Prospects and Challenges facing HealthCare Management in Future

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In developed nations, the health sector covers for about 8% to about 15% of their economy; this makes it one of the leading industries in any state.1 In most of these nations at least one out of ten workers is employed in the healthcare sector meaning almost everyone has a family member working in the sector either as nurses, doctors, managers, engineers or even caretakers. This paper studies the challenges that would face the health care management in the near future by paving ways so as to develop elaborate practices of the managers in the health systems, those studying post graduate health programs as well as those in the health organizations.

Experiencing leadership challenges and opportunities is a way of teaching management and assuring that education connections remain significant and to ensure that the appropriate skills are acquired fully. Nonetheless, most successful administrators are aware of the impact and power they hold on others especially their juniors. The managers watch out for their actions, habits, actions and behaviors. All they do has a strong impact to the organization as well as individuals surrounding them. Such challenges include shortage in skilled labor force, healthcare financing and effective user involvement advances in medical research. Due to this, such impacts enable them to review and analyze their level of practice and set a perfect example, which is based on the rightful concepts, theories and models. 2

Healthcare financing, over the next years, will experience some form of reconfiguration due to the increasing costs, which will be experienced as the changes take effect. At the moment, the public sector is the major financier of health expenses by about 80% with an average of 4% being financed through the health insurance schemes. 3 This plays a huge part in pressuring for more funds from the individual country governments and other organizations. The existence of Global Economic Recession is worsening the situation because, in spite of how much the individual governments or international organizations try to contribute; the demand for money will always be there. Based on this, it will lead to the rule of priority and rationing for the services to be issued in healthcare by many countries.

In the future decades, there will be an inevitable systematic advancing and far reaching in medical science including heart diseases, cancer, computerized surgical operations and the cure for HIV/AIDS. The cost of financing medical research may escalate since several industrialized nations tend to acquire sophisticated technological equipments so as to control some of the diseases like cancer, which affect the ageing population. With complex diseases requiring maximum attention, this means extra funds spent on them during their last days. This is not the case in third world nations where the demographic challenge is getting higher due to lack of exercise, drug use and unhealthy food intake.4

The pace of technology is another challenge that the healthcare management will encounter in future. It is closely related to the demographic challenge because it involves the ability to control the chronic disease with the advanced technology innovations. Technology innovations touch all areas including diagnostics, therapies, and surgery making prolonging life more possible. Technological innovations give rise to new ways of managing, controlling and curing chronic diseases.5 In addition; these innovations will provide a way to slow the progression pace of diseases. This means that the new ways will be extremely expensive and technological innovations offer both challenges and opportunities.

In summary the future of healthcare systems might be in good hands if only our future leaders and managers incorporate theory and practice. Most of the future challenges meant for healthcare management contribute to the rising of costs in health care services. If only we are capable of finding a way to analyze the future challenges and trends that face the healthcare management sector, then we will be able to solve nearly all of the future problems. Lack of perfect perception when it comes to the need for an efficient and right health resource management creates another challenge to the future of healthcare management. The only way individuals can be able to reduce the challenges and ensuring sustainable management is through providing a broader point of view to all the health care systems.

Notes

Moseley George, “Managing Health Care Business Strategy” (Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning), 2.

Ibid., 2.

Raymond Lang, “ Future Challenges to the Provision of Health Care in the 21st Century,” accessed September 05, 2013, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lc-ccr/downloads/presentations/R_LANG_COHEHRE_LISBON_PRESENTATION.pdf

Ibid,. 3.

World Health Organization. “Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment” (Geneva: WHO), 89.

References

Brown, Montague. Health Care Management: Strategy, Structure, and Process. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 1992.

Geisler, Eliezer, Koos, Krabbendam and Roel Schuring. Technology, Health Care, and Management in the Hospital of the Future. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.

McLean, Robert. Financial Management in Health Care Organizations. New York: Cengage Learning, 2003.