History Final Project

AMERICAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Cherod Jones

American Public University

American Health Care System

Unites Stated has one of the most unique health systems in the world. In 2016, the government expenditure on health care grew to 4.3 percent. In total the country spent approximately $3.3 trillion translating to 17.9% of its total Gross Domestic Product (GDP)(CMS,2018). Even though the government spent more on health care, return on investment does not seem to be that good. The health care system continues to face challenges which have been the cause of the many disappointingly poor health outcomes recorded throughout the country, over the years.

Shortage of health care professionals

Availability of qualified health care personnel is one of the most essential pillars for any stable heath care system. The United States is currently facing a shortage in its health care workforce. As the country’s population continues to grow every year and the demand for health care services continues to increase, the supply of health workers is struggling to meet the demand. This shortage of physicians has always been experienced throughout history and it is projected to increase well into next decade. According to data released by Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) the country will have shortages of anywhere between 40,800 and 104,900 physicians by 2030 (Dall et al., 2017).

Figure 1 shows the projection of the supply and demand of physicians from year 2015 to 2030. This chart shows how there will be a need for physicians compared to the number of the available physicians as time goes by. This can be attributed the fact that graduate medical institutions are not creating enough and the aging population has few to replace them with.

Figure 1: Projected Total Supply and Demand for Physicians from 2015 to 2030 (Dall et al., 2017)

Solution to shortage of health care professionals

Giving out provisional licenses to medical school graduates

Many medical graduates both local and international are unable to enter the market and offer medical services because they do not have licenses as needed by the law. To take advantage of these talents, the federal government should mandate that state governments could come up with provisional licenses that would enable graduates work under the supervision of primary physicians so that they can gain skills. The licenses will enable graduates to treat patients under the direct supervision of collaborating physicians. After some time, these graduates will be able to gain enough skills and experience to freely offer medical services. This is one option that provides an immediate solution towards provision of health care services, especially to people living in rural areas where there is even a bigger shortage of physicians (Kevin & John, 2017).

Making primary care more attractive

Over the years, America medical students are drawn to join lucrative medical professions, such as dermatology and radiology. Mostly because those specialties have higher pay and perceived to be significantly less stressful. As a result, this has reduced the number of students joining primary care, which has created a major challenge. Primary care health care practitioners are the most sought. The federal government in cooperation with hospitals should come up with incentives that will make primary care a more attractive choice. Such incentives include giving friendly loan repayment packages and even sponsoring students to learn for free (Aiken et al., 2009). This will entice more students join primary care, which is projected to have a shortage of approximately 7,300 and 43,100 physicians by 2030(Dall et al., 2017).

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