Access, Quality, and Cost Containment

1390 Words3 Pages

Improving health is in the best interest of everyone, including non health professionals. Health mangers need to be constantly looking for ways to improve access to health, the quality of the care, and cost containment. Often the biggest barriers to accessing healthcare are cost and location. Lower income individuals just do not have the resources to have optimal healthcare, or cannot take the time away from employment to deal with health issues. One potential solution to help with these problems could be “telehealth.” Telehealth allows a lower level healthcare practitioner to communicate with a physician or specialists when necessary. Remote rural areas use a Physician Assistant or a Nurse Practitioner on location in remote areas. When procedures call for a physician, an internet or satellite link provides a teleconference with a physician who can prescribe appropriate treatment (Gangon, Duplantie, Fortin & Landry 2006). This could be implemented in lower income urban areas, allowing free clinics to lower costs, and require fewer physicians. Programs that increase the level of healthcare available to school children could be increased. Small clinics could be incorporated into schools, and provide basic care to the students. Schools are known to be places the diseases are spread. Such a program could slow or stop some transmission. Children also spend more time in school than at home, allowing children to seek care and not be required to miss school, or parents to miss employment. This program would also provide more equal care among different income groups (Allison, et. al, 2007). There could be the potential for the secondary effect of children being educated on health, including nutrition, and sexually transmitted... ... middle of paper ... ...in, J.P., Landry, R.., (2006) Implementing telehealth to support medical practice in rural/remote regions: what are the conditions for success? Implement Sci. 2006 Aug 24;1:18. Persoon, T.J., Zaleski, S., & Frerichs, J., (2006) Improving preanalytic processes using the principles of lean production (Toyota Production System). Am J Clin Pathol. 2006 Jan;125(1):16-25. Pincus, T., Esther, R., DeWalt, D.A., & Callahan, L.F., (1998) Social conditions and self-management are more powerful determinants of health than access to care. Ann Intern Med. 1998 Sep 1;129(5):406-11. Vest, J.R., & Gamm, L.D., (2009) A critical review of the research literature on Six Sigma, Lean and StuderGroup's Hardwiring Excellence in the United States: the need to demonstrate and communicate the effectiveness of transformation strategies in healthcare. Implement Sci. 2009 Jul 1;4:35.

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