Government's Role in Responding to Historical Trends that Impact Healthcare Delivery
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Government's Role in Responding to Historical Trends that Impact Healthcare Delivery
The government is a major stakeholder in the delivery of healthcare and therefore plays a significant role in every aspect within the delivery of hospital care (Higgins, & Sood, 2012). The response by the government to the historical trends that have been affecting care delivery contributes to some progress and expansion in the sector. The reforms in hospital care agenda in the United States are extensive and the focus is on quality, cost containment and addressing inequality (Higgins, & Sood, 2012). In the sense, the government has concentrated on the issues that have impeding access and delivery of care and establishing possible solution to the issues that have been in existence long as traced.
The government has played a significant role in addressing issues about the escalating cost of healthcare and quality delivery, which have been a trend over the years. The enactment of the Affordable care Act is expected to respond to the disparities and trends in the delivery of healthcare in the country. There has been a lot of concern in the past about quality deliverables in hospital care about the escalating cost, which the government has stepped in to offer its solution. Another aspect that the government has come in to tame is the waste in the delivery of care, the risk avoidance by the practitioners, unnecessary tests that are costly to the consumers and the inefficient insurance cover. The government has come in to step up its involvement and put in the necessary measures through federal legislations that will take care of the problems.
The government therefore, is involved in the control of the activities that would help bring down costs, cut unnecessary expenditure, and improves on quality. The government controls the drug, insurance, and advert spending, and addressing issues of ethics and moral concerns (Camargo, Espinola, & Pallin, 2014). The actions aim at ensuring expanded care delivery, increased accessibility, appropriate expenditure and reasonable cost for the citizens.
The Difference between Inpatient and Outpatient Care
The hospital care delivery is in two principal status, inpatient and outpatient care depending on the condition of the patient and the duration of care including the needs. The charges and the cover for these two services are different as in the scenario of an inpatient; time is spent in a hospital on admission while outpatient receives care and goes home (Deutschendorf, Flansbaum, Locke,Mackowiak, Petty, & Sheehy, 2014). In inpatient cover, it is important for the patient to occupy a bed in the hospital and receive treatment and attention from that point for the number of days stipulated. This type of care is often for advanced or critical procedures where the patient requires close monitoring and tracked treatment.
An outpatient is a frequent service that most people seek at the care facilities through consultation, diagnostic testing among other services at an instant. Mostly, fundamental and primary care provided are as outpatient services since the conditions of patients do not require advanced care (Camargo, Espinola, & Pallin, 2014). Diagnosis and consultations are based on the services together with all other tests a person may obtain from a healthcare facility. Outpatient care often cost below the inpatient charges in most cases with the funders such as the insurance companies allocating more funds for inpatient procedures and less for the outpatient procedures.
Any person at any one particular time is free to seek outpatient services in a care facility, but only the care physician with appropriate instructions and reasons for the admission recommends inpatient admission. The status of a patient in an institution would determine how much that patient would pay and whether the insurer will cover the services sought in the care facility (Deutschendorf et al., 2014). The doctors judge the situation of the patient, decide and recommend whether a person requires hospital-based care, or advanced procedures that would make admissions necessary.
How Growing Aging Population Impacts Hospital Care
The shift in demographics distribution affects the provision and the demand for healthcare services in the United States. The expectation is that the growing aging population will spur the growth in use and the demand for healthcare services and a shift in patient care status. The primary effect of the continual growth in aging population is the increase in the demand for services for the elderly and a change in the demand for residential patient services, though aging is not projected to be a significant influence on the demand for inpatient services.
Another impact of aging on hospital care is the need to expand the hospitals and facilities to accommodate the rising numbers that initiates an increase in the construction of the hospitals and general expansions. Whether the magnitude of the increasing number of the elderly will be high or mild on the services provided are still unclear, but with the sure projection of the growing number, service expansions are undertaken (Lowell, Martin, & Stone, 2010). The rise in the annual healthcare expenditure is attributable to the increase in the aging population, and the fiscal impacts projected to the healthcare costs and expenses.
Life expectancy stands high with most people in the current population expected to achieve and live an elderly age, and this is the reason for the projection in the rise in the number of the elderly continually. With the expected continual increase in the population, the necessary measure including policies has to be in place to ensure the situation is contained (Camargo, Espinola, & Pallin, 2014). Hospitals need to consider expansion and tailor their services to meet the needs of the elderly with an early expectation that the services demanded and that the need for them will continually expand. The insurance companies also need to structure their packages to suit appropriate cover for the elderly and that will cover their needs. The government is also working out to ensure that home-based care is possible for such kind of people.
Aging Population regarding Workforce, Medical Needs, and Job Availability
The government has to plan and put measures in place with respect to the growing number of the aging population. With the increase in the number of the elderly, increased medical needs are expected, those that fit the aged appropriately (Pallin, Espinola, & Camargo, 2014). The government is currently experiencing a rise in healthcare expenditure, which is attributable to the increasing demand for healthcare due to the aging population. With the expectations in the future that the elderly will be living alone, the government has to come up with means of ensuring that appropriate care that is home based is availed for them (Lowell, Martin, & Stone, 2010).
With the increase in the aging population, it is expected that the number of the elderly workforce will be higher, and that of the new young entrants fall. The government must formulate means of harnessing the skills of the old, and there be negotiations to encourage people not to go on to an early retirement. With the rising number of the aged, there is need to ensure that they remain healthy, strong and independent so that they continue to contribute to the demanding economy and take up on jobs (Lowell, Martin, & Stone, 2010). There will be more jobs falling vacant because of the aged retiring and the lesser number of the persons available to undertake such opportunities. The elderly also come with economic importance in that their demand for extra services creates jobs that need people to do.