The Importance Of Sub-Special Care For Pediatrics

Given that there is a shortage of physicians nationwide it is important to expand the scope of mid-level practitioners such as nurse practitioners and physician’s assistant, who are pivotal in treating the mass influx of patients, especially in underserved areas. Rural communities tend to be poorer, and unable to afford to hire enough physicians, and many rural Americans are less well insured, driving the cost of treatment up (RHF, 2015). The lack of resources and funding in underserved areas means even less incentive for physicians to practice in rural areas. Mid-level practitioners are trained to treat patients with low-level illnesses, provide care to patients with chronic and acute diseases, as well as refer patients with more complex issues

One of the reasons for this is that having a chance of seeing a specialist in D.C is more problematic than any part of America as findings have shown (8% nationally vs. 12% in D.C). The access to dental and developmental assessment is a challenge to both parents and children. In the years 2004 through 2008, ambulatory care has worsened in this part of the country since there have been increased cases of the hospitalization of patients related to the care. For the last two decades, it has increasingly become difficult for a number of people in D.C to pay for premiums that health insurance require them to. The situation has even been made more desperate because of the soaring amounts premiums each year, not forgetting that health care cost has also heightened thus most of the burden has been shifted to the consumers themselves. The citizens have had to deal with increased deductions whereas the covered services have been cut accordingly. The middle and low-income families deserve a relief from this ever-increasing cost of health care. The Affordable Care Act (otherwise better known as the Obama Care) has come at a time when it is needed more than ever. If fully implemented, it will bring a big relief to Many Marylanders.

There are two main measures of medical underservice in the U.S., health professional shortage areas and medically underserved areas and some special need populations. Both measures require communities to apply for designation. These designations allow the government to target resources to those determined to be most in need (Colwill and Cultice, 2003).

Researchers interviewed 1,699 adults that included primary caretakers for 811 children. And they investigated five factors: health conditions, health behaviors and attitudes, health care access, quality of life, and social or environmental factors. The communities were largely minority. One of the discoveries was that:

The patient centered medical homes (“PCMH”) approach “focuses on keeping people well, managing chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma, and proactively meeting the needs of patients.” According to the Arkansas Department of Health, chronic diseases like cancer heart disease or diabetes affect approximately over fifty percent of adult Arkansans. Yet chronic diseases are often preventable. The high rate of chronic diseases can partly be attributed health insurance coverage—“when people don’t have health insurance they tend to avoid seeing doctors. People

Overall poor health and chronic illness affect patients who live in rural areas more than those who live in urban areas. “Healthcare workforce shortages are prevalent with less than 10% of all physicians choosing to practice in rural settings.” ( Darling, McCellan, Samuel, Patel ) Instead, these challenges call for a social perspective with a focus on prevention and a healthy lifestyle. Rural hospitals have disproportionately struggled with empty beds in recent years.

Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in

About 11.2 million children representing 15 percent of all children in the United States have special health care needs, such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, depression, or anxiety (Data Research Center for Child and Adolescent Health, 2009/10). These children often require specialized services and therapies to live a healthy life, such as nursing care to live safely at home, specialized medical equipment, or regular therapy to address physical, behavioral, or developmental illnesses and conditions, which most private insurance plans don’t

One area where access to care is a problem is in the rural communities. Healthcare professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses all affect the quality and cost of care (Derksen, & Whelan, 2009). Going forward importance needs to be placed on using recourses more efficiently and effectively; these resources include but are not limited to tests, prescriptions,

As a future physician, I want to provide the necessary health care and guidance to children of low-income families, both here in the United States and in developing nations. Current advances in technology and medicine have allowed a vast majority of diseases to be treated, prevented, and even cured; yet, it is a grave reality that many individuals still do not have these innovations available to them. Ultimately, my goal is to act as a link between

In a survey conducted in 2003, it highlighted that the recurrent problem is the reimbursement rate from Medicaid to the physician (O’Shea, 2007). The Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) show that 21% of physicians that state they accept Medicaid have reported they will not accept a new Medicaid patient in 2004-2005(O’Shea, 2007). This number would only logically be assumed to have risen in 2013 A survey conducted by the U.S. National Health reported that researchers have found two standout trends among Medicaid beneficiaries: they have more difficulty getting primary care and specialty care and they visit hospital emergency departments more often than those with private insurance (Seaberg, 2012). The lack of primary and specialty care access is mostly contributed to the following barriers; unable to reach the MD by phone, not having a timely appointment with the MD and lastly unable to find a specialty MD that will accept Medicaid. In a recent report released by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, it stated that about 30% of Medicaid patients experience “extreme uncoordinated care”, there is a strong correlation between this situation and higher Medicaid spending and less quality of care given (Bush, 2012). After January 1st 2013, healthcare providers have experienced a 2% reduction in payments for Medicaid beneficiary, this will only create more of a problem for these patients to seek the

Rural Americans face an exclusive combination of issues that create disparities in health care that are not found in urban areas. Many complications met by healthcare providers and patients in rural arears are massively different than those located in urban areas. Financial factors, cultural and social variances, educational deficiencies, lack of acknowledgement by delegates and the absolute isolation of living in remote rural areas all combined to hinder rural Americans in their struggle to lead a normal, healthy life. Rural hospitals located in rural areas faces many disadvantages, such as; minimum resources, shortcoming or unprepared professionals, and financial disparities. Although many of these challenges could be solved

Within the United States, there are substantial inequalities between the places and people. The rural community is one of such significant inequalities and health care disparities. With approximately one-sixth of the population in the United States of America living in rural areas, it is necessary to address the social and economic conditions accountable for the health disparities and inequalities among this vulnerable population.

Care coordination is mainly crucial when people are moving between services, such as your GP referring you to a specialist service

A challenge that many rural communities are dealing with is the lack of primary care physicians, specialist, understaffed hospitals, and transportation. “Only about ten percent of physicians practice in rural America despite the fact that nearly one-fourth of the population lives in these areas” (National Rural Health Association [NHRA], n.d., para. 2). Although, there are programs designed to improve patients access to hospitals and physicians in rural areas, provider access for these patients remains a barrier. Technology can bridge some of the gaps of care for these patients and it can be beneficial in many ways. With enhanced technology, primary care physicians and patients will be able to have support, access to quality care, improvement in self-management skills, which ultimately, will improve a patient’s health. To assist physicians with delivery of optimal care and for patients to be able to go to scheduled wellness visits with physicians, a new approach to solving rural health barriers are needed.