A discussion of the four case studies
The article highlights why it is necessary to have patient engagement in healthcare. In this case, it is an element that is considered to be a robust and potentially advantageous force. It has reviewed concrete examples of its benefits using four case studies from across the globe that have highlighted the recognized and the potential capabilities of enhanced patient engagement. For example, it has been noted that as a result of patient engagement, it is possible to have improved healthcare, minimized costs of treatment, and an extension of the various diagnostic and treatment programs into the community ( Laurance et al., 2014). The cases that are involved include a generic screening initiative in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an online mental health community situated in the United Kingdom (UK), a World Health Organization (WHO) checklist for new mothers, and a hospital-based patient engagement strategies in the U.S.
Patient Engagement as a Method of Cost Reduction
Patient engagement entails the involvement of patients in healthcare via information, education, and shared decision making. It possesses a lot of potential in the improvement of the outcome indicators as well as reduced costs. One way in which it aids in the reductions of the costs of healthcare is by ensuring that the patients get the best education. In this case, it is considered that the engagement of a patient with the most suitable and effective educational content ensures that he/she is more aware of the state of his/her disease. In the diagnostic stage, it is necessary to engage in open and effective communication, which ensures that there is complete understanding of an issue. As a result, the physician can make the right diagnosis ( Barello et al., 2014). During the treatment stage, a patient who possesses a complete understanding of his/ her condition, hence take an active role in adhering to the treatment plan. Secondly, it is a means of ensuring that patients are able to take charge of the management of their medication. Situations such as the patients forgetting to take their medications or the failure to adjust prescriptions as required can result in high rates of admissions, thus increasing the costs of healthcare. Thus, by embracing patient engagement, it is possible to involve patients and know about the progress of their medications. In other words, it is a means of making sure that the patients are complying with the medications and whether the medication is working as needed.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Waste of Resources in Healthcare
In the United States, healthcare spending seems to be growing at an unsustainable rate. Further, policymakers are devising ways of reducing the growth and the spending. A major target is eradicating waste, which is the spending that could be eradicated without causing harm to the consumers or compromising the quality of care that is offered to the patients. Several researchers have established the causes of waste in healthcare across the nation. One category of waste in healthcare is the failure of healthcare delivery. The category is comprised of the lack of vast adoption of the best healthcare practices, for instance, patient safety practices and effective preventive care practices. Further, failures in delivery may result in injuries, which later lead to increased costs. The second category of wastes in healthcare is the failure of coordination of care. These are issues that take place when the patients experience care which is both disjointed and fragmented. For instance, it may happen in the case where there is poor management of care when transitioning a patient from one healthcare setting to another ( West et al., 2016). The third category of waste in resources is overtreatment. It is comprised of care which is embedded on the outmoded practices. This means that the care disregards scientific findings or is enhanced by something else except the offering of optimal care to a patient. In the year 2011, it was established that there was a wastage of between 150 and 200 billion dollars as a result of overtreatment. The last category of waste in resources is the administrative complexity. This is comprised of the additional spending which takes place as a result of the government, private health insurance organizations, or accreditation agencies creating unsound rules and administrative processes. For instance, the absence of standardized procedures may result in inessentially complicated and time-consuming billing tasks for healthcare professionals.
Program Design to Support an Effective Partnership between Providers and Patients
In the designing of a program that is able to enhance effective partnerships between the patients and providers, several factors need to be considered. First, the program should consider that patient engagement is a part of the normal operations of healthcare. Thus, it needs to reveal the manner in which the patients are to be included in patient safety, risk management, and quality improvement initiatives. Secondly, the design is needed to ensure that there is proper collection of data. In this case, it is considered that the collection of data is a means of making sure that it becomes easy to make real-time decisions concerning the care that needs to be offered to the patient. Thirdly, the design is supposed to ensure that a patient is capable of asking questions until he/she understands what needs to be known. In this case, research has revealed that up to 40 percent of patients do not adhere to their treatment plans ( Jiang et al., 2016). Hence, it is necessary for a patient to have the freedom to ask questions up to the point where he or she believes that there is a proper understanding of the treatment options as well as their benefits.
The Globalization of Healthcare
The idea of globalization has had an impact on healthcare to some extent. For instance, it has resulted in the rise of medical tourism. This means that people travel to other nations to acquire medical treatments, as well as procedures, for lower costs as compared to the ones that they would incur in their home nations. Further, it has compelled the developing nations to acquire various processes and standards of treatment that are used in the developed nations through outsourcing and trade. The second benefit of healthcare globalization is that it has resulted in competitive education. In this case, the less developed nations have been compelled to develop the globally recognized medical curricula. As a result, it is possible for all students, including international students, to acquire and enjoy great levels of financially competitive education. The third benefit of healthcare globalization is that it has resulted in competitive insurance. Since more physicians and patients are crossing boundaries, the insurance companies are compelled to offer cheaper premiums to healthcare facilities, especially the ones in the nations that are considered to have competitive medical tourism ( Esiyok, Çakar, & Kurtulmuşoğlu, 2017). As a result, the destinations become famous among the tourists as compared to the rest. Lastly, it has resulted in the circulation of medical personnel. In this case, it is noted that healthcare professionals may shift to more developed nations, hence leaving the poor ones with a shortage of qualified professionals. Additionally, some of the developed nations may also face a shortage of medical personnel, which forces them to recruit the ones from poorer nations and later leaving their healthcare systems in a mess.
References
Barello, S., Graffigna, G., Vegni, E., & Bosio, A. C. (2014). The challenges of conceptualizing patient engagement in health care: a lexicographic literature review. Journal of Participatory Medicine , 6 (11), 6e9.
Esiyok, B., Çakar, M., & Kurtulmuşoğlu, F. B. (2017). The effect of cultural distance on medical tourism. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management , 6 (1), 66-75.
Jiang, H. J., Boutwell, A. E., Maxwell, J., Bourgoin, A., Regenstein, M., & Andres, E. (2016). Understanding patient, provider, and system factors related to Medicaid readmissions. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety , 42 (3), 115-121.
Laurance, J., Henderson, S., Howitt, P. J., Matar, M., Al Kuwari, H., Edgman-Levitan, S., & Darzi, A. (2014). Patient engagement: four case studies that highlight the potential for improved health outcomes and reduced costs. Health Affairs , 33 (9), 1627-1634.
West, L. M., Diack, L., Cordina, M., & Stewart, D. (2016). A focus group based study of the perspectives of the Maltese population and healthcare professionals on medication wastage. International journal of clinical pharmacy , 38 (5), 1241-1249.
