Medical Technology and the Healthcare Expenditure Medical technology encompasses a wide range of health care products that are used to diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases (Chandra & Skinner, 2012). Medical technology may include medical devices, vaccinations, pharmaceuticals, information technology, biotech, and healthcare services. Such technologies are intended to improve the quality of health care; while also containing cost, through earlier diagnosis, less invasive treatment options, reductions in hospital stays, and rehabilitation times. One of the leading theories is that medical technology is growing faster than expected and wit its advancement, it has become a major contributor of health care expenditure in America.
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Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers in general rely heavily on technology to diagnose and treat patients. Many patients have become “spoiled” and do not physicians can adequately treat or diagnose them unless test and procedures are performed. Consequently, physicians order numerous tests to keep the trust of patients and to keep them satisfied. This allows institutions to easily keep the prices of medical technology, high because patients are so dependent on technology. “According to the Institute of Medicine, approximately $800 million dollars is spent on care that does not make the patient better” (Snell, 2013, para. …show more content…
Technology is defined as wasteful when considered unsafe and ineffective. This cost containment strategy will help save money without diminishing the quality of care. One of the most recent changes in health care within the last five years is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obama Care. The main goal of the ACA is to make healthcare affordable for all citizens by changing many of the rules set my insurance companies (Snell, 2013). A major issue that contributes to the rising cost of healthcare is the lack of communication among healthcare providers leading to unnecessary repetition of expensive treatments. The ACA has planned to solve this buy establishing the Accountable Care Organization (ACO’s). This will be a group of healthcare providers working together to ensure effective treatment, while limiting the amount of unnecessary tools and test. The goal is to send patients to providers in the same network, with the hope of saving money. Another way the ACA plans to lower cost is by bundling payment systems. The system will provide patients a single payment that will cover all expenses, public and private. This will be extremely beneficial for patients who have chronic illnesses such as, hypertension and diabetes (Snell,
Dr. Atul Gawande’s article, “Overkill”, describes the harms of overtreatment and over testing to not only the patients, but the US health care system as well. He utilizes patient’s stories, his own personal stories, and expert analysis to inform the readers that the health care system is overdoing tests, over diagnosing, and performing procedures that are extremely expensive, but in the end does not improve the patient’s condition. Dr. Gawande’s argument is that the US health care system is engaging in expensive, unnecessary medical care when they should be adopting a slow medicine philosophy.
The Affordable Care Act seeks to reduce health care costs by encouraging doctors, hospitals and other health care providers to form networks which coordinate patient care and become eligible for bonuses when they deliver that care more efficiently. Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) make providers jointly accountable for the health of their patients, giving them financial incentives to cooperate and save money by avoiding unnecessary tests and procedures. About four million Medicare beneficiaries are now in an ACO, and, combined with the private sector, more than 428 provider groups have already signed up (CMS, 2014). An estimated 14 percent of the U.S. population is now being served by an ACO (CMS, 2014).
The United States (U.S.) has a health care system that is much different than any other health care system in the world (Nies & McEwen, 2015). It is frequently recognized as one with most recent technological inventions, but at the same time is often criticized for being overly expensive (Nies & McEwen, 2015). In 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.) This plan was implemented in an attempt to make preventative care more affordable and accessible for all uninsured Americans (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.). Under the law, the new Patient’s Bill of Rights gives consumers the power to be in charge of their health care choices. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.).
American health expenditure totaled 17.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or $ 8,507.6 per capita in 2011 (OECD, 2013). American health care cost depends on the market including several providers (profit, non-profit, and government owned facilities) and payers (private for profit, non-profit insurance companies, the government, self insured and self payers). Health expenditures can separate into different categories, such as, in-patient care, out-patient care, pharmaceuticals, public health and administration, etc. The hospital market in the United States is uncoordinated, duplicating specialized care without enough volume in most of them to make procedures affordable (Govindarajan & Ramamurti, 2013). American healthcare is expensive for the following reasons. First, administrative costs are high due to poor management between the providers and the newly implemented Electronic Health Record (EHR), which could decrease wasteful services. It can also help if patients want to go to another hospital where they could easily have another physician. The EHR will slash the redundancy of these investigations. If 80% of the U.S. population used the EHR by 2019, around $21billion could be saved. President Obama said that in order to save dollars and lives, all Americans must have EHRs by 2014 (Barton, 2010).
The next driver of importance for world health is technology. The implementation of innovative medicine is a primary interest for the U.S., Japan, and Germany (Reid, 2008). Unlike these other countries, the United States has a greater commitment to technology than it does to health care expenditures (Barton, 2010). This regard has led to changes in clinical practices and the level of knowledge of consumers (Drivers of change). Patients gather information pertaining to disease or illnesses from reliable m...
The balance between quality patient care and medical necessity is a top priority and the main concern of many of the healthcare organizations today. Due to the rising cost of healthcare, there has been a change in the focus of reimbursement strategies that are affecting the delivery of patient care. This shift from a fee-for-service towards a value-based system creates a challenge that has shifted many providers’ focus more directly on their revenue. As a result, organizations are forced to take a hard look at the cost of services they are providing patients and then determining if the services and level of care are appropriate for the prescribed patient care.
In order to make ones’ health care coverage more affordable, the nation needs to address the continually increasing medical care costs. Approximately more than one-sixth of the United States economy is devoted to health care spending, such as: soaring prices for medical services, costly prescription drugs, newly advanced medical technology, and even unhealthy lifestyles. Our system is spending approximately $2.7 trillion annually on health care. According to experts, it is estimated that approximately 20%-30% of that spending (approx. $800 billion a year) appears to go towards wasteful, redundant, or even inefficient care.
of medical devices are used by millions of health care providers around the world.” (Powell-
In conclusion use of new technology has immense effect on the U.S health care system delivery. It enables services at primary prevention level, advanced secondary treatment strategies and qualitative tertiary rehabilitation services. These technologies support successful implementation of
Woo, A., Ranji, U., & Salganicoff, A. (2008). Reducing medical errors with technology. Retrieved March, 2012, from http://kaiseredu.org
reimbursement determinations. As a result, the camaraderie among physicians has developed into a more aggressive approach to impede competition (Shi & Singh, 2012). Little information is shared with patients in regards to procedures or disease control. The subjects are forced to rely on the internet for enlightenment on the scope of their illnesses (Shi & Singh, 2012). Furthermore, the U.S. health care system fails to provide adequate knowledge on billing strategies for operations and other medical practices. The cost in a free system is based on supply and demand and is known in advance of hospital admission (Shi & Singh, 2012). The need for new technology is another characteristic that is of interest when considering the health care system. Technology is often v...
Advances in technology have influences our society at home, work and in our health care. It all started with online banking, atm cards, and availability of children’s grades online, and buying tickets for social outings. There was nothing electronic about going the doctor’s office. Health care cost has been rising and medical errors resulting in loss of life cried for change. As technologies advanced, the process to reduce medical errors and protect important health care information was evolving. In January 2004, President Bush announced in the State of the Union address the plan to launch an electronic health record (EHR) within the next ten years (American Healthtech, 2012).
In Italy, there is a slight shortage of medical technology, but they are up to date in terms of the medical technology that they do have. The Italian medical device market is worth $9.4 billion and is the fourth largest in Europe (Klein, T., 2015). The medical technology market is dependant on public spending, which can vary if there is a national deficit, like there was in 2014 (Klein, T., 2015). One of Italy 's strong points is that they have a universal system of connected electronic records, which can be used by almost every doctor or facility except for primary care doctors and facilities. The compatibility of this system makes it easier and faster for doctors to obtain records on a patient from different facilities. Italy’s medical technology is up to modern standards and is successful in detecting and treating
...d about the economic nature of new technologies, Dr. Slez emphasized that “costs almost always increase with new equipment”. When deciding whether or not to adopt a new technology, Dr. Slez cited cost of implementation, industry standard, and efficacy relevant to the current market as his primary considerations. “If a treatment costs more but is no more effective, we won’t adopt it” he continued. Technology, as with all other aspects of the firm, must be consistent with that firm’s goals; excellent care at an affordable cost.
Topol, Eric. "How Technology Is Transforming Health Care." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 12 July 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.