Historical Trend Analysis
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Capella University
BHA-FPX4002: History of the United States Health Care System
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Historical Trend Analysis
Change is considered a crucial aspect of the medical industry since it ensures that the best quality care is provided to patients. This paper discusses the established healthcare agencies along with their set objectives. Additionally, the paper analyzes the various changes regarding healthcare access, quality, and cost in the United States from the 1800s to the 21st century.
Trends and Regulations
Healthcare provision within the country has evolved greatly regarding healthcare quality, access, and cost. Over the decades, the United States has experienced significant changes toward ensuring the best care is provided to the public.
Remarkably, the government has taken the responsibility to ensure that the best policies are adopted to ensure that the people's health is well taken care of. However, given the changing nature of needs within the population in the country, various aspects must be involved in ensuring the best public health services are well-observed and revamped when the need arises.
Health Care Access
The University Of Missouri School Of Medicine (n.d.) defines healthcare access as the ability to receive services related to healthcare, such as diagnosis, management, and treatment of medical conditions, disorders, or any other conditions that may affect human health. According to the research, healthcare must be offered conveniently and affordably to achieve full accessibility.
Healthcare access has changed drastically from the 19th century to date. While most financially able people received treatment from their homes during the 1800s, disadvantaged groups had to go to healthcare centers physically. However, the issue was addressed with the introduction of the Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts in 1860, which covered patients from various backgrounds. However, the company did not cover any life-threatening injuries (Balat et al., 2019). Public health coverage was later improved through the introduction of healthcare coverage offered by the government, which mostly covered employees. Later, the introduction of the Workers' Compensation legislation also aided in ensuring that employees in hazardous occupations were well catered for. Until the 21st century, various laws have been adopted in the United States to ensure that healthcare access was made accessible and affordable through acts such as the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Rapfogel et al., 2020).
Health Care Quality
According to World Health Organization (2022), quality of healthcare refers to the ability of health services to meet populations' needs. According to the guidelines established by the World Health Organization, quality healthcare should be effective and respond to various needs within various populations. Therefore, healthcare services must be efficient, time-sensitive, and integrated to offer various healthcare services (Young & Kroth, 2017).
Various legislations, agencies, and quality initiatives have revolutionized healthcare quality in the United States. Initially, medical boards were used to monitor the general practice of physicians by ensuring that they observed set guidelines. To ensure that the best care is offered to various populations, the United States government introduced the licensing of healthcare providers in 1791. By introducing physician licensing, caregivers must observe an established code of ethics, thus encouraging accountability and efficiently protecting the public from low-quality healthcare services. In the 1970s, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) were introduced to oversee healthcare costs and ensure that high-quality healthcare is offered to the public (Minnesota Historical Society, 2022). Similarly, the United States adopted the Patient Safety Movement in 2002 to reduce medical errors in healthcare, thus improving patient safety. Along with these initiatives, the recent adoption of Electronic Health Record systems in healthcare has improved patient care by ensuring the accuracy of patient records.
With the adoption of such initiatives, the healthcare system in the United States has focused more on patient safety and improved medical knowledge due to technological advancement.
Health Care Cost
The cost of healthcare includes the funds incurred on services such as preventive care, diagnostics, medication, and therapy. The healthcare cost is a crucial aspect of healthcare provision since it determines the quality of care offered while ensuring the sustainability of the healthcare sector.
Various legislation, agencies, and quality initiatives have revolutionized healthcare costs in the United States. These changes have shifted the dynamics regarding how payments were made in the past to more convenient forms today. The payment amendments started in 1920 when prepaid health plans became a normal payment method for most citizens initially paying for their services. Various stakeholders were involved with the introduction of prepaid plans, where payment for healthcare services was made periodically (National Council on Disability, 2015).
While advancing towards changing the payments, Medicare programs were introduced in 1965, through which the federal government-funded health insurance plans for disabled people and those over 65. Similarly, a joint federal-state program was also introduced to offer health insurance to low-income families. In the 21st century, the Outpatient Prospective Payment System was also introduced to offer payments for outpatients (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2022).
Healthcare costs have changed gradually over the years, with the most effective and patient-friendly forms being the most recent. Through the adoption of such methods, patient care has shifted positively.
Trend Analysis
The evolution of the healthcare sector in the United States has shifted from various complicated forms of healthcare quality, access, and quality. Since change is inevitable, more reforms might be adopted to revolutionize healthcare aspects while focusing on achieving universal health coverage. Moreover, since unprecedented occurrences such as pandemics may happen, the healthcare systems must remain flexible and adaptive to more preferable changes.
Conclusion
Healthcare provision in the United States has changed significantly from the previous trends adopted in the past. Throughout the years, there has been a need to adopt various changes and modifications in trends due to shifts in healthcare delivery. As a result, the healthcare system must remain flexible and adopt changes that may revolutionize the medical sector positively.
References
Balat, D., O'Connor, E., Minjarez, J., & Heubaum, E. (2019). A Brief History of Government Intervention in the US Healthcare System.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2022, February 11). Hospital Outpatient PPS | CMS. Www.cms.gov. https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/HospitalOutpatientPPS
Minnesota Historical Society. (2022, October 6). LibGuides: Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs): Overview. Libguides.mnhs.org. https://libguides.mnhs.org/hmo
National Council on Disability. (2015, May 26). Appendix B. A Brief History of Managed Care. Ncd.gov. https://www.ncd.gov/policy/appendix-b-brief-history-managed-care
Rapfogel, Ni., Gee, E., & Calsyn, M. (2020, March 23). Ways the ACA has improved health care in the past decade. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/10-ways-aca-improved-health-care-past-decade/
The United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2006, June 19). HHS Historical Highlights. HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/about/historical-highlights/index.html
University of Missouri School of Medicine. (n.d.). Health Care Access - MU School of Medicine. Medicine.missouri.edu. https://medicine.missouri.edu/centers-institutes-labs/health-ethics/faq/health-care-access#:~:text=Health%20care%20access%20is%20the
World Health Organization. (2022). Quality of care. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/health-topics/quality-of-care#tab=tab_1