Introduction
Health care in the United States is wide and very complex due to the many factors and impact of stakeholders have on legislation and practice. Health care in the country is the most expensive in the world when compared to other heath care systems around the globe. Delivery of health care services to the citizens is propagated through partnerships between various healthcare providers and insurance firms that cover the individuals. Up to the recent times, unfortunately only a small number of individuals are covered by medical insurance.
Mergers and Acquisition
Mergers and acquisitions between HMOs and other care providers has been on the rise in the past few years and this can be shown through the numerous consolidations and exchange of assets between the organizations. There are different criteria of mergers and acquisitions but the major categories are ones between practitioner’s organizations, who are mostly primary care givers. Health care providers,(outpatient facilities, nursing homes) and payers. This affords the merged organization the ability to expand their reach towards other people and also increase and develop the range of services offered to their clients. Both the organization that has been acquired and the acquirer profit from the initiatives. The situation has been fuelled by a condition where health care funds have been diminishing rapidly for some years now and this has necessitated the organizations to come up with better strategies in acquiring managed care monies. Apart from economies of scale a merged organization also benefits from better negotiations with insurance firms and employers.
Changing Demography
Challenges associated with demography are continually being faced by health care organizations and governments in the provision of health care to the masses. A growing population in the United States has to be taken care of by sufficiently extensive medical cover and this comes at a cost to both the government and the medical organizations as facilities are stretched to the limit. This fact is made more difficult from the increase in the population of women, as it is assumed by researchers and scholars that there will be higher need for medical facilities to cater more for the women population. A good example of how population has changed over the years is how in the early 1900’s there were about ninety six men for every one hundred women. In 1979, there was a dramatic drop as we now witnessed forty five men for every one hundred women and it is estimated that there will be about thirty nine men for every one hundred women above eighty five years old in the second part of this decade. Change in demography is also being witnessed through the rising number of immigrant population from all over the world. With low monthly incomes, immigrant families are placing a strain in the delivery of health care as some minority populations are more prone to certain diseases. It is estimated that a higher concentration of Hispanic women are prone to cervical cancer and this fact has manifested itself in the Texas state where over half of all cervical cancer cases are reported from Hispanic ladies (Novick, 2005)
Integration
Integration in the delivery of health care to the citizens encompasses various types and can be classed as information system integration; the physical nature of the hospital can be integrated.
Leadership
The delivery of health care services is best implemented when the organization is managed by a stable and sound leadership. Leadership qualities are needed in such critical industries in the provision of health care services. What comes out is that most of these qualities are the same a those ones needed in other sectors and industries. Leadership is also based on the social qualities that the leader may have so as to be able to provide4 comfort to the needy (Barbour,2005). Leadership also ensures that policies are followed to the letter. The role of leadership in management in team efforts and collaboration between team members is critical in research activities. There are several stages of leadership and each stage is marked clearly with reference to the level of hierarchy or rank within the medical organization
Medical Errors
Medical errors among medical practitioners are a serious concern that is hindering the quality of delivery of healthcare services. News of malpractice is becoming all too common and we should ask ourselves how we can best mitigate cases of medical errors. Measures such as the use of technology and the management of information of procedures should b encouraged in all health care organizations (Khon, 2000).
Alternative Therapies
The role of alternative therapies in the delivery of health care is still under review by some of the organizations seeking to benefit from its use (Singh, 2008). The background and competence of any practicing practitioner on alternative therapies should be reviewed closely by health consumers. Practice is diverse and may in cooperate religious beliefs and may be used together with other conventional medical practices. Patients who have undergone the various alternative therapies report of better health and less compliant hence it is necessary for alternative therapies to be investigated and researched more as an avenue for treating common diseases.
References
Barbour, G. (2005). Redefining a public health system: how the Veterans Health Administration improved quality measurement. London: Oxford publishers.
Khon, L. (2000). To err is Human: Building a safer health system. Washington: National Academies Press.
Novick, L. (2009). Public health administration: principles for population-based management. California: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Singh, L. (2008). Delivering health care in America: a systems approach. California: Jones & Bartlett Learning.