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Problems with American Health Care The health care service has changed many times in the past. For instance, professionals who have joined the health care industry a decade ago find little resemblance to the work environment that their predecessors have sound a mere 10 years earlier. The single greatest impetus for change was the rapid and uncontrolled escalation of health care costs. During the same period, there was also a shift in the American social philosophy about the delivery of health care.
Traditionally, Americans had viewed health care as a basic human right. The accepted model of health care was authoritarian, with the consumer purchasing whatever the health care provider recommended. There are different departments involved here such as the Hygiene Department, the Environmental Quality Department, the Patient Care Services Department, and the Public Health Protection Department. There are other departments that are set up as the need arises (Jonas, 1986). The American health care industry encompasses the products and services offered by a multitude of organization. Practically any health care industry that encompasses the products and services which contribute to health maintenance is a provider of health care.
In the broadest sense, references to health care providers include individuals and organizations providing direct and indirect services (Jonas, 1986). The government cuts taxes and reduces social spending to lower costs, which results in long waiting lists. Thus, powerful private interests and media hype position is the ultimate solution. Thus, they claim that given that the strongest determinant of health is socio-economic status, the poor suffers from a private, for-profit system more than the wealthy. Most people recommend that the federal government champion the public, single-payer system and reject and even reverse all privatization in delivery and financing. The forces of change brought threats, challenges, and opportunities for health care professionals and organizations.
The magnitude of these forces and the resulting health care industry responses have left todays health care providers in a state of transition and often, turmoil. The forces for change evoked a largely reactive response from the health care industry. Decreasing reimbursement for health care services, a declining demand for services, and severe manpower shortages resulted in increased competition for paying customers and staff. The search for less costly health care delivery methods opened the door to alternative types of health care providers. To respond, health care professionals and organizations needed to change their structures, their facilities and the way they approached the business of health care (Mitchell & Grippando, 1993).
A priority should be the accessibility and affordability of the health care. Everyone involved in the delivery of health care is directly or indirectly involved in the business of health care. Customer service, marketing, public relations, and education can be provided by all staff members. Filling out charge slips, keeping departmental service statistics, as well as providing direct care are business aspects of revenue generating departments.
Health care managers have a responsibility to meet needs of clients, staff and organization. Because the needs of those served may be in conflict, there is a potential for the manager to experience conflicts of values. A conflict occurs whenever the manager can not fulfill equally their duty toward all those whom they have a responsibility. It is possible that multi-service clinics, such as community health centers could deliver more comprehensive and less expensive health care. More funding though is needed to provide additional health care professionals, with universities keeping in mind the need for the volume of qualified staff. We must be wary of additional privatization being allowed through international trade agreements.
Foremost in all these should be that those in financial need and the terminally ill be given access. For me, that is the essence of a true and sincere medical care for all, no matter what his station in life is and no matter what kind of health care system is available. (Jonas, 1986). Ethical dilemmas in health care arise as consumers of health care are demanding to be allowed to make more decisions about treatment, elective surgery and medication. They are exercising their rights as outlined in the Patients Bill of Rights published by the American Hospital Association (AHA). Especially in the hospital setting, patients are insisting on current information about their condition, prognosis and treatment; enough information to give informed consent prior to procedures or treatment; and their right to refuse treatment. Some hospitals are responding to these consumer attitudes by setting up ethics committees to study the types of procedures to be performed or to be discontinued and to determine whether particular patients should or should not receive treatment (Mitchell & Grippando, 1993).
The right of patients to know the truth about their condition, prognosis and treatment is an issue between the physician and the patient. The current trend is toward more frankness on the part of physicians. In the past, the moral obligation to disclose the truth because the patient has the right to know and adjust to its often overcome by the professional need to protect the patient from the potential physical or emotional harm that could be caused by knowledge of a critical or terminal condition. In some cases, the professional could not deal with the truth, and therefore, avoided discussion of the situation with the patient (Mitchell & Grippando, 1993). The increasing number of aging people becomes an issue as to the best form of health care that will suit these individuals.
It is a proven fact that as people grow old, more and more health problems arise, and although there are a number of old people who can still manage to normally function and would just need minimal assistance, there are a greater number of aging individuals who have difficulties coping with daily activities and are unable to handle everyday tasks without the help of others. There are also individual differences, including lifestyle decisions that spell distinctions among old people. For instance, some people over the age of 65 would still be able to handle normal tasks and would insist on pursuing a healthy lifestyle through daily exercise and proper diet, while others would be frail and weak, or even handicapped due to diseases. (Mitchell & Grippando, 1993). The mental and emotional condition of old people is a major issue in designing for the welfare of the elderly. Often, aging is associated with increased depression, loneliness and lower self-esteem as old people begin to be unable to do the usual activities they do while they were still young and strong. The need to move out of ones home also adds to the emotional issues that the senior may be facing.
It becomes apparent that facilities and environments created specifically for the elderly should promote mental and emotional well-being, aside from addressing the general health and medical needs of these people (Friedland). Elder care is given by families, friends and service providers to people age 65 and older, and includes a variety of caregiving tasks offered in formal or informal arrangements (Varner & Drago, 2000, p. 1). Elder care is significant since people over the age of 65 are usually prone to, and may be suffering from diseases, sometimes multiple diseases, and they would need to be accorded assistance somehow, although the assistance is in varying degrees. Frailty, diseases and disability are often correlated with old age. OKeeffe (n. d. ), for instance, stressed the decline in vision, mobility, hearing, cognition, perceptual ability, general physical ability and endurance as a person grows older (p. 2).
The issue of the effectiveness of the healthcare and housing systems for the elderly is important to consider. According to Lawler (2001), the current challenge is in the integration of the housing with the health care strategies for the elderly. She added that most of the current inefficiencies in the delivery of aging services occur during the provision of both overcame, providing more housing or health care than required, and undertake, when inadequate service provision compounds problems and increases expense (p. 1). Elder care is given by families, friends and service providers to people age 65 and older, and includes a variety of caregiving tasks offered in formal or informal arrangements (Varner & Drago, 2000, p. 1). Elder care is significant since people over the age of 65 are usually prone to, and may be suffering from diseases, sometimes multiple diseases, and they would need to be accorded assistance somehow, although the assistance is in varying degrees. Frailty, diseases and disability are often correlated with old age.
OKeeffe (n. d. ), for instance, stressed the decline in vision, mobility, hearing, cognition, perceptual ability, general physical ability and endurance as a person grows older (p. 2). To address the health needs of the aging population, the American Dietetic Association [ADA] (2000) promoted the provision of a broad array of culturally appropriate food and nutrition services, physical activities, and health and supportive care customized to accommodate the variations within this expanding population of older adults (p. 580). The association also asserted that medical and supportive services, including culturally sensitive food and nutrition services that are appropriate to levels of independence, diseases, conditions, and functional ability, are key components of the continuum of care (p. 580). In sum, changes in how health care is perceived, delivered and accounted for have risen rapidly.
The new means of dispensing health care gather an increasing number of parties into the ethical process. Thus, these issues have now expanded to include other groups who manage care too. It is but right to examine more how all these groups can make life easier for the many people who need the proper health care to ensure a healthy and fruitful life for them. WORKS CITED Friedland, R. B. (2004, July) Caregivers and long-term care needs in the 21 st century: will public policy meet the challenge?
Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project. Jonas, Steven, Health Care Delivery in the United States, Springer Publishing Company, New York. 1986. Lawler, K. (2001, October). Aging in place: Coordinating housing and health care provisions for Americas growing elderly population.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University & Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. Mitchell. Paula ans Grippando, Gloria. Nursing Perspectives and Issues. Delmar Publishers, Inc. 1993.
OKeeffe, J. (n. d. ). Creating a senior friendly physical environment in our hospitals. Retrieved Aug. 15, 2007 web Varner, A. & Drago, R. (2000, November 1). The changing face of care: the elderly. Penn State University Department of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations.
Retrieved Aug. 15, 2007 from web
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Research essay sample on Problems With American Health Care
