Introduction
The main problems the U.S. is likely to face in the future, owing to the current shortage of physicians, are undoubted, demise in the health care sector accompanied by the emergence of epidemics and preventable deaths. Many U.S. citizens will travel long distances in search of health care workers like doctors and nurses to take care of the most primary health issues. American hospitals are likely to face an acute shortage of doctors and nurses in the future. This shortage will lead to the closure of most hospitals, especially in the rural areas, which is already happening across the nation. The U.S. will thus be faced with the challenges accruing from this situation which, if not taken more seriously, may go out of hand. Hence the government may not be able to take care of its citizen’s health due to the reasons stated above.
Some of the reasons for the shortage of nurses and doctors are the lack of inadequate funding for training doctors and nurses and the perception by the healthcare workers that they earn little money. Student enrollment in primary medicine is also low due to remuneration factors. Working conditions of doctors and nurses are tough, a factor that is being worsened by the exodus of more healthcare workers in the health industry.
All the issues above are quite agreeable except the issue of remuneration since American doctors are the highest paid compared to their European counterparts. Congress has been involved in passing bills which aim at rejuvenating the healthcare sector. The passage of health care insurance by the Obama administration and a corresponding increase in funding is a head start for major reforms in the health sector.
Factors Contributing To the Demise of the American Health Care System
The demise of the American healthcare system is imminent due to several factors, some of which are demographically related while others are government-related. The following are the main factors discussed and briefly analyzed.
Income of Health Workers
Although American doctors and nurses are the most paid compared to their counterparts in Canada and Europe, their salary is still considered low because of the number of loans they owe the country and the amount of time they spend in medical schools. Primary doctors nationwide are grossly underpaid, according to a past survey. Many of them are therefore turning into specialties of internal medicine, like oncology and cardiology.
Cost of Training doctors and nurses
The cost of training health practitioners in the U.S is quite high compared to the cost in other countries. This makes the average medical student’s debt to be more than $140,000. The three years of residency that pays less than $ 50,000 per year contributes to this analysis hence making doctors feel that they are entitled to six-figure salaries. Thus the government spends a lot of money to train doctors whose numbers do not satisfy the American population. Some nursing schools have been closed citing lack of adequate finances thus locking out a huge number of would-be nurses.
Low Enrolment of Primary Care Students in Medical Schools
Primary health care includes gynecology, family practice, general pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics, and many others. Very few students in medical schools chose these health care options as their major discipline. This has led to a shortage of primary health care workers thereby contributing to demise of the health care sector in the country. Nurses have also been scarce in America partly because of the corresponding shortage in nursing schools. Financial problems which face the nursing schools have caused them either not to expand or close (Bryant 2010). The steady medical school enrollments are ignoring the fact that the population of America is increasing. In 1980, the population was 227 million people while in 2005, the population was 300million (Williams, Satiani & Ellison, 2009).
Health Insurance Policy
America is faced with the hurdles posed by lack of health insurance. Studies show that 47 million Americans did not have health insurance by the year 2010. For these reasons, more people have stopped visiting health centers for preventive care and treatment. The patients have been reported to wait until they are severely sick after which they rush to emergency rooms. This instance makes it difficult for doctors to treat them and is also more costly than preventive cures. It is worth noting that preventive measures such as vaccination and health maintenance are less costly and easier to deal with than curative measures like surgeries and treatments (Bryant, 2010).
Low Numbers of Health Workers
Community health centers have recorded a low number of health care providers and nurses. The situation is worse in the rural and low-income areas which do not have enough resources to sustain physicians and nurses. Those areas which suffer the most are rural states like Nevada, Alabama and Oklahoma. This alone has led to more than 56 million (Americans) not having a standard health care source in their regions of habitation (Medical News Today, 2008). Some are forced to travel for more than three hours in search of physicians who treat particular diseases.
Aging WorkForce and Health Care
Recent research reveals that in 2012 and the years after, 10,000 Americans will be turning 65 every day, thereby doubling the total number of Americans eligible for Medicare (Wolfe, 2005). Older adults use more health care services than younger members of the society. To authenticate this, the research indicates that the elderly populace (who constitute up to 13 percent of the entire American population) account for more than 50 % of the doctor’s visits and hospice stays in the whole of the U.S. To substantiate further, the elderly use five different prescription drugs at one particular time.
The cost of these services is transferred to the exchequer thus making the government spend more money on the health insurance. The lack of adequate financing to health insurance by the government causes the healthcare sector to diminish thereby compromising the health of American citizens.
Rural Outreach Obstacles
Most of the doctors and nurses who graduate from medical and nursing schools choose to practice medicine in urban areas. Research shows that only 10% of the health workers may end up in rural areas. This is because most rural residents lack health insurance and their incomes are lower compared to those of the urban dwellers. This is also the reason why many patients will wait until they are seriously sick before they check into an emergency room of a healthcare facility which is also too far from their area of residence. The hospitals may also lack adequate facilities like enough drugs in their stores which makes patients wait for long hours to receive the prescribed medicines (Bryant, 2010).
Burnout turn-over
Burnout of health care workers is caused by a corresponding increase in the number of workers who leave the practice. The healthcare workers who remain in the practice are forced to put in long hours so as to deal with a bigger number of patients. This issue affects the quality of health services offered by the (healthcare) sector since it increases the danger of creating life-threatening medical errors by the nurses and medical doctors. Considering the population increase in America, if the medical schools do not increase their enrolment, they will only be able to supply 58% of the physicians needed (Williams, Satiani & Ellison, 2009).
Staffing Shortages
American hospitals are suffering from decrease in number of their health care staff. This challenge results in difficulties in providing high-quality health care and also in providing enough health care services where they are needed most. The shortage is also accrued to the fewer number of students who enroll in the primary care option, the area which is affected most by the shortage. Thus in the future, the medical crisis in America will be severe such that patients will be going to veterinarians to be treated for their ailments (Weekly World News, 2000). While the supply of physicians remains constant or even declines, demand on physicians’ time is likely to increase in the next few decades. This is especially so due to the epidemics of lifestyle-associated illnesses such as heart disease and cancer, which are America’s two most common causes of death.
Leadership styles and their contributions to the transformation of health care organizations
Leadership styles contribute to the development of healthcare organizations because they provide direction; plan for implementation, and are involved in motivating the human workforce. The authoritarian leadership style uses a high-handed mode of approach by giving orders, because of limiting factors of time. Thus, the government may order construction of health care centers and the hiring of new staff without consulting the healthcare authorities concerned. This can help especially in dealing with emergence of a specific epidemic thereby contributing to the transformation of the health care organization (Anon 2010).
Participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, gives enough room for exchange of opinions between the leader and the workforce. Thus, the government may decide to ask for the opinions of major stakeholders in the health care organization while retaining the pleasure of making the last decision. Last decisions by the government can also help in transforming the health sector although the decisions may not strongly reflect the opinions of the entire healthcare system which is a major stakeholder.
Reign leadership approach permits workers to represent their leader as far as decision making is concerned. The national health organization can therefore run some minor issues within its system without involving government’s input. In most cases, the healthcare system is left to run with a combination of the systems above.
Health care needs of victims of car accidents
The health care system in the U.S. does cater to the needs of victims of car accidents especially along the lines of insurance policies. The most applicable methods for these victims are only curative measures which are accompanied by other benefits accruing from these accident insurance policies. The legal framework regarding insurance of accident victims is much advanced in the U.S. although major concerns have been raised in relation to the processing procedures involved. Accidents caused by means other than road accidents will mainly require curative remediation methodologies.
Health care organizations in the U.S. have been facing major challenges concerning emergency units which also involve accident victims. This is because those patients in emergency rooms who do not have health insurance are 21% more likely to die than those who have health insurance (Fox & Walsh 2010). This situation demands that health care coverage should be expanded to improve the outcomes in critical accident victims.
Measures (Remediation)
Medicinal schools are persuaded to aim at rural learners and the minority groups since they are more probable to work in the countryside regions after they have graduated. Systemic leadership should be enhanced by sharing experiences in schools and in communities in order to develop successful and healthy healthcare institutions. Problem-solving approaches involving systems thinking need to be employed so that the issue of decrease in the number of healthcare experts is solved. Systems thinking will also ensure that the healthcare sector does not compromise standards by ensuring that external factors such as politics, policy formulation and other factors do not have a negative influence on the sector.
Recommendations and Conclusion
To solve the problem of the increasing shortage of physicians in America, the government should step up its efforts in ensuring that there is adequate health insurance for every citizen. Enrolment in medical schools should be increased so that more doctors can graduate and add to the workforce of the existing healthcare workers. Incentives should be given to those doctors who opt to practice in rural areas to ensure that their numbers increase and those hospitals do not close because of a lack of staff.
In conclusion therefore, it has been established that there are so many factors that have contributed to the demise of the health sector in the United States. Some of them include a decrease in the number of healthcare workers in American hospitals, rural outreach obstacles, and staffing shortages that compromise the standards of healthcare services. Other factors include health insurance policies and the burnout turnover caused by the lack of enough staff in the healthcare facilities. Remediation measures aimed at increasing the number of doctors nationwide should be undertaken so that the health sector can be rejuvenated. Improving the working conditions of healthcare workers is also crucial in enhancing growth of the healthcare sector.
Reference List
Anon (2010). Leadership Styles. Web.
Bryant, B. (2010). Issues and Challenges facing Health Care Workers. Web.
Fox, M. & Walsh, E. (2010). Reuters. Insurance affects ICU survival rate in U.S. Web.
Medical News Today (2008). U.S. Faces Serious Shortage of Primary Care Physicians, Especially In Low-Income, Rural Communities, According To NACHC. Web.
Weekly World News (2000). Doctor Shortage Sending Sick Folks to Veterinarians, Issued.
Williams, T., Satiani, B., & Ellison, C. (2009). The Coming Shortage of Surgeons: Why They Are Disappearing and What That Means for Our Health. California: ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara.
Wolfe, I.S. (2005). An Unhealthy Diagnosis for an Aging Workforce. Web.