What Can Be Done to Promote Better Health For Americans?

Introduction

In addition to the financial crisis of 2008, the U.S. business and families felt the inadequacy of the healthcare delivery system and continue to suffer from its shortcomings nowadays. The current healthcare system, models, and initiatives should not focus and rely on the government, but the market. The current paper seeks to determine what can be done to promote better health for Americans so that they feel protected and insured; these initiatives can include effective reforming of the entire system, the provision of a refundable tax credit to purchase health insurance, refocus from fee for services to fee for quality, the development of comprehensive interventions targeted to specific patients, and the establishment of innovative system that will work for the nations’ good.

The Significance of the Problem

The American healthcare system is one of the most complex and expensive in the world. However, it does not function smoothly and effectively. High price for vital services is the most stressing financial problem facing the American resident. Every person regardless of his/her age, gender, status, and origin should have uninterrupted access to high-quality and affordable care. The positive outcome can be reached through the radical transformation. The U.S. healthcare system should start functioning anew in order to demonstrate every citizen its effectiveness. Only in this case, people’s demands will be completely satisfied. The improvement of value and quality of care is crucial to address high cost and absence of health insurance coverage in most of the U.S. citizens. Therefore, the significance of the problem cannot be underestimated. Urgent joint measures and steps are required; otherwise, the population will be faced with dire consequences due to inaction.

 Recommendations

The current healthcare system requires effective reforms focusing on citizens’ demands. Despite its expensiveness, it fails to provide Americans with adequate care and professional support. Moreover, politicians and legislators are required to give refundable tax loans so that needy people can buy health insurance and timely get medical aid. Moreover, in order to transform a system, healthcare providers have to focus on the interrelation of technology, chronic diseases, and primary care, as well as refocus their practice from fee for services to fee for quality. In many cases, fees are high, but the quality of services is poor. The development of comprehensive interventions targeted to the specific group of patients and the establishment of innovative system are also crucial.

The Need for Effective Reforms Focusing on People’s Demands

Thoughtfully constructed reforms will ensure that every citizen in the case if he/she needs the professional medical aid will get it at the right time and in the right medical facility. The medical specialists and clinics should function smoothly and effectively in order to keep Americans healthy and prevent complications caused by the delayed access to doctors. Comprehensive reforms will improve the functioning of entire system by promoting health in population, conducting vital procedures, and useful treatment. In most cases, patients are prescribed unnecessary drugs that can deteriorate their well-being and bring additional expenses.

In order to reach the desired outcome, clinicians and legislators, who develop laws in the field of public health, should promote changes in coverage expansion, payment, and delivery systems together rather than separately. These aspects do not only complement each other, but help to achieve the positive result in other one. Coverage expansion helps to address the issue of underuse of services and care as mostly the uninsured individuals suffer from this shortcoming. Reforms emphasizing the timely delivery and reasonable payment will increase the value, improve the quality, and lower the growth of cost. Improvements as a result of radical reforming will stimulate every American citizen to obtain valuable and affordable health insurance coverage. If the U.S. healthcare delivery system can reasonably increase the value of provided services, it will help millions of American taxpayers purchase insurance coverage by 2019. Here, the main task is to ensure coverage for every resident. Progress achieved in the delivery system is critical to reaching the desired outcome in the context of expanded coverage.

A Refundable Tax Credit to Purchase Health Insurance

In order to put the system on sound footing, every individual and his/her family have to be provided with refundable tax loans to obtain health insurance. By undertaking this step, the necessity to eliminate mandates of employers and ordinary citizens will be eliminated.

The amount of tax credit depends on the value of insurance plan which should be available to every consumer. If a plan convinces Americans that it works much better than the base premium, then they can pay additional cost. In this case, providers will be able to ensure the high quality at the lowest possible price and gain good reputation in the competitive environment.

The Interrelation of Technology, Primary Care, and Chronic Disease

Specific approaches towards managing chronic diseases, coordinating primary care, and the application of information technology through computerized systems can also promote better health and improve quality of care. The programs and interventions focusing on the aforementioned aspects may also slow down the rise in prices. Reforms are diverse, and most of the improvements have not been reached automatically. Proper and timely interventions in coverage expansion and delivery system will lessen the financial burden and reduce the cost. However, significant savings can be reached in the case if clinicians and legislators jointly develop the meaningful accountability incentives that will focus on potential risks and patient’s requirements. This step can also improve the quality of provided services.

Refocus from Fee for Services to Fee for Quality

Healthcare providers should change the way they work in order to improve the population’s health. In order to reach the desired outcome, they are encouraged to focus more on the quality rather than the amount of delivered services. In this case, patients will receive affordable and innovative health care. Today’s structure of the U.S. healthcare system is inadequate, and, therefore, providers are not motivated to engage in cost-saving practices. If healthcare specialists get the compensation based on the outcome of their work, they will be able to reach better coordination, reduce the cases of duplicated procedures, and provide high-quality care at an affordable price. Moreover, the capitated prepayment has also proved its effectiveness in various clinical situations.

Integrated reforms seek to transit the entire work from the volume of services towards their value. Healthcare providers have to be accountable for overall cost. Medical facilities and clinicians are not always able to provide many valuable services including post-hospitalization and preventive care due to the fact that they do not have adequate financial support. The current healthcare system enables hospitals to provide intensive care and prescribe necessary drugs paying minor attention to their relevancy, effectiveness, and reasonable cost. The provision of organized care should become the priority for medical facilities. Only the development of adequate payment reforms will enable healthcare providers to practice, work smoothly, and deliver better care at a reasonable cost. Interventions and delivery initiatives focusing on individual patient and particular health condition will not be able to eliminate the gap in value.

Comprehensive Interventions Targeted to Specific Patients

Effective interventions targeted to certain consumers will help to improve the quality of care, promote health, and contain costs. The prescription of drugs to the specific category of patients is critical to promote value and predict further conditions, complexities, consumers’ traits, and clinical characteristics. In this case, there will be a return on investment. Racial minorities, low-income individuals, and those, who suffer from chronic diseases, and vulnerable patients, are less likely to take advantage from chronic care management programs and specific interventions, as well as reach satisfaction from provided services. However, not all individuals can benefit from these programs due to uninterrupted access to the vital procedures. Analytical thinking and accurate data will help to make reforms more effective and successful.

The fair competition, health insurance, and exchanges will also lower the cost of care. Despite the Affordable Care Act’s mandate, the individual state may not be an ideal place for guiding the health-insurance system out there. Patients should not be refused from professional medical assistance and charged for pre-existing conditions. Sick individuals should take advantage of plans based on the promotion of risk-adjusted premiums. Healthcare specialists have to be able to organize their work properly focusing on patients’ needs, concerns, and reimbursement. It will provide the radical transformation from individual services into comprehensive care stimulating improvement and fostering the fulfillment of set goals. Reporting of cost is crucial to reach the value and quality equation.  In this case, the possession of transparent information will be crucial for hospitalists. If the measurement is not carried out, then the improvement is less likely to be reached. Clinicians should work collaboratively and provide consumers with reliable data on the cost and quality of delivered services. Providers should not only focus on outcomes and entire process, but the patients’ eating preferences, recovery, relapse, and promotion of healthy lifestyle in them.

The Establishment of Innovative Healthcare System

The establishment of innovative healthcare system will improve the care delivery as in this case, the patient will be the core of entire process. Consumers have to be provided with a right to actively and uninterruptedly engage in own care, as well as positively affect health outcomes. Interrelated factors enable this engagement to occur. The introduction of Affordable Care Act focusing on technological advancements, health, and increased awareness of consumers on changes will help to improve patients’ well-being and health. These factors are crucial for ensuring timely delivery of necessary services. The improved legislation will also allow millions of Americans to access healthcare and get professional assistance. The introduction of new initiatives and laws will also promote accountability and engagement of consumers in the processes that directly affect them and their families.

Conclusion

To conclude, despite the fact that the U.S. healthcare is expensive and complex, it cannot satisfy the U.S. consumers, who spend millions of tax dollars on its maintenance. If hospitals continue to charge fees for services focusing on their volume, not the quality, the consequences can be dire and irreversible. Due to the inadequacy of a system, many patients cannot get care they deserve. In some cases, they are prescribed unnecessary procedures and charged with them. The increasing cost is also an issue. Therefore, comprehensive reforms and weighted policy are required. Otherwise, the U.S. will be left behind the developed countries that deliver free, but quality care. The importance of healthcare issue cannot be underestimated as people’s health directly depends on its smooth functioning and adequate reforming.