...The U.S. Health Care System Catherine Wiley HCS531 September 12, 2011 Kenneth Feldman The U.S. Health Care System A health care system is a “network of agencies, facilities, and providers of health care within a specific geographic region” (Widipedia). The health care system is designed to meet the health care needs of a target population. According to Shi and Singh (2008), “A health care delivery system has two primary objectives: 1. Provide health care to all its’ citizens; 2. Services must be cost effective and meet standards of quality” (5). A system, “consists of a set of interrelated and interdependent components designed to achieve some common goals, and the components are logically coordinated (Shi & Singh, 28). As Shi & Singh (2008) state the health care system in the United States is a mixed market system. The source of coverage comes from the government, insurance from employers, and private payment. The health care system in the United States is not a system because there is no standardization, and is fragmented. Financing, insurance, delivery, and payment is from private and public sources. These four components creates the fragmentation of the system. These components compose the Quad-function Model and are necessary for the delivery of care in the United States. The components overlap to varying degrees in traditional insurance, government-run insurance...
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...Comparison of U.S. and Canadian Health Care Systems Quinn Sullivan California State University East Bay Abstract Health care is an essential service needed by citizens. As a result, the government plays an important role by designing an appropriate health care system for its citizens. In this paper, a comparison between the health care system in the U.S. and Canada has been made. Using various literary sources, the comparison has been done considering the four components of health care services delivery; financing, insurance, delivery, and payment. The findings indicate that the health care system in the U.S. is expensive but more efficient than the single-payer health care system in Canada. The findings have further been analyzed to ascertain its implications on the U.S. citizens, as well as the Canadians. The paper concludes that the health care system in the U.S. does not favor the middle-class earners, and thus recommends an improved system. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 1. Introduction 4 2.1 Health Care Delivery ...5 2.2 The Cost of Health Care and Administrative Overheads 6 2.3 Health Insurance 6 2.4 Funding 7 3. Analysis of Findings 8 4. Conclusion 9 5. Recommendations 10 6. References 11 1. Introduction Health care is among the basic needs of human beings. The need is not discriminative because everyone has an equal chance of...
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...How Does Cost Affect the HealthCare Delivery System? An In-Depth Look at the Health Care Delivery System and Cost. | | Princess L. Brigham | 11/23/2010 | HSA 6414: Social Dimensions and Issues in Health Care | ABSTRACT How does cost affect the health care delivery system? This research focuses on the cost of the health care delivery system and how it affects today’s society. High costs, gap-ridden coverage, and sporadic quality are the health care problems that most concern Americans. Yet most of the policy discussion is focused on the issue of coverage. Health care is expensive because of the pervasive entitlement attitude held by literally everyone in the system: patients, providers, suppliers, insurers. Government insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, veterans, Department of Defense) covers 87 million; tax breaks subsidize 176 million in employer coverage; insurers and other third-party payers take care of the bills for 85 percent of Americans. There is little awareness of the full cost or value of medical treatment on the part of consumers or providers, and little opportunity for individuals to choose their own coverage or make informed decisions with their doctors about treatment. Health care costs are far higher in the United States than in any other advanced nation, whether measured in total dollars spent, as a percentage of the economy, or on a per capita basis. And health costs here have been rising significantly faster than the overall economy or personal incomes...
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...Health Care Organization and Delivery System Health Care Organization and Delivery System HCS/531 November 09, 2011 In the current era of technology, health care system continues to research on improvising the various ways on delivering outstanding health services to its people. In health care industry, majority of the developed countries are run by national insurance generated by enforced general taxes. Unlike in United States healthcare insurances are run by partly private and government institution ensuring individuals based on certain eligibility. Although the distinct system in the United States protrudes as one of the best health care providers around the globe, some individuals considered it as unmanageable catastrophic scheme. Additional information regarding United States health care system, the implications of its belief and values, and some models of health care delivery used in America are presented below. The health care delivery system of United States is a complicated organization involving education and research, medical suppliers, private, and government insurers, health care providers, payers, and the government. It composed an approximate number of 10 million in employment from doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, administrators, caregivers, and more. The system also involves several institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities, and clinical sites serving millions of people yearly...
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...Running Head: CHANGING HEALTH CARE DELIVERY Changing Health Care Delivery Phylicia Knox MHA 628: Managed Care & Contractual Services Instructor: Martha Jennings Date Submitted: February 2, 2015 Abstract Changing health care is important, because many Americans are being faced with many issues in regards to health care and its delivery. The changes that will be made will provide a clear, concise overview of the main features of the current medical care delivery system. The current healthcare world zooms in mainly on illnesses and injury. It is clearly time for a different approach to healthcare in this country. If a change would happen it would build a healthcare system that will concentrate on promoting good health and disease control and managing more difficult disease. Currently there is a large sum of money in the healthcare system, but reorganizing the order it is spent out, will improve the quality of care while lowering the cost. It is a must that a change comes, but if not the United States will continue to spend more and more money on health care. Americans assume that change may have not been predicted because of cost. Overall, there are many barriers to success, but it can be done. Managed Healthcare Quality According to (Washington, DC: August 2010)the current the patient health care needs are not being met, the reasons are because of several issues that need to be resolved such as poor connection and communication between the providers, mismatch...
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...of this researcher paper to compare health care systems in three highly advanced developed countries: The United States of America, Canada and Germany. The first part of this research paper will focus on the portrayal of health care systems in the above-mentioned countries, while the second part will examine, evaluated and compare the three systems. Finally, a synopsis of recent changes and proposed future reforms in theses countries will be provided as well. The U.S. Health Care System in Perspective According to (The World Bank Group, 2012), the United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. The U.S. health care delivery system is complex and massive. It is ran by the government and financed through general taxes. 49.9 million Americans were uninsured in 2010 and 256.2 million were insured (Stark, 2012). The U.S. health care delivery is divided into many sub systems: Managed Care, Military, Vulnerable Populations and Integrated Delivery. Managed Care seeks to achieve efficiency by integrating the basic functions of healthcare delivery. It is the most leading health care delivery system in the United States and is available to most Americans. Employers and government are the primary financiers of managed care. The Military medical care system is available free of charge to active duty military personnel of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Costal Guard. Certain uniformed nonmilitary services such as the Public Health Services and the National Oceanographic...
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...Characteristics of the U.S. Health Care Delivery System Introduction The U.S. health care delivery system can be best characterized as a loosely coordinated network of components that are interconnected. As noted by Shi and Singh (2008, p.4), “the system is a kaleidoscope of financing, insurance, delivery, and payment mechanisms that remain unstandardized but loosely connected”. The system is a combination of both government run programs (Medicare, Medicaid, Schip) private carriers such as HMO’S and other volunteer services such as the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and a host of other organizations. The purpose of this assignment is to describe two defining characteristics (financing and delivery) of the U.S. health care delivery system and to further analyze and describe their implications on the system. Financing of Health Services As asserted by Shi and Singh (2008, p. 6), financing is an important prerequisite to obtain health insurance or to pay for health services. In the private sector, the financing of health care services for individuals is typically derived from their employers who often pay partially for such insurance in the form of fringe benefits. Employees are also given an opportunity to add other members of their families to this type of employer based insurance. As noted by Barton (2010, p.177), private insurance is estimated to cover about 67 percent of the nonelderly population and accounts for 54% of the revenues...
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...Improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care System By: Niall Brennan, Nicole Cafarella, S. Lawrence Kocot, Aaron McKethan, Marisa Morrison, Nadia Nguyen, Mark Shepard and Reginald D. Williams II Share on email Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on linkedin More... Share on google_plusone_share Share on stumbleupon Share on reddit Share on print Executive Summary The U.S. health care system faces significant challenges that clearly indicate the urgent need for reform. Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes. To do otherwise casts doubt on the feasibility and sustainability of coverage expansions and also ensures that our current health care system will continue to have large gaps — even for those with access to insurance coverage. There is broad evidence that Americans often do not get the care they need even though the United States spends more money per person on health care than any other nation in the world. Preventive care is underutilized, resulting in higher spending on complex, advanced diseases. Patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension...
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...an international basis, the development of health care policy is increasingly being influenced by cost considerations. As there are advances in health science and the ability to deliver care continue to expand capabilities of treatments. One major subject of debate has been on the ability of nations and communities to pay for health care with their available resources. One debate has been researched that Americans are paying more for healthcare services than any other nations. It is said that there is a struggle providing health care services and other programs while maintaining economic stability. This could possibly promote frustration for healthcare providers and payers in situations like these. In the efforts to research these concerns of health care policies, it was found that there are significant economic challenges that have direct implications for health care financing and delivery. Concerns about quality could frustrate important changes in health care delivery and financing. Policymakers, payers, managers, and others must confront current and potential quality-of-care problems with the same vigor and sophistication that they are directing to issues of cost. At its best, health care in the United States is superb. Even Americans with insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, may not always have access to adequate care. At the same time, some Americans may be subjected to inappropriate or unnecessary procedures. American healthcare, with all of its pros and cons...
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...Evolving Practice of Nursing and Patient Care Delivery Grand Canyon University: NRS 440V Jane Smith Evolving Practice of Nursing and Patient Care Delivery Hello fellow nurses, welcome to our Professional Nurse Evolution summit. My name is Jane Smith and like you I am a registered nurse, I work at the bedside. I always thought I’d live and die as a staff nurse at a busy level 1 trauma center in the inner city but recently I’ve looked up from the bedside and I see opportunities knocking at my door, and I see a way to help the community in which I serve in a different role. The practice of nursing is changing, growing, shifting in other words: transforming. Over the next decade, we will see nursing move from the acute care setting and into the community. I would like to discuss with you the concepts of accountable care organizations (ACO’s), medical homes, and nurse-managed health clinics, and continuum of care. Our health care system landscape is changing; no longer are we just treating illness, our health care system has evolved to one of disease prevention and wellness. With the signing of the Patient Protections and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), an additional 30 million Americans now have access to affordable and equitable health care (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2011). The rising cost of health care and the sheer volume of those needing health care has led to reinventions in our care delivery models. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), an ACO’s is a...
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...HEALTHCARE DELIVERY SYSTEM The Public and the Healthcare Delivery System September 11, 2009 The Public and the Healthcare Delivery System Thesis: Discuss the current American health care delivery system and provide recommended improvements. I. Discuss current healthcare delivery system A. Define concept of healthcare delivery system B. General public opinion regarding our current delivery system II. Examine the cost for the current healthcare delivery system A. Primary methods for funding B. Reforming cost III. What is the current role of the U.S. government in the healthcare delivery system? A. Medicare coverage B. Veteran’s hospitals IV. Insurance coverage for U.S. citizens A. Total number of U.S. citizens with no insurance coverage B. Reforming Insurance coverage for U.S. citizens V. Discuss changes we need to make in the healthcare delivery system A. Public option B. Offer low cost-coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions VI. Who will absorb the cost for the changes needed in healthcare delivery? A. Insurance companies B. U.S. citizens References Bohmer, R. M., & Lee, T. H. (2009). The Shifting Mission of Health Care Delivery Organizations. The New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved September 11, 2009. Retrieved from http://healthcarereform.nejm.org/?p=1347 Dove, J. T., Weaver, W. D., & Lewin, J. (2009). Healthcare Delivery System Reform: Accountable...
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...improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care System August 2009 Preamble The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a public policy advocacy organization founded by former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, and George Mitchell. Its mission is to develop and promote solutions that can attract the public support and political momentum to achieve real progress. The BPC acts as an incubator for policy efforts that engage top political figures, advocates, academics, and business leaders in the art of principled compromise. This report is part of a series commissioned by the BPC to advance the substantive work of the Leaders’ Project on the State of American Health Care. It is intended to explore policy trade-offs and analyze the major decisions involved in improving health care delivery, and discuss them in the broader context of health reform. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Senators Baker, Daschle, and Dole or the BPC’s Board of Directors. The Leaders’ Project was launched in March 2008. Co-Directed by Mark B. McClellan and Chris Jennings, its mission is (1) to create a bipartisan plan for health reform that can be used to transform the U.S. health care system, and (2) to demonstrate that health reform is an achievable political reality. Over the course of the project, Senators Baker, Daschle, and Dole hosted public policy forums across the country, and orchestrated a targeted outreach campaign to...
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...The US Health Care System Danny Gomez HCS/531 February 7, 2012 The healthcare system in the United States is very complex. Both its inherent composition and the external factors that shape it include a multitude of elements that add to its complexity. This paper will present a definition of the health care system in the US, describe the implications of beliefs and values on this system, and offer examples of the various health care delivery models that comprise it. A health care system can be defined, as a grouping of organizations, institutions, and resources functioning with the intention to fulfill the health care needs of communities and/or populations. Such a system includes components that cover four major functions – financing, insurance, delivery, and payment. In a functioning system one would expected to find its components carefully coordinated and interrelated. However, the US this system is comprised of independent components that work simultaneously but not always collaboratively to deliver and fulfill the requirements of health care. The reality of the US health care system is that its components function independently, in a loosely connected fashion, and without a single central agency governing and regulating it. This characteristic is contrasting to systems in many other countries that have a national heath care program designed to provide a set of equitable health services to all its citizens. Access to health care services in the US varies,...
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...Evolving Practice of Nursing and Patient Care Delivery Models The Speech Hello, my fello nurses. Thank you for being here at the Summit of Nursing Evolution. My name is Chhay Yann-Ly and I am a nurse. We are living in an era where the United States (US) health care system is going through tremendous changes and challenges, with sky-rocketing health care costs, fragmented and poor quality of care, high volume of aging population, and passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010. A summary of the PPACA is basically to improve the health care delivery system, expand coverage, and control cost (Democratics Senate Gov/Reform, n. d.). With these changes, comes the evolutionary nursing professional transformation process. This speech is a crash course on the evolving practice of nursing and patient care delivery models. The goal of this speech is to discuss the continuity or continuum of care in relation to accountable care organizations, medical homes, and nurse-managed clinics health care models. Since nursing is the backbone of health care, all of these care delivery models require a robust nursing contribution for success (American Nurses Association (ANA), 2010). The first model is the accountable care organizations (ACO). ACOs is a “shared savings” with Medicare (part A & B). The ACO, according to the ANA (2010), is “a collaboration among primary care clinicians, a hospital, specialists and other health professionals who accept joint responsibility...
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...Health Care Reform: Impact on Patient Safety, Quality of Care, and Economics November 7, 2015 Health Care Reform: Impact on Economics, Patient Safety and Quality of Care With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, never before in the history of the United States has there been a more opportune time to cater to the stakeholders, American citizens, and health care industry to improve quality and the way in which health care is delivered. Health care reform has changed and improved the entire spectrum of the health care environment. The three primary goals of the ACA are; consumer protection, improving quality/ lowering cost and increasing access to affordable care (DHHS 2014). Health care reform has affected all three of these goals and have impacted both positively and negatively, patient safety, quality of care and American economics. Impact of Health Care Reform on the Economy According to a study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), there have been substantial savings in Healthcare costs. One major reason for the savings is preventative health care. Preventative healthcare saves money on prevention and early detection of illnesses and diseases. The result is people don’t have to wait until their illness becomes so serious that they end up having to go to an emergency room for costly procedures. It has also lowered heath care cost by making preventative health care available and affordable for 33 million Americans who would...
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