HCS
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HCS- Biology
1. What issues arise from the need to care for an aging population versus the number of health care facilities needed? What factors are involved when ambulances are diverted from one emergency room to another? Why is this good, or alternatively, bad practice? ANSWERED
Due to improved quality of life in the modern society people tend to live longer. The implication in health care is that the available health facilities are not able to cater adequately for the aged. One of the areas significantly affected is nursing. There is an increase demand for nurses to care for the aged than the population can supply (Quinn-Szcesuil, 2014). Diversion of ambulance occurs as a result of the need to relieve pressure in the emergency room of a given hospital. When such a hospital cannot take in additional patient, ambulances are often diverted to other nearby hospitals. This practice is bad because it can delay access to medical attention because the ambulance is forced to cover additional distance moving from one hospital to the other (Cliffton & Graff, September 2008).
2. If an electronic medical record system (EMR) can really help improve the quality and safety of health care delivery, does the U.S. government have a duty to help hospitals and physicians implement the system? Why or why not? ANSWERED
The US government through the taxpayer’s money supports programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Furthermore, the Federal government is under the obligation to provide support in terms of medical equipments as the need arises. Therefore, the US government will have a duty to help hospitals and physicians implement the electronic medical record system to improve the quality of service delivery. The issue is not with the EMR but where the priority lies (Winter, 2013).
Please Answer New Question: As I asked earlier, where is the source of the funding.
Taxpayers and businesses do not want increased taxes and Medicare's trust fund is nearly empty. So whether there is a duty or not, how can the government support the equipment and why should they when health care is a private business in the U.S. In fact, large corporations including health care receive healthy tax breaks. So if the hospitals are paying lower taxes to being with, why should the government have to pay for equipment that is to be used in private enterprise for businesses already paying less taxes than they should?
3. How can the U.S. government have a right to access personal health information of patients? Is this not a potential risk or compromise to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act? Why or why not? What is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? ANSWERED
The government can actually have access to the medical information about individuals. Law enforcement officers and other government officials are allowed to have access to medical information of individuals even without having to obtain a warrant from the courts. In normal circumstances, this does not pose risk or compromise Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This is because the primary objective of HIPAA is to promote the use of electronic system as a means of cost reduction and to promote accountability. The government might access such information only to ensure that businesses in the health care sector comply with HIPAA regulations (Chaikind, 2004).
4. Given the struggles in containing the costs of health care and given the increasing numbers of Americans who find themselves without health insurance, should organizations be investing in physical changes to their facilities to attract new patients through a more comfortable environment? (Barsukiewicz, Raffel & Raffel, 2010) ANSWERED
Yes, this is because health care facilities will be prompted to enter into competition as a way of attracting more patients to their health facilities. From the market perspective, such an approach is healthy because it functions to raise the standards of service delivery in the health care industry. Furthermore, hospitals can use the revenue gained to improve service delivery. In essence, this is just a business strategy that is bound to emerge automatically once there is competition among health care facilities. Therefore, there is nothing wrong by seeking to establish competitive advantage through quality services (Berenson, Ginsburg, & May, January 2007).
Please Answer New Question: But, what is the outcome of such competitive?
· How does successful marketing to attract more patients help improve U.S. health outcomes when we still have 42 million Americans without access to health care?
· Are you not saying competition may increase quality but only for those consumers who can afford to use hospital services in the first place?
5. Based on your professional experience with the type of outcome measurement process used, what steps should the U.S. take to incorporate outcomes measurement for all health care services? For example, should U.S. physicians be held accountable for health outcomes of patients? Why or why not?
From my professional experience, the best type of outcome measurement in health care facilities is the structural outcome measurement approach. The US should streamline an outcome measurement strategy that captures all the stages involved in the delivery of health and structure it within the environment of health care facilities. The outcome measurement should be structured to ensure that all the persons involved in these stages are accountable. This will ensure quality service delivery across the board. Instead of putting all the blame on physicians, it is important that all persons remain accountable. ANSWERED
Please Answer New Question: Physicians in the U.S. are not blamed as they are not held accountable for outcomes. According to your suggestion, based on everyone being held accountable I am thinking you mean medical doctors as well. Yet, medical doctors in general do not want accountability for outcomes. Their arguments range from 'I am doctor and therefore I should not be answered to a patient or anyone else' to 'Patients who choose not to comply may end up with negative health outcomes. Therefore, why should I be held accountable? What is your answer to holding doctors, along with all others involved in the health care continuum of care, accountable for health outcomes?
6. Discuss the Video transcript link ANSWERED
The video transcript basically brings into perspective some of the benefits that hospitals and health care professionals are bound to register through the adoption of technology in most processes. One of the highlights of the transcript is that the adoption of technology would promote service delivery, and reduce errors in hospitals. Other sectors that have adopted such technologies such as the military have registered increased efficiency and reduction of errors. The only drawback is that the implementation of such state of the art technology is exorbitantly high. However, when implemented the long term benefits justify the implementation costs. This is because reduction of errors and improvement of efficiency would be translated to lowered expenditure (Jones & Groom, 2012).
7. What is your most significant learning point about our health care system when it comes to technology? In what ways has your perspective of the health care delivery system related to health information technology changed?
My most significant learning point about our health care system and its adoption of information technology is that it has lagged behind other industries. In terms of technology in general it has stayed up to date. However, there appears to be knowledge gap in how health care practitioners perceive information technology and how it can be utilized in hospitals to improve efficiency in service delivery. For instance, hospitals can significantly benefit from the latest technological advancements in communication. However, there seems to be trend where doctors are reluctant to implement technology that is perceived as not directly involved with treating of patients (Jones & Groom, 2012). ANSWERED
Please Answer New Question: The bottom line is how does using technology improve outcomes for all Americans? It matters little to the man with no feet if he is offered high quality shoes. What he needs first are feet.
8. What are some of the drawbacks in using social media by the health care industry? Why might patients have concerns with the use of social media? ANSWERED
The adoption of the social media by the health care industry might be tricky despite the fact that other industries have successfully adopted social media within their mainstream business practices. One of the major drawbacks is the fact that the industry is guided by strict privacy principles that limit the information that can be shared with the general public. Social media feeds on information and participants are constantly required to feed the platform with information to be consumed by others. The other drawback is the traditional perception of hospitals. Hospitals are considered sad and melancholic centers with little or no fun. Social media thrives on lively and interesting information (Jones & Groom, 2012).
Please Answer new question: In your own words describe the video and what’s your thought about the video
References
Berenson, R., Ginsburg, P., & May, J. (January 2007). Hospital-hhysicians relations: cooperation, competition, or separation? 26 (1). Health Affairs , 31-43.
Chaikind, H. R. (2004). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). New York, NY: Nova Publishers.
Cliffton, G., & Graff, H. (September 2008). Ambulance diversions: what they are, why we care, what to do. Washington, DC: Health Policy Program.
Jones, S., & Groom, F. M. (2012). Information and communication technologies in healthcare. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Quinn-Szcesuil, J. (2014). Caring for Our Aging Population. Retrieved August 14, 2014, from MinorityNurse.Com: http://www.minoritynurse.com/article/caring-our-aging-population
Winter, R. E. (2013). Unraveling U.S. health care: a personal guide. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
