Overview of Health Care
Based on the information provided to you in Chapter 1 (Overview of Health Care) of your textbook, you are to discuss one of the following. 250 words minimum
- The typical relationship of patient to physician used to be one of deference to a more knowledgeable authority. Why is it now critically important for patients take a more proactive role in their medical care?
- Health care planners could be effective and efficient if they used the concept of the natural history of disease and the levels of prevention to design services that intervene at the weakest link in the chain of progression of specific diseases. What characteristics of the medical care culture hinder the prevention focus?
- Hospitals and other health care institutions, whether voluntary or for-profit, need to be financially solvent to survive growing market pressures. In what ways is this “bottom line” focus changing the nature of the U.S. health care system?
Then, reply to the following posts. 70 words minimum for each reply.
Post 1
1. The typical doctor-patient relationship used to be deference to a more knowledgeable authority. Why is it vital now that patients take a more proactive role in their healthcare?
A: According to the textbook, years ago, the U.S. hospital system, physicians and other healthcare providers used to behave in an authoritarian manner toward patients. There was respect for the doctor, deference to their knowledge; it was synonymous with the fact that medical care or procedures should not be questioned. We live in globalization with technology, which provides greater resources to the patient.
I could say that the most people have an inadequate knowledge of the health system, so it is vitally important that patients become involved and have more knowledge about how it works and how their medical care should be, then, they assume a more proactive role.
It has been known since before that healthcare systems and processes can be unreliable and cause medical errors and harm to patients, this is nothing new. By being more proactive, the patient will be able to share decision-making, in case of serious illnesses; a second opinion can guide the direction of the treatment method for the patient. In the textbook it is mentioned that problems in the quality and adequacy of many diagnoses and treatments. Procedures have a large impact on costs. That is why the patients must take into account all these factors and look for what is best for them.
I believe that it is important for the patient to understand how their medical care works, feel safe against any risk and know how to make decisions with the necessary information that medical care must provide.
I believe that if a patient is empowered to participate in improving their health, they will be more committed to following the correct treatment and will have the ability to be proactive in improving their health.
Post 2
In the past, I wouldn’t want to say that patients were forced to comply but, they expected to comply with doctors because doctors knew more than the patients did. However, since time has changed and we continue to evolve and grow, it is now more encouraged that patients play a proactive role in decision making when it comes to their medical care. In the book, it explains that this kind of decsion making is called “shared decision making.” This is where both the patient and the professional decide on what are the best options, routes to take, etc. It is more so a joint effort rather than whatever the professional says goes. This is critical for patients because they need to understand and be involved in what is going on with them in a medical standpoint. It is better that a patient can receive certain information, treatment options, suggestions, etc., pick and choose which ones they like and dislike and decide on what is best together. That way, the patient is more confident in the decision that is made along with the risks that come with the decision.
By my understanding, the medical care culture is the team of people that are assisting the patient with a certian issue. In most cases you have the patient, the doctor, nurse practicioner, assistant, and the provider I am assuming. What can hinder the prevention focus in a scenario similar to this would be to many opinions and minds all in one room. Though all mean well in this situation, they are ultimately not focused on the means to prevent what needs to be prevented and become distracted by others opinions and ideas on the matter. Personalities may get in the way as well and will ultimatley be a diservice to the patient rather than assisting the patient.
I believe the focus is changing to profit rather than quality and product. By this I mean, the health care system is more focused on money than they are in treating and facilitating what is needed for certain patients. They are more focused on putting an extra 0 at the end of their numbers rather than providing quality and affordable health care to those that need it.Though I understand that companies need xyz for x amount of money, they are not factoring in patients into this equation.
Post 3
The typical relationship of patient to physician used to be one of deference to a more knowledgeable authority to foster the mystique to establish and maintain authority and set themselves apart. The tradition of “highly educated” health care professionals dauted patients’ involvement. Endowing health care with a certain amount of mystery encouraged patients to maintain blind faith in the capability of their physicians even when the state of the science did not justify it. Treatments and outcomes remained opaque to patients’ with no accessible information to inform about provider choices and quality. Typically the public had in the past an inadequate understanding of the health care system.
Although the U.S health care systems is the world’s most advanced and proficient health care system provides a great deal of excellent care, the lack of public knowledge has allowed much care to be delivered that was less than beneficial or dangerous. It is now critically important for patients to take a more proactive approach in their medical care since the U.S. health care system is fraught with problems and dilemmas. Cynicism about the health care system grew with more information about the problems of costs, quality, and access becoming public. People who viewed medical care as a necessity provided by physicians who adhere to scientific standards based on tested and proven therapies have been disillusioned to learn that major knowledge gaps contribute to highly variable use rates for therapeutic and diagnostic procedures that have produced no measurable differences in outcomes. Recognizing the benefits of more proactive roles for patients and the improved outcomes that result, both health care providers and consumers are encouraging patient participation in health care decisions under the rubric of “shared decision making.”
Requirements: .doc file
Answer preview Overview of Health Care
APA
601 words