Health care workforce and financing

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Health care workforce

Do health care providers who reap the benefits of high compensation and social position have an ethical responsibility to repay taxpayers by meeting the needs of the medically underserved?

Yes, health care providers who reap the benefits of high compensation and social position have such a strong ethical responsibility to repay taxpayers by meeting the needs of the medically underserved. Factually, the federal and state government spend millions of US dollars in subsidizing medicine training in universities and colleges across the country. After the establishment of Medicare in 1965, payments to subsidize the residences were created, which means that those training in different medical fields get to pay less (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015). The subsidy comes in form of taxes from the people, even for the medically underserved.

Practically, these practitioners cannot repay taxpayers in form of money, and that is why their service and position in the society should come in handy in helping such groups of people. According to universal ethical standards for medical practitioners, the physicians have a duty to safeguard the health of their patients, and reduce the ravages of disease. This establishment is universally accepted, and hence it applies across the board. As established in the ethical regulations of the American Medical Association, doctors and other related practitioners in the medical field are mandated with ensuring the safety of the patients, even for the undeserved (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015).

Implications of cross training in terms of quality of care, costs and efficiency

Cross-training techniques and activities enable health care practitioners develop knowledge and skills throughout their careers, and organizations they serve. Cross-training events will enable the ability of the employee to function effectively in a collaborative environment, and hence efficiency and effectiveness is improved when handling patients (Nowrouzi, Lightfoot, Carter, Lariviere, Rukholm, Schinke, & Belanger-Gardner, 2015). The second implication of cross-training is reduced costs. Adopting cross-training strategies in an organization allows them to maximize their current staff without having to recruit additional workforce (Nowrouzi, Lightfoot, Carter, Lariviere, Rukholm, Schinke, & Belanger-Gardner, 2015). When a practitioner’s skill set is broadened, they can shift duties and responsibilities when work flows and change from one procedure to the next. This way, costs of hiring new staff, or training new members to handle the work flows is eliminated. Cross training improves quality of care. Cross training allows the organization to accommodate absences, sick-time and vacations without impacting the delivery of care.

Why nursing does not attract more males

Even in the modern times of gender equality, the nursing profession is still dominantly occupied by the females, less men are joining the profession. NMC surveys indicate that only one in ten nurses is registered as a male (Rajacich, Kane, Williston, & Cameron, January). In my opinion, the nursing profession does not attract more men because of the feminism and feminine perception about it. The public generally think that nursing is a female profession and therefore men are skeptical about becoming a part of it. Even for those who join, they suffer a stigma related to the fact that the profession is predominantly for females.

Health care financing

One way in which the following has affected the costs of health care in the United States:

Health insurance industry: Health care in the United States is extremely expensive because of the health insurance industry. In private health insurance industry, consolidation contributes to increases in premiums, which is passed onto the public (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015). Competition for customers amongst the industry players also make the cost of health care very high.

Advances in medical care technology: Through advanced technology in health care, costs of medical equipment have gone up, and the physicians are also trained on how to use these technology (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015). The costs are passed to the consumers, which makes healthcare costly to the Americans.

Changes in U.S demographics: When the population of the United States increases, the demand for healthcare is increased, and since the supply remains the same, health care providers are forced to charge high so that they can match the competition (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015).

Government support for healthcare: Introduction of government sponsored health care programs such as Obamacare reduces the burden of extra costs charged by private insurance companies, which means the costs are considerably reduced for the people (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015).

Consumer expectations: Consumer expectations increase the costs of health care. When patients demand better, and improved quality care for instance, they are forced to dig deeper into their pockets since excellent services come at extra costs (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015).

National policy on health care financing

As a national policy we should allocate a set level of resources and apply these resources in achieving the greatest good for the greatest number, and not the individualist approach. When resources are allocated to help the greatest number, many people are included and therefore a larger group is helped. Since resources are ever scarce, not everyone can be catered for and that is why some people may be left out (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015). However, implementing the individualistic approach is particularly dangerous to the poor. The rich can afford, but the poor cannot afford, and this is why the individualistic approach should not be implemented as a national policy. In addition, it is likely to create a ridge between the poor and the rich.

Positive and negative aspects of disease management programs

Disease management programs are established to ensure patients get better care at reduced costs especially for the chronically ill (Nowrouzi, Lightfoot, Carter, Lariviere, Rukholm, Schinke, & Belanger-Gardner, 2015). These programs also improve the health of people with particular chronic diseases, and reduces the health care costs associated with such conditions. Further, these programs improve self-care practices and reduces the use of common health care services such as emergency rooms and hospital admissions (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015).

As much as these programs are becoming popular in the health care sector, there are some negatives associated with them (Byrd, & Clayton, 2015). The programs are established in such a way that individuals commit a lot of effort and time to improve their health care behaviors and practices. Secondly, low patient compliance is another challenge for disease management programs (Nowrouzi, Lightfoot, Carter, Lariviere, Rukholm, Schinke, & Belanger-Gardner, 2015). Thirdly, communication barriers between providers and patients can be a hindrance to quality care.

References

Byrd, W. M., & Clayton, L. A. (2015). An American health dilemma: Race, medicine, and health care in the United States 1900-2000 (Vol. 2). Routledge.

Nowrouzi, B., Lightfoot, N., Carter, L., Lariviere, M., Rukholm, E., Schinke, R., & Belanger-Gardner, D. (2015). The relationship between quality of work life and location of cross-training among obstetric nurses in urban northeastern Ontario, Canada: a population-based cross sectional study. International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health, 28(3), 571-586.

Rajacich, D., Kane, D., Williston, C., & Cameron, S. (2013, January). If they do call you a nurse, it is always a “male nurse”: Experiences of men in the nursing profession. In Nursing forum (Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 71-80).