Access, Cost and Quality of Care - Essay Example

? Access, Cost and Quality of Care Access, Cost and Quality of Care The delivery of health care is a dynamic and complex blend that is interdependent on health care providers and financial institutions that address the interests of the public. The delivery of health care depends on the accessibility of quality health care at reasonable costs. The access, cost and quality of health care are vital related components that determine therapeutic outcomes and interventions. Kronenfeld (2007) indicates that the cost of health care is the monetary burden and charges that players in the industry incur. These players include employers, patients, insurers, providers and the government. Concurrently, access is the availability of health care to persons who are in need. Finally, quality describes the relationship between the outcomes and interventions. It also refers to the ability of the interventions to lead to the desired impact. The short and extended effects of interventions include reduction in disease symptoms, recovery or cure, comfort and a prolonged life. Andersen, Rice, & Kominski (2007) indicates that the demand for health care in the globe has remained insatiable. This increases health care cost forcing the health care practitioners to work with minimal resources leading to the suppression of quality. Addressing Access, Cost and Quality of Care health is a complicated process that requires careful balance. The US has persistently faced challenges within the healthcare industry since 1960s. Andersen, Rice, & Kominski (2007) indicates that Medicaid and Medicare were responsible for the provision of health care. However, this led to the escalation of costs. Consequently, the policy makers had to devise measures for containing cost. This action further culminated in additional barriers. Wolper (2004) indicates that the actions taken to address cost eventually affected access. An additional goal within the institutions was to monitor the results and patterns of treatment to ensure quality. This was achievable through the identification of efficiency standards and quality deviations. Various procedures and tests were conducted using quality metrics. The outcomes of these tests were instrumental when devising appropriate interventions. An insurance system was introduced to reward the practitioners financially to efficiently drive this process. This acted as a motivation to the health care practitioners because they endeavored to perform additional procedures and conduct tests because of the awaiting financial benefits. The result was the increase in costs at the expense of the quality of health care. Additional emphasis was placed on conducting tests and performing medical procedures at the expense of preventive care (Wolper, 2004). Andersen, Rice, & Kominski (2007) indicates that the contemporary health care system in the United States is characterized by rising costs, decline in insurance coverage and growing gaps in access. This condition is attributable to commercialization of hospital services, boom in building of hospitals, employers’ cost control strategies and increasing stress levels within community safety nets. It is worth noting that the health practitioners and employers construct facilities to increase the number of consumers (Kronenfeld, 2007). There has also been a remarkable expansion in medical surgery capacity particularly in affluent populations. This has led to increased competition between hospitals and the physicians for profits. For example, orthopedic care has witnessed competition within the care market. The result is the increase in the utilization of heath care services and subsequent rise in costs. The competitive strategies in the health care system have led to the elimination of care services that are less profitable. For example, the admission to mental health care has been affected based on the increasing rivalry in the market. Additionally, uninsured patients have also been victims of the neglect because they have to pay from their pockets (Wolper, 2004). Cost sharing health plans between employers and consumers of health care was previously common because it had the ability of containing the rising costs in health care. However, this is not the case in the contemporary society. The consumer has been left with the sole responsibility of taking care of his or her own health care costs, treatment decisions and choices in lifestyle. This measure has led to grater emphasis on preventive and proactive choices. The providers seek to avail quality information and provider costs to consumers (Taylor, Whellan, & Sloan, 1999). Many health care practitioners and employers are putting more emphasis on wellness and prevention strategies. They have subsequently engineered health plans to ensure the acquisition and delivery of these services (Weisbrod, 1991). The major ideology behind this action is that employers have to intercede early to prevent diseases and cut down costs in health care that arise from absenteeism and loss in productivity. Additionally, about forty seven million people are not insured in the United States. This group makes it difficult for the government to provide them free and subsidized health care. Andersen, Rice, & Kominski (2007) indicate that this has prompted the government to increase awareness on the need for corrective actions and insurance. This would reduce the burden currently experienced in the care industry. Furthermore, it would empower the society to enhance accessibility. Radical marketplace reform is fundamental to enhance sustained access to high quality health care while controlling cost. The reforms in the marketplace can be achievable through the improvement of public education that balances the health care demand. This can be achievable when the providers avail extensive and online-computerized health data that allows members to access appropriate information (Andersen, Rice, & Kominski, 2007). The affluent and well-insured populations have benefited from the increase in the number of providers rushing to their neighborhoods to tap their viable market. This has deprived the relatively poor neighborhoods of health care services (Kronenfeld, 2007). The government and other policy makers should intervene by controlling the licensing and teaching programs. The approach used should ensure that a limited proportion of health providers and medical professionals work in a given area (Taylor, Whellan, & Sloan, 1999). The use of highly sophisticated technologies in community hospitals has contributed to the increase in medical cost in the United States. The government and other policy makers can adopt a strategy consolidating sophisticated services in teaching hospitals to reduce cost while maintaining quality and access (Wolper, 2004). A success program is the use tele-medicine network at the University of Vermont. This sophisticated technology allows teaching and online diagnosis of illness. Additionally, it allows supervision of the surgical procedures performed at remote sites (Andersen, Rice, & Kominski, 2007). The government also indicates that companies do not compromise the quality and access for financial gains. Additionally, the government does not set standards for the exact level of medical care needed. It should carry out research to produce appropriate data that is scientifically valid to inform their decisions on when, whether and how interventions can be used to manage marketplace health care (Weisbrod, 1991). Technology in health care should increase the nature, number of procedures administered, improve health care quality and accessibility. Technology can be helpful in improving preventive health care when the interventions previously adopted result in the inequitable provision of health care. Preventive care costs less compared to treatment making it a suitable process. It also guarantees that the society enjoys measurable human and economic benefits. An additional reason for the rise in the charge of care in the U.S is the expectation of the public. The society believes that it should access health care when it is in need. However, this is not realistic because it is impossible to get quality health care when one needs it. The public must be realistic and rational in their demands for the access and cost of appropriate health care. References Andersen, R. M., Rice, T. H., & Kominski, G. H. (2007). Changing the U.S. Health Care System: Key Issues in Health Services Policy and Management. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons. Kronenfeld, J. J. (2007). Access, Quality and Satisfaction With Care: Concerns of Patients, Providers and Insurers. Amsterdam : Emerald Group Publishing. Taylor, D. H., Whellan, D. J., & Sloan, F. A. (1999). Effects of Admission to a Teaching Hospital on the Cost and Quality of Care for Medicare Beneficiaries. The New England Journal of Medicine, 9.3 , 293-299. Weisbrod, B. A. (1991). The Health Care Quadrilemma: An Essay on Technological Change, Insurance, Quality of Care, and Cost Containment. Journal of Economic Literature, 29.2 , 523-552. Wolper, L. F. (2004). Health Care Administration: Planning, Implementing, and Managing Organized Delivery Systems. 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