Healthcare management - Essay Example

Healthcare Management al Affiliation The Obama Administration has seen through a new era in healthcare with the AffordableHealthcare Act. This law was created with the sole intention of ensuring that all citizens if the United States of America have easy access to healthcare services. While the law was a noble gesture for which President Obama will be fondly remembered for, it has also been the cause of many headaches for healthcare administrators and owners of hospitals. This is primarily because it sees a significant reduction in profits for the once lucrative healthcare industry.

Prior to this act, the criteria for selecting patients in hospitals was the ability to pay for the cost of treatment which could be verified by insurance. However, the affordable healthcare act now stipulates that all citizens who do not have a form of employment are covered by Medicaid (Pipes, 2010). This, therefore, means that all patients are eligible for healthcare regardless of their risk factors and financial ability. This is a nightmare for most hospitals because it raises the cost of operations because the funding of this healthcare act is a collective venture (Pipes, 2010).

As a result, there are certain costs that hospitals must try to avoid in order to maintain the business. First and foremost, hospitals must reduce redundancies in order to reduce recurrent expenditure. (Healthcareitnews.com, 2012) This is a tricky process as there is often a shortage of personnel hospitals, however, this must be done. Some personnel often carry out work that could be done by someone else or outsourced. For instance, some procedures that are non-essential could be outsourced to other hospitals.

Also, the hospital should invest in a more stringent scrutiny measure for patients. (Ache.org, 2012)While this is an additional cost, it becomes an efficient criteria for identifying patients with high risk factors that could increase potential losses for the hospital. Finally, hospitals must look to find additional investors so as to increase the amount of capital in the running of the hospital.ReferencesAche.org. (2012). Top issues confronting hospitals. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.ache.org/pubs/research/ceoissues.

cfm [Accessed: 18 Jan 2014].Healthcareitnews.com. (2012). 8 key issues for population health management in 2012 | healthcare it news. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/8-key-issues-population-health-management-2012 [Accessed: 18 Jan 2014].Pipes, S. (2010). The truth about Obamacare. Washington, D.C: Regnery Pub.