Affordable healthcare is an essential theme for the United States, as healthcare prices are usually high. According to the study of Skinner and Chandra (2016), they can differ by a factor of 4 in the same city. For that reason, I suppose that the main problem for healthcare is a lack of coordination and health literacy, which leads to uncertainty in healthcare facilities. By coordination, I mean that healthcare organizations often have difficulties managing their incomes and expenses and, thus, have less economic efficiency than they could have (May 2014). Health literacy is the metric that shows how the population is educated about healthcare facilities and health insurance. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), implemented by President Obama, aimed at increasing health insurance levels, health literacy, and access to healthcare facilities while increasing healthcare quality and income.
To realize those aims set by the ACA, different medical organizations perform different strategies. As I see the main problems for healthcare in a lack of coordination and health literacy, I think that the best approach is those implemented by the Glendale Adventist Medical Center (May 2014). The reason for that is that their programs are aimed at increasing health literacy and facilitating coordination and cooperation between people and medical organizations. They organize health education for people and promote a safe environment, improving the public understanding of health. Despite being called “nonhospital-centric,” their programs are highly effective due to fostering cooperation and improving the general level of health in the community.
Although I believe the Glendale Adventist Medical Center strategy has the best chance to improve access to healthcare, according to the Affordable Care Act, other methods have various elements that I have found effective. For example, the Cook County Health & Hospitals System program was highly successful: it provided federal coverage for underserved populations in Cook County near Chicago (May 2014). It made healthcare there much less expensive, increased access to it, and, in addition, increased the income for healthcare facilities because more people were able to use it. Along with that, they took the help of local church pastors, who preached about the necessity of healthcare in their churches, increasing the health literacy of their congregations (May 2014). I have found their strategy elements, such as increasing healthcare coverage and promoting health literacy via churches, interesting and efficient.
References
Skinner, J., & Chandra, A. (2016). The past and future of the Affordable Care Act. JAMA, 316(5), 497. Web.
May, E. L. (2014). Ensuring Access to Affordable Healthcare: Successes From the Field. Healthcare Executive, 29(4), 20-22,24-26. Web.