Quality of Us Healthcare
Essay Preview: Quality of Us Healthcare
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U.S. Healthcare: Quality
Gerard Nicolson Cerameau
The U.S. Healthcare System: HCA-305
Instructor: Ken Feifer
March 26th, 2012
In a country where the health care system is largely provided by the private sector, only 15% of the population has health insurance coverage. A situation that pushes us from the middle/lower social class to wonder about the quality of care we are receiving. The healthcare system is as much controversial as getting the care we need, and how this one is delivered to us. The President of the United States had signed a comprehensive health reform on March 23rd, 2010, the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which is expected to bring changes to the system, and this act is supposedly bringing a new momentum to the healthcare industry. The American population is actually wondering whether a deep analysis of the future trends on healthcare should give them a clear understanding of where the United States healthcare would be in the next years to come, including improvement on the safety and reliability of the healthcare system.
If we were to describe the U.S. healthcare system with all its components, we would have to say that it is a facet of complex interactions of people, institutions, and technology. For many Americans healthcare may be described as the interaction between a primary care physician and patient to address minor and urgent medical problems such as colds, flu, or back pain. A primary care physician (PCP); usually a general practitioner, a family practitioner, internist, or pediatrician, is the “forefront” caregiver or even the first health qualified personnel to estimate and treat the patient. In a physician office there are lots of routines physical examinations, anticipation such as immunization and health rerun to detect disease, and treatment of acute and chronic diseases. The healthcare system consists of all the medical personnel tied together in one field. This system may be viewed as a complex made up of three interrelated components: people in need of healthcare services called healthcare consumers; those who deliver the service, the professionals and practitioners called healthcare providers; and systematic arrangements for delivering healthcare−the public and private agencies that organize, plan, regulate finance, and coordinate services−called the institutions or organizations of the healthcare system. This institutional component includes hospitals, clinics, and home-health agencies; the insurance companies and programs that pay for services like Blue Cross/Blue Shield, managed-care plans such as health maintenance organizations, and preferred providers organizations; an entitlement program like Medicaid. Also included are agencies and associations that research and monitor the quality of health care services; license and accreditation providers and institutions; local, state, and national professional societies; and the companies that produce medical technology, equipment, and pharmaceuticals (