Question

what Re the six major challenges that face the American healthcare system today: quality and safety, access and coverage, growth of heathcare costs, healthy behaviors, public health services, and the coordination and accountability of healthcare services.

Answer 1

Answer :

The healthcare sector faces numerous shifts that present new challenges for big and small healthcare organizations. The fast-growing regulatory legislation, technological advances, and consumer demands, in particular, create a new world in which operating a medical practice is no longer just about treating patients. The U.S. healthcare sector looks less like a special case, a wide portion of the U.S. economy with its specific characteristics, and is starting to behave like other industries. Let's discuss six major challenges faced by the American healthcare system today.

Quality and Safety:

Health professionals are also worried that 57% of the U.S. doctors surveyed reported that their capacity to offer patient treatment and health procedures has been diminished over the past 5 years, and 41% reported that they are prevented from reporting or not allowed to report medical errors. They do not pay much attention to quality assurance problems, particularly in those challenging hand-offs or transfers from one level of treatment to another. Racial and ethnic minorities appear to receive lower-quality treatment than Caucasians, even though there are disparities in insurance status, employment, age, and severity. Given the number of areas where communication and information technology may make a major contribution to improving access, quality and service to healthcare while minimizing costs, the industry has been reluctant to invest in and adopt such technology.

Access and coverage:

As the current debate on healthcare in the United States reminds us, the practice of medicine poses many critical concerns regarding its access and coverage. In stark contrast to many nations' access to healthcare and insurance coverage, the United States relies heavily on a program of direct payments under which patients under the age of 65 (those aged 65 and over are covered by Medicare) are required to pay for medical services. Fifty-four per cent of Americans have private insurance, either through their employers or their own. Approximately 29 per cent have some form of government insurance and 16 per cent are uninsured. This final figure amounts to almost 50 million Americans, including 8 million teenagers, who lack health insurance. Insurance coverage provides the basis for all patient experiences with the healthcare system. If a patient is unable to contact her clinician, there is no chance of accessing medical treatment, establishing relationships with her providers, and achieving overall health.

Growth of healthcare costs:

It's no wonder that every year Americans invest large amounts of money on health care. High medical rates, high deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket expenditures are only some of the country's health and wellness related costs. Public policy is one explanation for increasing healthcare costs. Since the inception of Medicare and Medicaid — programs that help people without health insurance — providers have been able to raise prices. Healthcare becomes more expensive as people grow older and live longer. It is not surprising, therefore, that 50 per cent of the increase in healthcare spending is due to increased service costs, especially hospital care. Possible solutions involve employer-sponsored wellness programs enhanced dependence on medical technology to reduce incompetence, and efforts to deliver more magnificent transparency to help in lowering prices. Individuals need to stay up-to-date with the prescribed health checkups and tests are the primary way to cut costs.

Unhealthy behaviours:

With increasing unhealthy activity observed, the chances of getting a good or bad health status increase. For example, people who record three or more unhealthy habits are 6.1 times more likely to have good or worse health relative to those with zero unhealthy behaviours. High frequency of inactive diabetes, behaviour, obesity, and hypertension indicates that preventable chronic diseases will splinter into our health care system unless we take any action. As vital as access to quality medical care is for our health, the way so many people live today is probably the greatest danger to their health. The primary way to cut costs for individuals is to adopt a healthier lifestyle, eat well, get plenty of exercises, and keep up-to-date with the regular health checkups and screenings.

Public health services:

This fundamental difference between the U.S. and its peer nations helps explain why the cost of health care services in the U.S. is so much higher than in its peer nations. Public health systems in the U.S. are extremely decentralized and are provided by a diverse mixture of federal, state, local, and private sources that differ across communities. Although the United States is known for its innovation in biomedical research, state-of-the-art medical technologies and hospitals and specialists, issues with maintaining American access to the system and quality treatment have been a long-standing issue for lawmakers and the public. There is mounting evidence that chronic illness care requires better professional and institutional integration to help patients manage their conditions.

Coordination and accountability:

Recent medical research analyzed 11 countries and found that the US has the highest rate of poor primary care management. Optimizing the relationship between patients and their doctor increases patient satisfaction and adherence to medication while minimizing hospitalization. However, there is not much evidence on the impact on care management of a patient's relationship with his or her primary care physician. Healthcare managers do have to deal with more people interested in decision-making, such as insurance companies, elected officials, insurers, physicians and other healthcare practitioners, making it difficult to set up effective accountability. Accountability regimes in US healthcare systems, therefore, face multiple challenges related to identifying a clear agenda in the form of concrete goals and objectives, assigning such mandates to qualified professionals or organisations, and developing opportunities to promote accountability partnerships and improvements.