The Issues of the U.S. Health Policy - Essay Example

Donabedian model presents the importance of having a structure in implementing health care. Its framework includes the structure, process, and output. The structure includes the health provider and its sources, while the process embraces the treatment and service provided and the outcome contains the result of the treatment given (Glickman et. al., 341). In the study made by Salzer et. al (1), wherein Donabedian tripartite model was used to evaluate each area: the structure, process, and outcome of providing quality care using the standards of guidelines, peer review, and outcomes monitoring and the problems that arose include lack of validity data on the importance of structure and process indicators, the poor reliability of peer reviews and difficulty in relating outcomes directly to services.

Using this model, the quality is a result of the inter-relationship of the three variables resulting in better services, quality indicators with known validity, and better planning. Discussion 2 Porter (2477) in his article states that “measuring, reporting, and comparing outcomes are perhaps the most important steps toward rapidly improving outcomes and making good choices about reducing costs. Systematic, rigorous outcome measurement remains rare, but a growing number of examples of comprehensive outcome measurement provide evidence of its feasibility and impact.

” These methods are designed to evaluate the quality of healthcare given to patients in terms of services rendered. The value of the outcome includes its efficiency and effectiveness, not only if the goal of care is achieved, but also if its cost is to the minimum. These methods should be maintained by the hospitals, clinics, and care providers by strictly adhering to the policies and standards of care set by a given body or organization. Discussion 3 Health is an essential concern of every country globally.

Each nation considers health as a basic need and right of their citizen providing those policies and guidelines on how to access and avail basic health needs. The principal characteristics of US Healthcare Delivery are that it has no central governing agency to integrate and coordinate healthcare, is high on cost, unequal in access, and average on the outcome, access to healthcare services is selectively based on insurance coverage, technology-driven delivery system focusing on acute care, multiple players and balance of power and there is a quest for integration and accountability (Shi, Lebrun & Tsai 68-72).

No Central Governing Agency. The US system is not centrally controlled. Healthcare is financed by both private and public sectors. Hospitals and clinics function independently from the government but the government takes control of the public sector’s expenditures and reimbursement fees provided to Medicaid and Medicare patients. The government also formulates sets of standards, health policies, and regulations for the providers to comply with so that patients are assured of better quality health services (Shi and Singh 8-9). High on Cost, Unequal in Access, and Average on Outcome.

The US allocates a high percentage of its budget to expenses related to healthcare. But despite this large allocation, many US residents have limited access to even the most basic care (Shi, Lebrun & Tsai 69). Access to Healthcare Services is Selectively Based on Insurance Coverage. These features kept the experts from improving and formulating diverse health policies and provisions to provide every citizen with to access basic and routine medical care.

The unique characteristics of the US healthcare system require reform to improve the quality of care received by Americans. Various reform agendas were created and one includes the improvisation of the Healthcare Workforce. Its objective comprises having balanced and adequate numbers of physicians and other health care providers.

This also entails a change in education shifting providing primary education and training to healthcare providers and encouraging them to take different specializations leading them to have individualized and unique coordinated abilities to prevent repetitive tasks and assignments, thus, providing sufficient care and attention to clients. About Structure-Process-Outcome, this proposed reform will help in terms of structure in creating an image of having skilled workers, particularly in the health field having uniform primary education and training in the health field.

On the process aspect, sources will be saved and put to a minimum and unnecessary expenditures will be prevented due to the specialization that the health workers have preventing them from performing repetitive tasks, saving time and effort focusing on the client’s needs (Shi, Lebrun & Tsai, 75).