The greatest issues shaping the health care industry in the US at present is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Act is changing reimbursement through Medicaid and Medicare. The ACA has also moved the focus of health care from institutions to the responsibility of the individual. Many of those changes will be in hospital staff as more jobs move toward prevention and primary care in community settings. Technology will be an important driver in both adding to efficiencies and aiding in the decentralization of health care. More will happen in free standing clinics and ambulatory care centers. More health care will happen in people’s homes. Technology will allow for more mobility and portability of healthcare (telehealth) as well as training in health care. Some of the technology may help with health care worker life balance and burnout prevention. (ASHHRA, 2012; Saver, 2006)
Evidence –based health care practices will be another driver. It will make health care more efficient with those treatments deemed more efficacious beyond expected by professionals and the public. This is as much an issue of efficiency as value. The use of information technology again will be important to this driver. (ASHHRA, 2012; Saver, 2006)
More collaboration will be necessary. This driver dovetails with the reduction of staff at hospitals and the reduction of staff due to the aging of nurses. Nursing are a core part of the health care in hospitals and in the community. Their practice may expand due to provisions of the affordable health act. Nurse practitioners may carry out more responsibilities of doctors, who also are in short supply. Practices like dentistry will serve as entry point to address other ailments of patients. Oral health care is expanded in the ACA. Other collaborations within and outside of institutional settings and across disciplines will be necessary