Powerpoint

Running head: HEALTHCARE IMPLICATIONS 1

HEALTHCARE IMPLICATIONS 2

Healthcare Implications

Trident University

BHS 499: Senior Capstone Project

Module 2- SLP Assignment

Professor: Dr. Robert Grice

Larenzo M. Lott

04 AUG. 2015

Task:

Evolution of the problem

For this component of the SLP please explain the implications of this problem for the stakeholders of the organization (be sure to compare and contrast the implications for the different stakeholders). Among these, you are asked to give special attention to patients.

Globally, there has been a marked scarcity of trained health care professionals to cater for the increased number of patients deserving specialized health care. The idea of a workplace as the ideal place for the promotion of health and general well-being of individuals cannot be gainsaid as a large number of individuals are can be reached. The problem of qualified health care professionals is further compounded by the fact that most people who are venerable to ill health are hard to reach as they are composed of males and lower socio-economic groups (Fisher, 2008).

The extent to which health care for patients in the country is timely, efficient, as well as appropriate for patients is largely determined by the characteristics of the delivery system. This therefore calls for an identification of particular areas where the complexities of the system are slow or seem to inhibit progress. This calls for the development of solutions, which are aimed at overcoming impediments and failures towards the provision of quality health care to patients.

The identified problem is further compounded by the inefficiencies that exist in the processes, structural barriers, as well as system failures, which have a significant impact on the quality of evidence-based provision of effective health care. The issue of underperformance on the side of available health care professionals has also been identified as a major issue. The problem requires the examination of the inherent obstacles that act as impediments in the provision of multiple health care system components as well as the flawed processes, which specifically affect the patients, and the application of the evidence. This therefore calls for the framing of ideas that are geared towards engineering the systems, which may address some of the health care’s most troublesome inefficiencies.

The current health care culture is largely characterized by competition, misaligned incentives, as well as inherent distrust among the stakeholders, competing cultures seems to be at loggerheads as seen in the tensions existing among the consumers out for high services but are themselves low on out-of-pocket-costs. These payers want to risk and limit cost on one side with the purchasers on the other side who are always looking for more value but at the lowest cost.

To militate against the patient therefore, there is need to seek for the full realization of tomorrow’s opportunities by way of fundamentally changing the health care culture. One way of doing this is through is providing health professionals with the prerequisite reformed education as well as moving from the business of managing episodes of care to the business of taking care of the patients and the general populace.

Similarly, the problem can further be mitigated by engineering business models of nearly every healthcare stakeholder in such ways like payment mechanisms, especially in the role of individual patients towards managing their own care. The cost of health care to patients has also of late been marked by a precipitous increase due to a proliferation of new diagnostic and treatment technologies. The rapid integration of health information technology (HIT) and such other technologies like imaging systems has seen a rapid rise in the misuse and overuse, therefore impeding on the available ability of improving health care quality (IOM, 2009).

The general landscape of diagnostic and treatment technologies that is available for such ailments like heart problems requires a systematic evaluation and use of available technologies towards the improvement of care and a reduction of costs to the patients. A more systematic data collection and development of prospective registries would see to a much more informed decisions making in health care.

This therefore calls for a more robust collection of data and mining capabilities as the U.S. health care system has not fully benefited from clinical data towards the improvement of health outcomes. The use of available data has been impeded by its limited access, a problem that has further been exacerbated by inadequate adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and an absence of data standards. The complexity of health care coupled with the lag in sophistication of data applications in evidence applications has also been a problem (IOM, 2009).

Available research has also shown how the health professionals’ culture has largely been shaped by an exponential increase in biomedical knowledge and technology. This has seen the overload being handled through specialization and sub-specialization with the resultant workflow requiring a lot of multitasking. The existing compensation models are known for rewarding piecework, procedures, and technology while the health professionals strive in doing their best in delivering exceptional care despite the inadequacies of the “system” (IOM, 2009).

Therefore, the combination of these internal roots and external pressures has largely led to the culture of the health professions becoming one in which circumstances conflicting with quality health care and variability are readily accepted. Comparatively, the stakeholders and notably patients should be involved in the promotion of their health and well-being in general. However, this has been problematic owing to a number of factors militating against. It is altruistic for patients to believe that it is the right thing to do despite the health cost implications.

Furthermore, patients tend to do it, as they perceive that there will be a return on their investment in terms of reduced health costs in future. Patients also have a compulsion to pursue it, as they believe they have to do it as well as for the potential of the accruing health benefits as individuals do.

References

Fisher E.S. (2008). Learning to deliver better health care: Rigorous study of the most effective ways to deliver care as well as what care works best can result in not only better treatment but also significant cost savings. Issues in Science and Technology. Spring;24(3):58–62.

IOM (Institute of Medicine), (2009). Evidence-based medicine and the changing nature of health care, Leadership commitments to improve value in health care: Finding common ground. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Steckerl, Shally. (2013) The Talent Sourcing And Recruitment Handbook. Print.