Week 1 Discussion 2: Revolutionary Influences 200 words total Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review your textbook chapters for this week and read the article The History of Healthcare Quality: The First 100 Years 1860–1960 and review Healthca

Summary and Resources

The evolution of healthcare in America has mirrored the evolution of the country. Early medicine was a period of individualism, during whichhealthcare was practiced by physicians without respect or status on a local, primitive level. Wars interrupted the evolution of medicine whilesimultaneously advancing it. Each conflict played a significant role in establishing a national system of healthcare.

The Civil War (1861–1865) created a need for more structure and better sanitation, and it led to giant leaps in surgical expertise. The migrationfrom rural areas to cities set in motion organized hospital systems, public health programs, and the beginnings of health insurance. TheAmerican Medical Association established itself as the protector of all physician interests.

Following World War I, physicians expanded their control over the medical system. The government saw a need to get more involved inhealthcare planning and the insurance needs of its citizens, and government healthcare bureaucracy butted heads with corporate healthcarebureaucracy.

The age of privatization of healthcare and the development of corporate medicine followed World War II. Technological improvements pushedthe practice of medicine to a new level, where specialization became the norm. To control healthcare benefits and costs, the governmentbecame increasingly involved in healthcare delivery and management. By the start of the 21st century, government had established itself as amajor competitor in the healthcare market.