjaja, E. (2017). Systematic review of unmet healthcare needs in patients with epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior, 75, 102–109. https://doi-.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2017.02.034
National Academies Press (US). (1991).
The diffusion of new technology: costs and benefits to health care
. The Changing Economics of Medical Technology - NCBI Bookshelf.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234309/
Te Bu, Bojan Masanovic, Huiqing Huang, & Tao Fu. (2021). Cost of Healthcare is Skyrocketing in
the USA: A Broken Medicare Must be Reformed. Journal of Anthropology of Sport and Physical
Education, 5(3), 27–28. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.26773/jaspe.210705
Historical | CMS. (n.d.). https://www.cms.gov/data-research/statistics-trends-and-reports/national-health-
expenditure-data/historical
5