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Economic Terms and Healthcare History

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Economic Terms and Healthcare History
Natalie Ward
University of Phoenix
HCS/440
1/30/2012

Economic Terms and Healthcare History Health care economics have drastically changed over the course of history in the United States. While some can contribute these changes due to the evolutionary changes the US has undergone since the beginning, the major contributing factors that influence the changes in health care economics are advances in technology and medical care. “To help ease the healthcare problem, Baylor Hospital in Dallas created a system - which eventually became Blue Cross - to help people pay their hospital bills. As science, medicine, and hospitals grew more sophisticated and more successful, more people turned to hospitals and doctors for care - and costs continued to rise. Blue Shield insurance for doctors' services started gaining ground in the late '30s as a way for doctors to protect their interests and their payments” ("How Did Healthcare Come About In The United States?", 2012). It is essential to remember that the driving force behind health care economics is money, and it plays a vital part to the success of the health care industry.
In the past, the greater part of us paid medical bills with private funds; today insurance companies cover the bulk of the payment, with people paying only a small portion of the total. It is important to understand healthcare economic history, and the cash flow system. Today, financial managers are able to follow the money through the health care system. History shows that many physicians would trade services for non-money items (such as grain, cotton, livestock, etc.) as forms of payment if the individual were unable to use money. Basically, these physicians were tradesmen, with the patient paying one hundred percent of the cost for medical services rendered. As the US began to

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