Social Choices of Health Care Aging Population Access to Health Care Quality of Care Conflicts of Interest Health Care’s Ethical Dilemmas Continuing Challenges Discussion Questions With so many different stakeholders in the healthcare system, many with powerful political lobbies, it is understandable that the government was unable, until the passage of the ACA, to address the problems of cost, access, and quality. What are your views about the in reshaping the government’s versus market’s role system? Employers and the public have had deep concerns about the ever-increasing costs of health care. However, physicians, hospitals, and other providers continue to express displeasure with requirements and restrictions imposed by managed health plans. In the reformed system, what combination of factors might promote the public’s freedom of choice in healthcare providers, given opportunities with Health Insurance Exchanges? Hospitals and other healthcare institutions, whether voluntary or for-profit, need to be financially solvent to survive growing market pressures. How is focus changing the nature of the U.S. healthcare this “bottom line” system? The typical relationship of patient to physician used to be one of deference by the patient to a more knowledgeable authority. Why is it now extremely important for patients take a more proactive role in their medical care? Healthcare planners could be effective and efficient if they used the concept of the natural history of disease and the levels of prevention to design services that intervene at the weakest link in the chain of progression of specific diseases. Instead, most focus on high-tech solutions to preventable problems, even though experts know that high-tech solutions do not address health disparities, the major causes of diseases and disabilities. What characteristics of the medical care culture hinder the prevention focus? Increasing costs and declining populations caused many rural hospitals to shift from to ambulatory care and, sometimes, long-term care services. Regulations regarding staffing and other service requirements are relaxed in rural settings. Is a two-tiered system of care being created that denies rural citizens access to the same quality of care available in urban areas? The practice of medicine has undergone dramatic change. Physicians are now accountable for costs and patient care outcomes by organizations that pay for care, and their performance track records are exposed to increasing public scrutiny. In your opinion, given these evolving developments, will the attractiveness of medicine as a career decline, stay the same, or increase? Consider the rationale for your opinion.
Social Choices of Health Care Aging Population Access to Health Care Quality of Care Conflicts of Interest Health Care’s Ethical Dilemmas Continuing Challenges Discussion Questions With so many different stakeholders in the healthcare system, many with powerful political lobbies, it is understandable that the government was unable, until the passage of the ACA, to address the problems of cost, access, and quality. What are your views about government’s versus the market’s role in reshaping the system? Employers and the public have had deep concerns about the ever-increasing costs of health care. However, physicians, hospitals, and other providers continue to express displeasure with requirements and restrictions imposed by managed health plans. In the reformed system, what combination of factors might promote the public’s freedom of choice in healthcare providers, given opportunities with Health Insurance Exchanges? Hospitals and other healthcare institutions, whether voluntary or for-profit, need to be financially solvent to survive growing market pressures. How is this “bottom line” focus changing the nature of the U.S. healthcare system? The typical relationship of patient to physician used to be one of deference by the patient to a more knowledgeable authority. Why is it now extremely important for patients take a more proactive role in their medical care? Healthcare planners could be effective and efficient if they used the concept of the natural history of disease and the levels of prevention to design services that intervene at the weakest link in the chain of progression of specific diseases. Instead, most focus on high-tech solutions to preventable problems, even though experts know that high-tech solutions do not address health disparities, the major causes of diseases and disabilities. What characteristics of the medical care culture hinder the prevention focus? Increasing costs and declining populations caused many rural hospitals to shift from to ambulatory care and, sometimes, long-term care services. Regulations regarding staffing and other service requirements are relaxed in rural settings. Is a two-tiered system of care being created that denies rural citizens access to the same quality of care available in urban areas? The practice of medicine has undergone dramatic change. Physicians are now accountable for costs and patient care outcomes by organizations that pay for care, and their performance track records are exposed to increasing public scrutiny. In your opinion, given these evolving developments, will the attractiveness of medicine as a career decline, stay the same, or increase? Consider the rationale for your opinion.