Health Care Industry: Main Changes

Over the last decade, the industry of health care has undergone massive and rather noticeable changes that were driven by a multitude of advancement in the fields of science and technologies (Smith, 2016).

Change of Technology

Some of the new areas that have developed throughout the last ten years include the creation of the electronic records and databases that have made a significant contribution to the optimization of the health care operations. Another important advancement is telemedicine, in a combination with the remote monitoring it is bringing multiple benefits to the patients who are located in the areas remote from the medical institutions and require care (Jayanthi, 2014).

Finance and Economics Impact

The governments of the world have shown an active interest in the development of healthcare. For instance, many countries began to develop their health care systems and transform them into the healthcare hubs whereas the others began to adjust the funding and financing of health care.

Finance and Economics Tools

A good example of the tools employed by the politicians to optimize the funding of health care are the programs such as Medicare and Medicaid used in the United States of America for the standardization of the medical care, procedures, and the optimization of its quality (“ED case managers are crucial to help maximize reimbursement,” 2011).

Payment Sources and Mechanisms

The difference between the privately and publically funded sectors of the contemporary health care has been growing over the last several decades. The health care systems of the world have faced financial difficulties due to such problems as corruption, waste of resources, and low-quality performance that were especially noticeable in the developing countries (Basu, Andrews, Kishore, Panjabi, Stuckler, 2012).

Present

Role of Technology

The role of technology in health care has been growing more and more important by the year (Smith, 2016). For instance, some of the most widely used technological advancements today involve wearable technology and wireless communication (Smith, 2016). These technologies allow making the health care delivery faster and more accurate which produces a positive impact on the patient experience and satisfaction.

Current State of the Health Care Industry

Currently, healthcare is undergoing multiple changes most of which are related to the financial interventions and the addition of the new technological advancements that often bring drastic changes to the field. Today, health care industry is recognized as one of the fastest developing and changing fields. Also, it is known for a high level of skills shortage due to the growth of demand and a failure to prepare a sufficient number of professionals.

Financial and Economic Tools

Speaking of how the economic side of health care is developing, DeMarco (2009) noted that “Hospital systems offering tertiary care even in smaller hospitals is driven to a great extent by reimbursement where more income per patient and high volumes of complex patients are the keys to success according to many managers” (para. 8). This statement informs that the orientation towards profit and the improvement of the financial efficiency in the contemporary health care is one of the key aspects. Various institutions choose different ways to achieve their goal to minimize the expenditures and maximize the profit and effect.

Current Payment Sources and Mechanisms

To date, the governmentally funded facilities have faced the limited resources and the stricter policies as to the rules and fines (“ED case managers are crucial to help maximize reimbursement,” 2011). That way, the governments attempt to take under control the development and performance of the state health care. At the same time, the private funding sources tend to produce different effects on the facilities they fund – in some cases, the private funding facilitates patient-centered approach and an improved quality of services, whereas in the other cases it leads to the abuse of information and power leading to malpractice and pushing the unnecessary procedures on the patients (“ED case managers are crucial to help maximize reimbursement,” 2011).

Future

The Role Technology Will Play

Szczerba (2014) predicts massive economy changes for the future; the author names gamification of health care as one of the most likely trends that will make the collection of data relevant to a patient’s health easier. Some other trends include genomics, body sensors, robotization, and remote care (Szczerba, 2014). The role of technologies will become more and more influential as the AI development and robotics are anticipated to make a leap.

Financial and Economic Issues

The combination of the government actions and the market influences is recognized as the force that will determine the future issues in health care in terms of economics and finance (Moritz, 2015). Namely, the author acknowledges the issues related to the provision of the health insurance to the citizens where the focus is likely to shift from the volume and number of services provided to their quality.

Financial and Economic Tools

As mentioned in the previous section, the insurers and the payers for the insurance will be the center of attention in the future decade in relevance to the health care economy. Moritz (2015) calls the shifts in the insurance provision “a transformation of health insurance into a true retail industry” (para. 6). Also, the author predicts that regardless of the new trends in the state-provided insurance, the insurance provided by the employers is likely to remain the case or at least stay dominant in the industry. Further, under the influence of the emphasis on efficiency and quality, the manufacturers of the medical devices will be likely to change their approaches and operations in order to offer more demanded products.

Payment Sources and Mechanisms

Health care industry has a tendency of becoming a highly competitive environment; and that is why the organizations are likely to begin to form partnerships in order to gain better chances in competing within the field and withstand the pressure (Moritz, 2015). Partnerships would be likely to optimize the services and increase their level of efficiency. Consequently, the resources available for the organizations would be likely to grow as well. The grant funding provided by the government will become the source for innovative research and development in the field.

The Biggest Changes in the Next 10 years

The preference of value and quality over the volume is one of the projected shifts that are likely to occur in health care. The transformation from insurance to retail is another significant aspect that is going to define the future tendencies in the field. The growing influence of the technologies is one more anticipated happening. Compared to the other transformations, it is quite unpredictable. It may address the issue of skills shortage providing more help for the existing personnel, or it may require additional expenditures in order to train the staff to operate the new equipment.

References

Basu, S., Andrews, J., Kishore, S., Panjabi, R., & Stuckler, D. (2012). Comparative Performance of Private and Public Healthcare Systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. PloS Medicine, 9(6), e1001244. Web.

ED case managers are crucial to help maximize reimbursement. (2011). Hospital Case Management, 113-6.

DeMarco, W. (2009). What Changes To Health Care During The Past Ten Years Have Had The Most Profound Impact. Web.

Jayanthi, A. (2014). 10 Biggest Technological Advancements for Healthcare in the Last Decade. Web.

Moritz, B. (2015). America’s new healthcare economy: 3 trends to watch. Web.

Smith, P. (2016). How Has Healthcare Changed in the Last 10 Years? Web.

Szczerba, R. J. (2014). Tech Trends Shaping The Future Of Medicine, Part 1. Web.

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