Significant Factors in Us Health Care and How to Fix Them

Significant Factors and How to fix them

There are many factors that contribute to the increasing costs of health care. As stated in the assignment, the United States spends more per capita than any other and yet has medical outcomes that are measurably less effective than many other developed countries. This makes you wonder why we don't have the most effective health care when we spend the most on it. One significant factor that contributes to the decreasing quality is errors made by physicians along with uninformed health care choices by consumers. Another factor is the millions of uninsured Americans. This situation imperils their health and drives up costs for the entire system due to the absence of needed preventive care and the failure to diagnose and treat conditions early. The last factor that I will discuss is the expense of new technology, which in turn increases health care costs. For example, hospitals expanding tools and techniques that have been successful in keeping health care affordable.

Patients consistently fail to receive high quality health care which brought attention to the need for drastic change. The payment policies in the U.S. health care system do not promote quality. A 2003 RAND study found that patients receive only 55% of treatments that have been determined to be the "best practices" for addressing their medical conditions (AHIP, 2003). That means that 45% of those patients are not being advised wisely. This is due to the patient being uninformed and the physicians wanting more money. A way of improving the quality is by making the health care system evidence based. This means that the treatments and therapies are consistent with the highest level of objective scientific evidence. This is a key element in improving the level of care as well as making it more affordable for the consumers. If there is a system wide disclosure of information, it will give the consumers more knowledge and be able to make better decisions. As science continues to advance, it is going to be more difficult to manage the health system effectively. A downfall that may arise would be breaches of confidentiality. If private information is being disclosed, there could be unwanted people accessing the information. I realize that this wouldn't likely happen but it is a possibility.

There are some ways to help out in improving the quality of care such as investing more money in research that compares the clinical effectiveness of treatments and puts clinical research into everyday medical practice. There is insufficient support for research on how best to put results into practice. These funds need to invest into organizations like Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which devotes their research to find the best practices and reduce overuse and misuse of health care. In 2004, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality received $303 million for research, which is only 1% of the National Institutes Health Budget. There could also be a reward based system that reimburses physicians, hospitals, medical groups, other health professionals who promote quality work. This will create stronger incentives for the medical community to more effectively deliver care to patients. Also, the enrollees will choose the highest quality physicians, hospitals, medical groups and other health professionals. Overall, they need to ensure that the physician's decisions are based on the best available medical evidence and documents.

More than 43 million uninsured Americans currently lack access to health care coverage at some point during the year, and it is estimated that between 22 million and 32 million of these individuals lack insurance for the entire year. This situation imperils their health and drives up the cost of the entire system because without health insurance, you will miss opportunities for continuity of care. There isn't a perfect solution to the problem because of the diversity and unique characteristics of the uninsured. Roughly 15 million individuals and families lack health care coverage and are not eligible for public programs. About 50% of these individuals work for small businesses that employ fewer than 100 employees. The income of these individuals range from 150% to 300% of poverty. Affordability is a big issue for these individuals and a way to help out is by provide a refundable tax credits that allows for variations in such factors as