When it comes to health care, we tend to identify with the Democratic party. We affiliate and agree with the views and beliefs of President Barack Obama. According to President Obama, "... by emphasizing prevention and wellness, it will also help improve the quality of health care for every American." (Walsh, 2009). We believe that health care should be accessible to all and affordable to all. I also believe in holistic care as a secondary action to illness. Once illness and disease is addressed then holistic/wellness can be assessed and accounted for. With this understanding, I also believe that we should provide quality health care for this affordable price.
3 Beliefs and 3 Values:
1. Advancement: The government should provide inpatient facilities that are up to code, provide up-to-date technologies and devices, and allow for future growth in terms of medical advancements.
2. Quality: While the staffing ratios have increased over the years (Shi & Singh, 2008, pg. 304), I believe that we need to increase our staffing ratios in order to provide the best quality of care. It is also important that patients are fully aware of the costs, benefits, and risks of procedures.The point is to provide the best care possible, not just performing wasteful procedures, unnecessary admissions, and unnecessary hospital days. (McCleave, 1999)
3. Affordability: I believe that proprietary hospitals, or for-profit hospitals, should not be allowed to exist. I don't think anyone should be making a profit off of health care. The health care industry should be strictly a non-profit industry. “Social justice regards health care as a social good – as opposed to an economic good – that should be collectively financed and available to all citizens regardless of the individual recipient’s ability to pay for that care” (Shi & Singh, 2008, pg. 58-59). According to Dr. Sharfstein, 92% of hospital revenue comes from inpatient care (Mulligan, 2002).
4. Prevention: Inpatient hospitals should advocate for preventative medicine because patients needing to stay in the hospital for overnight visits or extended periods of time can often prevent these lengths of stay by engaging in preventative medicine throughout the lifetime. Engaging in preventative medicine would reduce medical costs as well as the necessity of medical care. If more of an emphasis is placed on prevention, there will be less need for treatments that are costly and possibly dangerous. Additionally, hospitals should invest more in co-managed care. A Loyola University study showed that patients who had care that was managed by a hospitalist and a surgeon had shorter hospital stays and recovered more quickly.
5. Access: I believe that government should provide funding for those hospitals that cannot function on their own. For example, rural hospitals have had to close in the past, which has limited access for those utilizing those rural hospitals. Specifically, those affected are elderly and poor patients (Shi & Singh, 2008, pg. 312).
6. Ethics: Due to advancements, hospital staff may be faced with ethical challenges. Hospitals should provide training for all employees regarding ethical treatment of patients. Mandatory in-services would ensure that all employees were up to date with education regarding ethical challenges. In addition to these trainings, there should be materials available for all employees to reference and ethics in-service days throughout the year. Ethics are also somewhat of an issue in teaching hospitals especially. Supervisors have to find an ethical balance between quality of care and teaching methods (Sethuramen, 2003).
How might your team's values and beliefs influence inpatient costs, access, and quality:
Costs- If the government were to provide facilities and technology, this would lower the cost that is left for patients to pick up. Additionally, if for-profit hospitals weren't able to exist, these hospitals would charge solely for the care that is provided, which would decrease the patient's responsibility.
Access- If the government were to provide funding for hospitals in rural areas, this would allow those patients, specifically the elderly and poor, to have access to facilities that may have ceased to exist due to financial troubles.
Quality- Providing more staff and technology will result in shorter hospitals stays and better care, which will overall result in improved health.
McCleave, S. (1999). Tips for making inpatient care more efficient. Family Practice Management , Retrieved from http://www.aafp.org/fpm/990300fm/45.html
Mulligan, K. (2002). Sharfstein gives survival tips for trouble hospitals. Physchiatric News, 37(15), Retrieved from http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/37/15/7.full
Ritter, J. (2009, October 1). How to Reduce hospital stays and increase patient satisfaction. Retrieved from http://www.loyolamedicine.org/News/News_Releases/news_release_detail.cfm?var_news_release_id=973441046
Walsh, D. (2009). House democrats unveil health care reform plan. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/14/house.health.care/index.html
I agree that patients have to be fully aware of the costs, benefits, and risks of procedures in order to make the best decision for themselves. Sometimes the patient may think that more tests and procedures equals better care which is not always the case. I also agree that preventative care needs to be emphasized to reduce overnight stays. Many poor health conditions can be prevented with better lifestyle choices.
ReplyDelete