However, when doctors began to learn more about diseases they then began to charge more for treatments. This ended up costing more money than many individuals could afford. Costs increased when new treatments began to require more technology so it was necessary for patients to stay in the hospitals. The first healthcare system was Blue Cross, which helped individuals pay for their hospital bills. It succeeded and became a stable program in the late thirties as doctors used it for a way to protect their own interests and bills.
Many of the patients that were receiving treatment at MHC were doing so as an outpatient; which meant beds were going unused. The hospital was consistently losing money, as it was a competitive market. However, by acquiring the new technology and then turning around and selling it to other health care providers, it would really help the institution financially. MHC Primary Business Structure MHC’s primary business structure falls into the division of labor alignment. The division of labor structure demonstrates how the work is divided and organized within the organization.
This is also invalid because it is better to pay taxes rather than over priced medical bills. The last con is that people will have a longer wait time. That is also invalid because the more people that visit the more of a demand there will be for Doctors. A universal health care system would extend care to all Americans regardless of social status or bank account. Health care has become extremely unaffordable for both businesses and individuals.
What is the business, political, and social impact of not digitizing medical records (for individual physicians, hospitals, insurers, patients, and the U.S. government)? Many smaller medical practices are finding it difficult to afford the costs and time commitment to upgrading their record keeping systems. EMR systems cost a lot from individual physicians and hospitals. Although stimulus money should eventually be enough to cover that cost, only a small amount of it is available up front. Small providers are less likely to have done any preparatory work digitizing their records compared to their larger counterparts.
At MGH the decline was 87.6% in 1988 to 78.4% in 1993 as well. Because of their high medical cost and lack of primary care physicians, 30% of the hospitals revenues were at risk, giving the opportunity to other hospitals to provide these services and create price competition based on Chapter 495. The reduction of gross patient service revenue at MGH and BWH were affected by the changes in government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the enactment of chapter 495. These programs along with many insurance companies adopted the Prospective Payment System (PPS) which began monitoring hospital charges and refusing payment for unnecessary services. The hospitals were receiving a standardized payment for each service
The major reason for EBP becoming so widely used is because there is a big deficiency in research-based information to back up clinical decision making (Legg, 2008, p.469). Increasing healthcare cost, treatments, and care due to population aging can be another reason for the boom in EBP (Xiaoshi, 2008, p.6-12). If procedures are done just because that’s the way they have always been done and not because of the research that backs it up, a big problem can occur. Ineffective care is very costly for both patients and health departments, due to patients having to stay in the hospital longer, more procedures being done, and more tests being performed. Health departments have been encouraging the development of EBP so the most effective health care is being used and so the best benefits come out of it (Xiaoshi, 2008, p.6-12).
This may mean that Medicaid will carry more people and more debt may be incurred due to non-payment of medical bills. This may become a very difficult financial issue with the state and federal governments. Money is a critical aspect in this difficult economy. Short staff, cut-back on supplies makes it very hard to meet the demand of the public. The demand of the public depends upon the entire cultural aspect and the
The need for health care is dire, yet the prices just increase. Inelasticity seems to better fit the industry, with the want and cost disproportioned. The microeconomics aspect of health care has a lot to focus on, most consumers make decisions based on quality, price and quantity. With the price of insurance and uninsured services so high, the quality and quantity could be there, but not the consumer. The price is a driving force for most consumers.
Compared with other developed nations, America lags behind in the provision of quality and affordable healthcare to its citizens. This research paper will discuss some of the challenges facing the industry and solutions that can be applied to rectify them. Rising costs of medical care Healthcare is the leading socio-economic challenge affecting Americans. The ever increasing cost of medical care and insurance in affecting the American way of life in many aspects. Having problems paying for primary healthcare is no longer the preserve of the poor or the unemployed, but is affecting even those with medical insurance (Shea, 2005).
Reducing nurse staffing can lead to overworked nurses, low staff morale, less patient satisfaction, and errors and more malpractice suits, which can raise the costs much more than hiring more nurses (Garretson). Even when hospitals do plan to increase their nursing staff levels, they are unable to do so because increasing nursing staff levels is not an easy task. Major factors contributing to lower staffing levels include a nationwide gap between the number of available positions and the number of registered nurses (RNs) qualified and willing to fill them. The acute shortage of nurses is making it difficult for hospitals to fill RN positions and a study found that 44% of hospital recruiters had more difficulty filling in positions in 2006 than in 2005 (AHA, 2007). The nursing shortage is a major obstacle in health care industry today that threatens to decrease nurses productivity, efficiency, competency, quality, etc and in turn increase fatigue, burnout, nurse-to-patient ratios, etc.