Health Status and Health Care Services in Mexico - Research Paper Example

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Health Status and Health Care Services in Mexico with Comparison to the United s Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 4 Population and Health Status 6 Demographic Characteristics of Population 6 Mortality, Infant Mortality Data, Causes of Death 7 Other Data of Health Status 8 Analysis 8 Availability of Health Services 10 Basic Organization/General Description of Services Institutions, Providers of Care 10 Issues Related To Access 11 Utilization of Services 11 Expenditure 15 How Are Health Services Paid For; Roles for the Government 15 Data 18 Macro-Environmental Influences on the Health Care System 19 Political 19 Socio-Economic 20 Cultural 20 Technological 21 Summary 22 Problems 22 Opportunities 22 Other Related Comments Regarding the Healthcare Services 23 Comparison to the United States: What Works Better, What Is Not Working As Well 23 Conclusion 24 References 25 Executive Summary The paper represents a comparative analysis of the United States and Mexico’s healthcare system from various dimensions. The dimensions that have been considered in this paper are population and health status which reveals the conditions of the two considered nations i.e. US and Mexico. Moreover, the assessment has facilitated to observe that the US has greater population along with the requirement of healthcare related services than Mexico. Furthermore, availability of healthcare services of the US depicts that the nation possesses more facilities than Mexico, however Mexico’s available healthcare services cover large number of groups as compared to the US. The dimension of expenditure has also been analyzed which has showed that the US government incurs more expenditure than Mexico’s government in developing the healthcare services and facilities for the population. Macro-environmental influences on the healthcare system describe about that the advantages and the difficulties tackled by both the nations in developing their healthcare system efficiency. Additionally, in the summary section of the paper the problems that had been faced by the US and Mexico are being discussed along with the opportunities that can be leveraged by the two nations. Introduction Globalization has led nations to develop practices related to public services in order to serve the growing population with modern and better facilities as required. Among the developments made related to public services, healthcare unit plays an effective role because it helps people to sustain through the increasingly demanding scenario of healthcare with good health condition which facilitates in serving towards the development of the nations.. Contextually, it is observed that healthcare unit is considered by the nations as a major aspect in the development of the socio-economic scenario. This is because the population of every nation is increasing rapidly along with the rise in different diseases, further which affects in nations’ development. With reference to the context, it is observed that the rate of healthcare related organizations’ formation is increasing rapidly in every nation in order to serve the population with efficient and proper healthcare facilities. New healthcare unit uses modern technologies in the operational processes, further which helps to indentify the diseases of patient properly. Furthermore, the proper identifications of the diseases assist healthcare unit to serve patients with proper and accurate treatment in order to make them sustain in the world with good health. Contextually, the United States and Mexico have undertaken certain measures in order to develop their healthcare unit or services. With due consideration to this aspect, the paper intends to compare the conditions of the US and Mexico’s healthcare units and services in the present scenario. Moreover, the paper will be considering certain features related to healthcare systems which include demographic characteristics of population and health status, availability of health services along with expenditures and macro-environmental influences on health care system. Furthermore, the recognized features will be compared and contrasted in the discussion part and the summary part of the paper would state about the lessons learned from the healthcare scenario for the US and Mexico. Population and Health Status The discussion in this section would be about the population and the health status of the US and Mexico. The present health status will be presented with the help of demographic characteristics of population and mortality, infant mortality data, causes of death along with other relevant data of health status. Demographic Characteristics of Population Demographic characteristics of population depict about the conditions of population growth and percentage of population within the areas or nations has been considered. Furthermore, in this study demographic characteristics of population will present an overview of the US and Mexico. The US population characteristics reveal that the nation is ranked third globally in terms of population. This is because the US holds 4.5% of total global population. According to the 2011 census, the total population of the US is 308.7 million which has doubled as compared to 1950’s total population i.e. 152.3 million (Shrestha & Heisler, 2011). The characteristics of Mexico’s population depicts that the country has in total 114,975,406 million people and is ranked in the11th place globally with regard to population (Center of Intelligence Agency, 2012). Mortality, Infant Mortality Data, Causes of Death The considered aspect presents the ratios of mortality or death in the US and Mexico and the reasons behind the deaths. According to a recent report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the mortality and death ratios of the US reveal that in recent times at certain instances the mortality and death ratio have increased as well as decreased. The increased and decreased ratios of mortality and death for all ages in the US are presented with the help of a chart presented below (Murphy, Xu, & Kochanek, 2012). Source: (Murphy, Xu, & Kochanek, 2012) With the help of statistical ratio presented by World Health Organization (WHO), it is observed that the mortality and death ratio of Mexico had reduced in 2010 as compared to the previous year (i.e. 2009). According to July 2011 estimation, it is observed that the mortality rate was 4.9 deaths/1000 population (IndexMundi, 2012). The main causes of death have been chronic illnesses and epidemic diseases. This is because Mexico has considered certain factors for the development of healthcare sector such as developing healthcare units and investing more on providing training to the healthcare providers (World Health Organization, 2011). Other Data of Health Status The ratios of mortality and death in the US and Mexico have reduced as compared to the previous year i.e. 2010. This is because of the development in healthcare units and services with new infrastructure and modern technologies along with essential medicines and nursing facilities (World Health Organization, 2011). Source: (World Health Organization, 2011). Analysis From the overview of population and health status in the US and Mexico, it can be analyzed that both the nations have taken measures in order to serve the growing population with proper and efficient health facilities and treatment. It is also observed that the population of the US is more than Mexico. According to the development of healthcare unit with new infrastructure and nursing along with physician facilities, the US physician availability ratio is more that of Mexico. However, with lesser physician availability in Mexico as compared to the US, Mexico covers more density of population while the US captures less density of population in relation to Mexico. The ratio of physician availability in the selected nations as well as density are observed as the US has 793,648 of physicians and covers 26.7% of the nation’s population (estimated per 10,000 population) and Mexico has 303,519 physicians which is able to cover 28.9% of the total population (World Health Organization, 2011). Furthermore, the US healthcare unit serves the people of the nation with better and efficient nursing facilities as compared to Mexico healthcare units. The ratios show that the US has in total 2,927,000 nurses and midwifery in healthcare system, which covers 98.2% of the nation’s population (estimated per 10,000 population). Whereas, Mexico’s healthcare system serves its population with 417,665 nurses, further which occupies 39.8% of total population (World Health Organization, 2011). Availability of Health Services Availability of health services describes about the services provided by the nations’ healthcare unit to its people for ensuring better health condition by identifying the relevant diseases and helping them to overcome from the respective diseases. Moreover, the sufficient availability of healthcare services or resources helps the healthcare unit to reduce the spread of diseases as well as to control any epidemic scenario within the nation. Availability of health services can be identified with the basic healthcare organization or service providers and services available with the healthcare units along with making proper utilization of the resources. Furthermore, this section will classify the mentioned factors by considering the US and Mexico healthcare systems. Basic Organization/General Description of Services Institutions, Providers of Care Health related services are provided by the different healthcare institutes and units within the nations. Moreover, in the US the health related services are being served by certain leading healthcare institutes which include Massachusetts General Hospital, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and Duke University Medical Center along with Brigham and Women's Hospital among others (Comarow, 2012). The leading hospitals and healthcare clinics of Mexico are Physicians Medical Center of Santa Fe, Heart Hospital of New Mexico, Nor Lea General Hospital, Dr Dan C Trigg Memorial Hospital, Socorro General Hospital and Mountain View Regional Medical Center along with Lincoln County Medical Center and Gila Regional Medical Center among others. These healthcare institutes serve Mexico’s people with a number of pertinent services related to healthcare (Third Age Media, LLC. 2012). Issues Related To Access Healthcare access describes about the capacity of a person in receiving the facilities and services provided by the healthcare unit at the time of emergency or requirement because the receiver of the healthcare services needs to pay for it (Gulliford, 200). With reference to the context, the healthcare accessibility status of the US and Mexico’s population are being evaluated. The US officials of healthcare system have identified that certain percentages of their total population are facing problems in accessing healthcare facilities and services as a result the US economy are being affected from various aspects. In order to reduce the percentage of the population who are not being able to access healthcare facilities the US government and healthcare units have taken certain measures which include formation of nonprofit organizations, awareness programs along with organizing advocacy programs as well as instigating collaboration among others (Castanares, 2004). Utilization of Services Utilization of available healthcare resources classifies the uses of healthcare services provided by the healthcare units and other institutes. In this context, it can be said that the utilization of healthcare resources in the US reveals that in 2008 it was observed that near about 1.2 billion of people or patients had visited the healthcare units which include physician offices, emergency departments of hospitals and hospital outpatient departments in the ratio 956 million, 124 million and 110 million respectively. However, according to the 2009 estimation, it was presented that the utilization of healthcare emergency services was 93% by every income level individuals and family, among which higher income level individual and family used the emergency departments more than that of low income personnel (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). . Source: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012) The above figure presents the utilization percentages of healthcare services by the people of various age groups and demographics in the US. Furthermore, from Mexico’s point of view it is assumed that the utilization of healthcare services in Mexico is rising rapidly and it is based on individual’s earnings. It is also observed that people in Mexico prefer the private sector institutions especially for their treatments. Generally, utilization of healthcare services in Mexico depends upon age and gender of the individuals. Moreover, in Mexico individuals prefer or utilize physicians more as compared to visiting hospital first (Landeck & Garza, 2001). Expenditure Expenditure of healthcare can be identified from the implementation and usage of modern technologies in the operational processes of the healthcare units for serving the people. As a result, the cost and the efficiency of services are also rising. Furthermore, it is also observed that every country is taking measures for developing the healthcare sector. In doing so, government helps the healthcare units by funds and certain requisite facilities. How Are Health Services Paid For; Roles for the Government With reference to the context, it is observed that the US has taken certain measures for the development of the country’s healthcare sector. The measures can be identified as funding and providing various facilities to those institutes which are related to healthcare for developing awareness program for serving information related to health. Furthermore, it is also observed that the expenditure related to healthcare incurred by the US government has showed a growing trend because every year the expenditures have been rising such as in 2009, the expenditure on healthcare in the US arose to US$2.5 trillion which was 4% more than that of 2008 and the average expenditure was US$8000. Generally, this expenditure was incurred in various healthcare functions such as for hospital care 31%, for clinical and physician services 20%, for prescription drugs 10% along with nursing care facilities and continuing care related communities 6% among others (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Source: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012) In comparison to the US, in Mexico there has been certain incurrence of expenditure in the healthcare processes in order to develop the processes according to the demands of globalization. It was observed that expenditure made in Mexico towards healthcare processes increased to 6.5% in 2006 as compared to the expenditure i.e. 5.6%, which was made in 2000. This is because there was an introduction of the policy of “Sistema de Proteccion Social en Salud” which motivated Mexicans to expend less from their pockets and influenced them to use the healthcare insurance. With the influx of such facilities in Mexico as a nation it had been able to increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1% in 2003. Moreover, it is also observed that by closing of public and private financing in healthcare system, the public healthcare expenditure increased to 46.2% in 2006 from 43.8% in 2002. Additionally, public healthcare expenditure is being incurred through ‘Seguro Popular’ which is known as an insurance policy formulated by Mexico’s government (Frenk, Gomez-Dantes, & Knaul, 2009). Source: (Frenk, Gomez-Dantes, & Knaul, 2009) According to an assessment made by Kaiser Family Foundation (2010), in terms of Health Expenditure Per Capita in 2009, the US had spent US$7,960 and was ranked in the 1st position, whereas Mexico’s spending was US$920 and it was placed at the 67th position. From this analysis, it is assumed that Mexico is noticeably lacking behind the US in terms of per capita health expenditure in healthcare services, however Mexico is focusing more on the aspect of healthcare improvement in recent times in keeping with the altering needs and requirements. Data The total healthcare expenditure of the US can be identified from the chart that is presented. Source: (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012) Total expenditure on healthcare by Mexico can be recognized from the chart below: Source: (Trading Economics, 2012) Macro-Environmental Influences on the Health Care System Macro-environmental factors are correlated with the increasing demands of globalization which is rapidly growing in every sector especially for healthcare services in order to ensure sustainable health facilities. Macro-environmental influences comprise political, socioeconomic and cultural along with technological aspect, which an industrial sector has to deal with in order to ensure the users with required facilities. Political The external political factors have a substantial influence on the US healthcare system to implement new policies in order to protect patient’s personal information along with operating the operational processes of healthcare systematically. Furthermore, the US has been able to introduce electronic medical record and sharing of Personal health information (PHI) system for securing the personal data of the patients (Goldsmith, 2011). In developing the healthcare system, the government of Mexico is initiating certain measures in the process of developing the overall system because it is a developing nation and governmental support is crucial to ensure continued growth. Furthermore, it is also observed that Mexico’s healthcare system has got a rising trend in the aspect of making continued development because of the support provided by the external political bodies through campaigning (Common Cause, 2008). Socio-Economic The external economic factor influences the US healthcare system to increase the expenditure level in order to serve the nation with effective and modern technologies for better healthcare services. Furthermore, it also influences the people to invest more on the healthcare insurance for improving the healthcare practices efficiently. However, with due consideration to this aspect, it can also be said that certain sections of the people are also facing problems in affording the insurance price (Goldsmith, 2011). It is observed that in implementing and improving modern technologies and operational process of healthcare system, Mexico is lacking behind because of recent economic problems as well as crisis in purchasing the modern technologies. However, World Bank has predicted a 3% growth in the economy of Mexico in 2012 which would facilitate to uplift the scenario by a considerable extent (Economic Watch, 2010, The World Bank Group, 2012). Cultural The external cultural aspects reveals that the US healthcare system needs to have proper flow of funds along with implementation of modern technology. This is because the Baby Boomers are likely to be increased in future as a result certain chronic diseases might also rise, which in return could lead to high utilizations of healthcare services (Goldsmith, 2011). In comparison to the cultural factors affecting the US, it can be stated that Mexico’s population faces certain problems in adopting to the external cultural aspects as a result they at times fail to implement the necessary healthcare facilities which has resulted in the nation lagging behind in the per capita healthcare expenditure (Torres-Arreola, Constantino-Casas, Flores-Hernandez, Villa-Barragan, & Rendon-Macias, 2005). Technological The external technological factors depict that the science and technological features that are developed in accordance with the changing need of globalization for satisfying the demands through providing higher quality products and services. Furthermore, this factor influences the US healthcare system to implement new technologies in order to serve the patients properly along with providing high quality services through identifying the diseases and facilitating proper treatment according to the recognized diseases (Goldsmith, 2011). In implementing the required updated technologies, Mexico is lacking behind because of financial problem that their nation is facing. However, there are chances for Mexico to adopt modern technologies for its healthcare system in future because their economic condition is growing (European Commission, 2000; The World Bank Group, 2012). Summary Problems In developing the practices of healthcare sector, the US healthcare system has faced with certain problems which can be identified such as suffered with insufficient time in improving the required infrastructure to support Accountable Care Organization (ACO). In achieving the primary objective i.e. gaining access to ACO, the US healthcare system met with certain problems related to investment because the input variable costs were quite expensive which created difficulties in bringing the stakeholders related to healthcare together (Goldsmith, 2011). In developing the healthcare system, Mexico has faced certain problems related to financial crisis for which the nation was not able to develop its healthcare services. Furthermore, adopting to other cultures in the developing world by the population of Mexico was little problematic for them as a result the nation had faced problems in improving their healthcare services along with implementing new technologies into the operational process (Ruelas, 2002). Opportunities The US healthcare system has certain opportunities in developing more efficient healthcare system further which can be made more efficient in coordination with the local communities or population in developing proper care system. The nation has the required resources to adopt and develop modern technologies in accordance with the altering medical facilities. Additionally, the US healthcare system could reduce the price of high cost services along with improving the healthcare system’s quality standards (Goldsmith, 2011). Mexico is a developing country as a result the economic condition of the nation is also augmenting. With this increasing trend, Mexico could be able to implement new technologies in healthcare units along with reducing the problem related to adopting different culture. Furthermore, it is also observed that Mexico has certain opportunities in developing their healthcare sector which includes providing training in geriatrics, increasing investment and supply of pharmaceuticals, improving bio-technological sector and healthcare promotion among others. Other Related Comments Regarding the Healthcare Services From the overall assessment, it is assumed that the US healthcare system has achieved a recognized and a leading position while developing the healthcare system along with serving the people through developed services. It is also observed that the US government is also incurring substantial margin of funds in the healthcare system every year for enhancing the operational processes. Whereas, Mexico is lacking behind of the US in terms of healthcare system per capita expenditure and also in terms of overall facilities provided related to quality healthcare facility, however in keeping with the developing trends of the nation Mexico has started to adopt certain modern technologies for its healthcare sector and is still in the process in order to develop effective healthcare condition. Comparison to the United States: What Works Better, What Is Not Working As Well With comparison to the US, healthcare system in Mexico is noticeably lacking behind. However, in the competitive market scenario, Mexico is also developing its healthcare sector with increased expenditure made by the government. It is observed that governmental policies have facilitated the US to maintain their top position in providing quality healthcare facilities to the people of the nation. Mexico can also follow the lead of the US to develop similar focus on healthcare spending along with incorporating quality modern technological facilities to reduce the mortality rate and to provide the citizens with superior health facility. Conclusion From the comparison between the two nations’ healthcare system i.e. the US and Mexico, it is assumed that Mexico is lacking behind than the US because the US has adopted prudent strategies to develop overall healthcare services according to the requirement of the people and to tackle certain diseases which are threatening the people of the nation. 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