This article responds to three pertinent issues in regard to the provision of healthcare in the United States. The first response will be on the reasons why healthcare planners focus on high-technology solutions to preventable problems instead of using the concept of the natural history of diseases. Secondly is why hospitals and other healthcare institutions need to be financially solvent to survive the growing pressures of the market, as well as how the nature of the United States healthcare system has changed as a consequence of this view. The last discussion concerns the reasons why the idea of a single healthcare insurance system has been receiving a lot of resistance in the United States when most developed countries in the world have such a system.
According to the article dubbed Transforming health: Shifting from reactive to proactive and predictive care , MacIntosh et al. (2016) criticize healthcare providers in developed countries for shifting their focus to treatment of diseases instead of attempting to prevent their occurrence. In order to understand how the technology-based system works, it is essential to discuss how the former system (natural history of disease and prevention) works. In such a system, people are involved in understanding how certain diseases arise and are consequently provided with tips of ensuring that they avoid the diseases. For instance, for most of chronic diseases, people are educated on how to maintain healthy lifestyles. Secondly, people are also taught about the importance of caring for their environment to eliminate or curb the spread of certain diseases. Such strategies demonstrate that the healthcare workers have a clear understanding of the causes of certain diseases as well as the knowledge of preventing them. Such methods are beneficial because people avoid diseases hence do not incur unnecessary hospital expenses.
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On the contrary, the invention of technology has currently made healthcare to be treatment-based rather than being preventive. That means that the system waits for patients to get infected with diseases before a solution is offered. As a result, patients become passive participants in the system. According to MacIntosh et al. (2016), most developed countries such as the US and Canada believe that they have treatments for almost every condition and that might be one of the prominent reasons why preventative strategies are barely used. The use of technology in the healthcare system enhances accuracy and efficiency in examination and treatment. Most of the diseases that could not be treated many years ago now can be treated, hence the strong conviction in the current technology. Secondly, most people in the United States have a busy lifestyle making use of preventative strategies difficult. However, most of the technology only examines patients’ conditions and does not prevent infection. As a result, such a system has a myriad of disadvantages. The first concerns the huge cost involved in seeking treatment for diseases. Patients might seek medical attention only to realize that their conditions are severe. For instance, a tobacco smoker may visit a healthcare center only to be told that he or she has lung cancer, a condition that would have been avoided if preventative strategies were used.
Before delving into the specifics, it is important to define the meaning of the term financial solvency. According to Murphy (2017), financial solvency means that an institution’s current assets exceed its current liabilities. That means that the institution can pay its expenses without a problem. In regard to healthcare institutions, the importance of maintaining financial solvency cannot be overemphasized, especially in the modern dynamics. According to an article dubbed How hospitals are protecting their bottom lines in the face of an uncertain future written by Murphy (2017) the economic wellbeing for the healthcare providers under the Trump administration is uncertain. It is the sole reason why leaders in the health system are coming up with measures to ensure that their organizations remain financially solvent regardless of any legislation that may be implemented. Murphy states that the best thing that the healthcare institutions need to do is to insure their bottom line against regulatory and economic uncertainty. According to Murphy, one of the most likely causes of disruption to healthcare concerns the policy change to medical coverage.
A significant number of healthcare providers are coming up with measures to ensure that they stay afloat regardless of the anticipated policy change on medical coverage. The first measure is optimizing patient financial clearance, billing, and collections (Murphy, 2017). That means that healthcare centers are ensuring that they collect all arrears of patients who have the ability to cater for their medical expenses before helping those who have been affected by coverage changes find ways to pay for the services they need. The employees in the healthcare centers thus have to be very efficient to ensure that patients who have the ability to pay are not locked out. Secondly, a significant number of hospitals are also using analytics. The hospital staff establishes the amount of funds insurance companies are willing to pay as well as the out-of-pocket expenses the patients are supposed to cater for their medical expenses. The process is done prior to treatment so that the healthcare centers strike agreements with the patients in regard to how they will cater for their expenses. Lastly, some hospitals are also coming up with financial counselling services because some patients may be upset with the abrupt changes in the coverage policies. The staff advises the patients on some ways they can cater for their expenses. Additionally, the hospitals also from the analytics can establish the patients that are in dire in need of financial assistance hence can prioritize a few of them on their treatment plan.
In regard to a unified healthcare insurance system in the United States, one of the most intriguing questions is, despite the US being a developed country, why does it not have a universal healthcare system? Most developed nations such as Britain, Canada, and Sweden have unified healthcare insurance systems but the United States has been unable to come up with one. Even during presidential debates, presidential aspirants have been unable to forge the way forward. The Conversation (2016) gives some of the likely reasons why there is no single medical insurance system. The first reason concerns the principles upon which the United States was founded. Most US citizens believe that they are liberal citizens, therefore, the government ought to have limited interference in their affairs. A significant number of people do not want to be told what to do or to be compelled to contribute towards a kitty they are not willing to. Majority of such people can afford for their healthcare needs and can pay for them whenever they fall ill. Secondly, interest groups, especially insurance companies, have been a great hindrance towards achieving affordable healthcare for all. Whenever, there is such a discussion, insurance agents lobby the lawmakers to ensure that a unified insurance system does not happen. The reasons are obvious; the individual insurance firms benefit tremendously from the large number of people who seek their medical coverage packages. Conclusively, the US has long procedures that such a proposal needs to go through. For instance, there is the Congress, the budget and estimate committees, public lobby groups, among others. All these entities hinder the process of achieving a unified health insurance system.
References
MacIntosh, E., Rajakulendran, N., Khayat, Z., & Wise, A. (2014). Transforming health: Shifting from reactive to proactive and predictive care.
Murphy, B. (2017). How hospitals are protecting their bottom lines in the face of an uncertain future . Beckershospitalreview.com . Retrieved 2 July 2018, from https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/how-hospitals-are-protecting-their-bottom-lines-in-the-face-of-an-uncertain-future.html
The Conversation. (2016). Three reasons the US doesn't have universal health coverage. The Conversation . Retrieved 2 July 2018, from https://theconversation.com/three-reasons-the-us-doesnt-have-universal-health-coverage-67292
