Unit 4 Discussion Board - Essay Example

Running head: HOW MANAGED CARE IS LIKELY TO IMPACT SUPPLY OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS IN THE UNITED S Unit 4 Discussion Board UniversityUnit 4 Discussion BoardManaged care has an impact on the long-term supply of healthcare providers in the United States in a number of areas. This discussion will touch on the characteristics of different types of provider organizations and later on evaluate current developments in the healthcare industry. There is a long-term supply of healthcare providers in the United States as large numbers of IMG (Foreign-trained physicians) continue to enter the country.

There are number of reason that causes this migration that include;A number of physicians are still being distributed in non-primary care specialists whereby they are taken to urban and suburban areas rather than being taken to rural areas or inner city locations. For this case, they are not distributed in areas that are undesirable but those areas that are desirable.Secondly is that Foreign-trained physician have entered the United States healthcare system in the gap position. There many residency positions that exist that the U.

S medical school graduates cannot fill them. This gap that is created pulls Foreign-trained physicians to United States.There is a lot of development in the field of medicine that has been facilitated by financesfrom federal government. In United States, the healthcare industry is one of the heavily regulated industries. According to Cato Institute study, they noted that there is a total cost of $340 billions on health care by the public whereas due to regulatory, there is a benefit amounting to $170 billions.

The difference in the cost arises from facilities regulations, FDA regulations and medical malpractice. The technicians who have not attained a medical degree are not allowed to perform any diagnostic and treatment procedures that carry any risk thereby the cost of healthcare provision goes up. The government too has no financial incentives that can bargain with healthcare providers hence they bid up healthcare cost. (Cunningham and May, 2006)Other than financial resources provided by the federal government to provide better healthcare for its citizens, the government does provide other non financial resources such that include: Allowing entry of foreign trained physicians to practice medicine in the country thereby filling the gap that is never filled by the U.

S medical school graduates.There is a well developed testing of medicine.There is advancement in the dental health profession.They do sponsor researches in the medicine field.Other non financial resources provided by the federal government in the healthcare industry are facilitation of development of new drugs and pharmaceuticals. The food and drug administration too play a great role in the pharmaceutical industry. They offer a central regulatory role by overseeing production and marketing of drugs and pharmaceuticals besides setting of prices or other economical or financial role.

Development in the healthcare industry in United States can also be seen to have advanced whereby there is specialization in treatment. For example there is a big difference between osteopathic and allopathic medicine. Osteopathic is seen as a treatments of involving correction of the position of joints and tissues and for their cases, they emphasizes on diet and environmental factors that can destroy natural resistance. On the other hand Allopathic medicine is whereby a physician is seen as an active intervention who attempt to treatment that produces counteracting effect thereby neutralizing the effects of diseases.

ReferencesAdams, P.F. and Barnes, P.M. (2004): "Summary health statistics for the U.S. population: National Health Interview Survey, 2004." Vital Health Stat 10. 2006 Aug ;( 229):1-104.Conover, C. J (2004): "Health Care Regulation: A $169 Billion Hidden Tax". Cato Policy Analysis 527: 1-32.Cunningham P. and May J. (2006): "Medicaid patients increasingly concentrated among physicians." Track Rep. 2006 Aug; (16):1-5.