Healthcare service delivery - Essay Example

307). At the onset, the consumer-driven health movement appears to be more plausible and viable in terms of ensuring equity and fair access to the delivery of health care services given that the same theoretical framework applies to all citizens, regardless of demographic orientation. Its primary underlying theory was explicitly indicated as: “health care services are overutilized, and that giving financial incentives to patients will reduce use of services of marginal or no value. It also will give patients an incentive to seek out lower-cost providers of care” (Davies, 2004, p. 1219). Upon closer examination, it has been revealed that consumer-driven health movement “align(s) sick and well members within a defined community or work setting to share financial risk” (Owen, 2009, p. 313); therefore, it was deemed detrimental for those who are sick or have chronic illnesses.

It was emphasized that “the primary concern is that CDHP will primarily attract healthier and higher-income individuals, leaving sicker and lower-wage employees in higher-cost alternatives (McNeill, 2004; cited in Davies, 2004, p. 1225). Likewise, “a high deductible may function as a continuous drain on the fmancial resources ofa person with a chronic illness such as diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, or cancer. This would make it difficult for that individual to replenish savings to meet the following year's high deductible, copayments, and other out-of-pocket health care expenses” (Owen, 2009, p. 310). The beneficial impact is therefore skewed towards people who are well and from the higher income group and compromising in terms of greater access and affordability to the people from lower income group and those with chronic illnesses.

Likewise, the most relevant concern was CDHP’s potential for discouraging patients to access much needed health care due to inability to pay the needed share and therefore is contributory to ineffective health access to needed health services. What is the impact of Bachman’s “five building blocks of healthcare consumerism” for health care managers? Bachman’s five building blocks of healthcare consumerism focus on: “(1) personal accounts (FSAs, HRAs, HSAs); (2) wellness/prevention and early intervention programs; (3) disease management and case management programs; (4) information and decision support programs; and (5) incentive and compliance reward programs (Bachman, 2006).

As emphasized, “Healthcare Consumerism is about transforming an employer’s health benefit plan into one that puts economic purchasing power—and decision-making—in the hands of participants. It’s about supplying the information and decision support tools they need, along with financial incentives, rewards, and other benefits that encourage personal involvement in altering health and healthcare purchasing behaviors” (Bachman, 2006, p. 3). Knowledge of these five building blocks and the ultimate objective of healthcare consumerism would actually assist health care managers in their functions of planning, organizing, directing and controlling various facets of the employees’ health benefit plan towards maximizing its potentials that would be beneficial, not only to them, but for the employers as well.