The Characteristic Of The United States Healthcare Delivery System

As Americans we should all be afforded access to healthcare. Access to healthcare is an individual right according to the human rights amendment. The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all. The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions and a clean environment (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015). However there are strengths and weaknesses to every healthcare system and the U.S. Healthcare system is not exempt. I plan to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the U. S. Healthcare system (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015).

The United States has a unique system of healthcare delivery, it is complex and massive. Twenty-five years ago; American citizens had guaranteed insurance, meaning the patient could see any physician and the insurance companies and patients would share the cost. But today, 187.4 million Americans have private health insurance coverage (Medicaid, 2014). The subsystems of American health care delivery are Managed care, military, vulnerable populations and integrated delivery

Barton, Phoebe Lindsey. Understanding the U.S. Health Services System, Fourth Edition. Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives, 2010.

Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2015). Delivering health care in America: A systems approach (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning

In today’s time, the hallmark of the US health industry is to form integrated delivery systems. An integrated health delivery system is an arrangement of health professionals and health care facilities that provide health services within a continuous organization of delivery. These systems will allow the purchaser and consumer of health care service to receive all the needed services within a all-in-one delivery system that would facilitate the needed access to the appropriate level of care at the appropriate time (Professional Issues). I.D.S presumably will also provide higher quality services and more patient centric care at relatively lower costs (Effects of Integrated Delivery Systems on Cost and Quality). To best understand integrated delivery systems (IDS), it is helpful to contrast the IDS model with health service delivery under the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) arrangement.

The American healthcare system is an ongoing ailment that is at the forefront of issues plaguing America. Unlike the rest of the world, the American healthcare system is a combination of several models that caters for distinct classes of people. Other countries, such as China and Switzerland, have adopted a one-size-fits-all model in which everyone falls under. This model is a more straightforward as well as cheaper approach to America's healthcare system.

Shi, L., & Singh, D. (2015). Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett, LLC.

Bohmer, R., & Knoop, C. I. (2007). The challenges facing the U.S. healthcare delivery system. Harvard Business School, Article 9-606-096.

The healthcare system in America started as a predominantly volunteer system where patients were required to pay little to nothing for treatment. Since it began, the healthcare industry has seen tremendous changes that have transformed it into a business entity which has operations like financial management, strategic planning and functional specialties to keep the industry viable. The industry is one of the largest in the country employing 15 million people with a projected increase of jobs with 3 million jobs annually. As the healthcare industry continues growing, services and personnel are changing, and various dynamics are coming into play to accommodate changes (Smith, Saunders, Stuckhardt, & McGinnis, 2013).

Healthcare in the United States is facing numerous issues within the current and future turbulent times. I believe that two major issues are the disparity of provision of healthcare to varying societal groups as well as the projected shortfall of healthcare providers to adequately service the population in general.

Shi,L., & Singh, D. A. (2015). Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Health care disparities are the main crux of the American health care system because while American enjoys some of the most advanced health technology the world, it is very much market based, causing health care inequality. These inequalities force people of lower socioeconomic status without insurance to visit emergency rooms once their health problems are catastrophic, expensive, and difficult to treat. By transferring the health system to a proactive system with increased medical education and governmental subsidization, a patient will not only experience diminished health care costs, but also an improved quality of

Everyone has their own views on what they think the United States healthcare system should consist of. Consequently, the healthcare system has been flawed for many years and does not plan to change anytime soon. According to Luft (2006), “rapid and wide-reaching technological innovation, the ready access to care for the insured, and clinical and patient autonomy” (p.1). These are some of the strengths the US healthcare system are proficient in providing. In contrast, the weaknesses of the healthcare system outweigh the system’s strengths. Luft (2006) examined and acknowledged the following:

The first characteristic of the US health care system is that there is no central governing agency which allows for little integration and coordination. While the government has a great influence on the health care system, the system is mostly controlled through private hands. The system is financed publically and privately creating a variety of payments and delivery unlike centrally controlled healthcare systems in other developed countries. The US system is more complex and less manageable than centrally controlled health care systems, which makes it more expensive. The second characteristic of the US health care system is that it is technology driven and focuses on acute care. With more usage of high technology,

Cost is a critical component of any health care system. Proper health care system ensures that a large part of the population can access good quality health care at low cost. If not well organized it might take a large part of national income and still not be able to serve a significant part of the population. The health care delivery system of United States is excellent compared to that of other countries; however, the health care alone takes 17% of gross domestic