Introduction
Medical care systems are formed in order to meet the medical or health requirements of specific individuals. There are many different medical care systems within the globe. In some nations, the medical care systems have been established and are not yet planned, while in others appropriate plans have been designed by trade unions, governments, religious, charities, or any other co-coordinated agencies to render quality medical care services to specific populations. However, medical care system planning has mostly been evolutionary instead of revolutionary (Gawande par.4). This paper will focus on the impact of the healthcare changes in the past and current health care delivery.
How healthcare policy is changed
Medical care is one of the hardest or complicated sectors for novice investors to comprehend. In every developed country, the movement to change medical care policy always starts with stories or legends on cruelty. Healthcare policies do not occur due to the emerging of worrying signs and symptoms. Instead, they occur when the challenge comes to a peak and no one is interested in personal interest but rather the interest of the public. Therefore, appropriate healthcare policy is designed in order to meet the needs of all populations within a country despite their status. Health care practitioners work extremely hard in order to render life-improving and life-saving care to many people. Despite their hard work, the level of effectiveness and quality care they render is altogether different all over the countries. In the United States, it is clear that the method used to cater to the medical care system does not motivate the health care providers to provide the best services at the appropriate time for every patient. The current payment method used rewards health care practitioners for the quantity of health care provided instead of the quality of medical care. Therefore, this system of payment tends to discourage health care practitioners from working as a group in order to deliver the best care possible to the patient. Change of the healthcare policy in America led to reformed medical care providers that re-oriented the payment incentives based on the activities and services, which has promoted or improved patient care in an efficient and effective way. This has eventually led to the growth and development of the state health care expenses (Szasz 192-197).
Change of healthcare policy has led to the following; access to health care, cost-effectiveness, and quality of medical care, to most part of the United States medical-care delivery system. In addition, these changes have influenced how health care providers view the effect of organized and managed care on the practices of the healthcare delivery system (Tietze par.1).
Since 1990, the quick development of the healthcare policy has influenced the structure or system of how services are rendered to the patients and the responsibilities of the health care providers have also been improved. This development has been driven by the interest to improve medical results and control costs through focusing on preventive care, carrying out service delivery, and minimizing the procedures and tests that are unnecessary. With the rapid development of technology and inventory on new drugs and innovative scientific breakthroughs, there is improved quality of life and longer life span (Tietze par.3).
As a result of healthcare policy changes, the social and medical services in the United States have minimized adult and child mortality rates. Moreover, the dental services offered to the patient were improved. In recent years, changes in Medicaid have led to the following effects; reinforcing of the authority of state Medicaid, reduction of funding flexibility, increasing accountability of direct providers in order to conform to the Medicaid needs. In addition, it led to reduction of incentives for institutionalization, promotion of community and home-based health services, and finally empowering or strengthening of consumers by encouraging self-directed individual assistance and individual-centered care plans services. In addition, healthcare policy changes have accelerated the mainstreaming of how mental health services are rendered in the general medical care delivery system. This helps in encouraging treatment approaches, which cater to the entire requirements of an individual instead of the specific orientation or specialty of the health care provider (Vendome Group par.4).
Impact of healthcare policy changes
Healthcare policy has impacted health delivery since the policy in America has the following goals; improving or promoting the health care quality of the people by providing them with appropriate and effective health care. In addition quality, health care is obtained by controlling the costs of medical care by avoiding unnecessary and ineffective medical diagnoses, tests, and treatments. The policy also requires the scientific technology or basis of medicine to be modified by using or utilizing new and innovative technology like the use of electronic medical records and Meta-analysis to tackle the medical problems efficiently with effective drugs. Moreover, effective health care delivery has been obtained by improving the competitive foundation of the medical care delivery system by providing or offering patients with relevant information on benefits and risks like the cost-effectiveness of health treatments (Szasz 199).
Conclusion
Changes in the healthcare policy have led to growth and development of managed care, solved financial crisis and other changes within the medical care delivery system have contributed to innovation or development in the service delivery and organization. For instance, today’s models of health organization or agencies and reapportioning of labor force emphasize the main or primary and people/population-based health services.
Works cited
Gawande, A. How should Obama reform health care? Annal of public policy. 2009. Web.
Szasz, A. The Labor Impacts of Policy Change in Health Care: How Federal Policy Transformed Home Health Organizations and Their Labor Practices. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 15(1):191-210. 1990. 2009. Web.
Tietze, F. Impact of managed care on healthcare delivery practices: the perception of healthcare administrators and clinical practitioners. Journal of Healthcare Management. 2003. Web.
Vendome Group. Medicaid policy changes may impact mental health. Behavioral healthcare. 2009. Web.