|The Case For Single Payer, Universal Health Care For The United States | | | | | | | | | |Nicole Jones | |April 2011 | |HS 544 Health Policy and Economics | |Fowler …show more content…
However, a more difficult dimension of these systems that has not been comprehensively or definitively evaluated is whether the health outcomes of patients of both countries are equivalent given similar treatments or procedures. Relatively few studies have been done which attempt to address this issue. Those studies that have attempted to determine any differences in health outcomes resulting from differences in the health care systems that have focused on a limited number of diagnoses, treatments or procedures. This analysis represents an exploratory examination of these studies. It will look at: 1. the robustness of the literature in this area, both in terms of assessing quality of care and in comparing the outcomes of Canada and the United States 2. reported differences in health outcomes between the United States and Canada 3. how outcome differences have been linked to the quality of care This information will provide an initial step toward a more detailed examination of this issue. Assessment of quality of care can occur at one or more levels, from the care provided by an entire health system or plan provided by an individual hospital of health professional. Quality of care is the fundamental goal of health care, yet it is difficult to define. It is a concept that health care policy and programming strives for, and that many have attempted to elucidate. Given its many components and manifestations, defining and quantifying
Quality Improvement (QI) is an organizational approach leading to the quality of patient care and patient services through use of specific guidelines, principles, and methods to ensure quality of care for every patient and health care facility throughout the world. Quality outcomes focus on the principles of quality management. These measurements investigate the quality of care, patient outcomes and consumer needs, through being part of the participant group. This quality improvement discussion will review the foundational frameworks of QI and explanation of each framework in detail. Included in this QI report will be
With rising healthcare costs being distributed predominantly on workers or their companies, the economic responsibility is placed on the very people who need it the least: the job creators. If the economic responsibility of healthcare costs was shifted to the government, the private sector job creators could have more revenue to stimulate the economy with additional jobs, better wages, and improved worker benefits. The best way to shift this cost obligation is via a single-payer healthcare system. A single-payer would make sure all citizens would be covered for all medical services, including doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug, and medical supply costs.
Single-payer health care system services is a framework in which the state, instead of private organizations, are responsible for all insurance bills. This system of health contract for medicinal services administrating from private associations and to public responsibility enhanced by state governments. In this way subsidizing health billings and alluding to social insurance financed by a single individual from a solitary reserve which can’t indicate the sort of deliverance, or for whom doctors and specialists work. Its real subsidization of health expenses of all the population of the respective state without any discrimination or segregation whether rich or poor.
He has introduced a model of quality care based on structure, process and outcomes. Structure includes the environment in which healthcare is delivered, instruments and equipment, administrative processes and fiscal organization of the institution. Process considers how care is delivered. Outcomes include recovery, restoration of function and survival. (Harrison, 2010) Because care activities are interdependent, value for patients is often revealed only over time and is manifested in longer-term outcomes. The only way to accurately measure value, then, is to track patient outcomes and costs longitudinally (Porter,
Health care is a highly political topic, and the issue of whether or not to make health care, universal is at the center of the controversy (Rich & Walter, 2015). Health care is a vital component of day-to-day life, and as such it has not been left entirely in the hands of private ownership. There are regulations in place to ensure people receive quality health care at a relatively low price. Universal health care would just expand these already existing regulations while opening up health insurance to the masses. Universal health care has a role in the American Health care system, but only as a supplement to the private insurance model.
The mantra “You can’t improve what you don’t measure” — frequently attributed to W. Edwards Deming — has driven the relentless push toward routine assessments of the quality of care as fundamental to systematically improving health system performance. Major efforts, on the part of both public and private payers, to
What is quality? Quality starts with performance improvement and patient safety to do harm, the ongoing process to find different ways to improve is constant in the quality department. In healthcare, Joint Commission regulates and requires facilities to improve patient care, outcomes, and processes. Quality is monitored and or reported through a management council which include: infection control, drug utilization, medical records, risk management and a host of others. This council comes together monthly with new ideas to improve what Glenda Melton calls pain points. For instance, what does not work well, how frequent, and the impact. (lab results)
First in today’s marketplace, healthcare organizations are highly scrutinized on quality and outcomes of patient care ("Quality Measures," 2015). So this project alone will place a lot of pressure on me as this can make or break the organization future success.
According to Donabedian (1966), quality is defined as a “value of judgments that are applied to several aspects, properties, ingredients or dimensions of a process called medical care” (p. 167). This definition indicates that quality it is the result of standards and aims that the medical care system and the
Quality measures are strategies that gauge, evaluate or compute health care processes, results, discernments, patient insight, and administrative structure. In addition, quality measures are frameworks that are connected with the capacity to deliver first-class health care and/or that are able to identify with one or more quality objectives for medicinal services. These objectives include: compelling, protected, effective, quiet focused, impartial, and opportune consideration. Quality measures can be used to measure quality improvement, public reporting, and pay-for-reporting programs specific for health care providers (CMS.gov, 2016). There are an assortment of quality measures in which health care organizations can use to determine the status of the care they are delivering. Many are appropriate, but few are chosen for this research paper. Among them are: National Health Care Surveys, Hospital IQR Programs, Scorecards, and Political, Power, and Perception/Data for Decision-making tools.
Health care systems around the world are struggling with rising costs and unequal quality of care and many solutions like error reduction, enforcing practice guidelines and implementation of Electronic Medical Records were tried without much effect (Porter & Lee, 2013). The primary goal of any Country’s health care system is to provide high quality and cost effective care, which produces quality patient outcomes for all.
The Donabedian Model of Quality by Avedis Donabedian is used to target improvements in quality (Donabedian, 2005). Donabedian identified three domains: structure, process and outcomes as the model to improve quality (Shi & Singh, 2015). Structure is the base of the issue, and directly affects process. “Structure is the foundation of the quality of health care” (Shi & Singh, 2015, p.494). The stronger the structure, the better the process flows to the outcome.
Quality measures are metrics or tools using which we can assess, quantify and measure healthcare processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structure and/or systems which are the core areas towards achieving the ability to ensure high quality care delivery and enable providers in reaching their strategic goals pertaining to quality standards prescribed by authorities for health care. The general term quality measurement is used when addressing both measures of quality of care, defined as “care that results in desired health outcomes and is consistent with best professional practice,” (Council, National Research, 1994) and patient safety, defined as “patients will be free from unintended injury while receiving
The World Health Organization outlines 6 areas of quality that help shape our definition of what makes quality care. Those areas are; (1) Effective: using evidence bases practice to improve health outcomes based on needs of individuals and communities. (2) Efficient: healthcare that maximizes
All around the world, there are a wide range of different approaches and focuses when it comes to organising health systems as, although all countries are constructed of the same three levels of care, the way in which patients flow through these different levels and how the government run and fund their health system varies widely. Ultimately, each health system aims to provide the best possible healthcare to their citizens which can be achieved by focusing on particular goals such as improving access, efficiency and quality in order to successfully measure their performance.