The Healthcare Quality System in U.S

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The Healthcare Quality System in the US
The healthcare system is one of the critical aspects in enhancing the well-being of citizens while facilitating economic growth. Poor quality of the system is one of the prevailing issues that have resulted in increased mortality and morbidity rates of the populace. However, a high number of uninsured individuals increase mortality rates. Although most people believe that the country's health system is high quality, medical errors prevail, resulting in devastating impacts. The quality of healthcare services that Americans receive is no better and even worse in some instances than the other countries. Congress has enacted various policies, such as health savings accounts, tort reforms, and tax credits for the uninsured. However, such policies are flawed, which exacerbate more issues in the healthcare system.
The current healthcare system has far-reaching problems, causing a burden of harm on the citizens. Medical errors have emerged in the current system resulting in an increased number of deaths resulting from accidents and chronic illnesses, such as cancer. As a result, most patients encounter significant problems accessing the needed healthcare services that can enhance their well-being. Despite the efforts of physicians in delivering a quality healthcare system, the current health system has numerous flaws, thus, creating barriers to the delivery of effective healthcare services. The unsafe working conditions interfere with the capability of delivering quality care to the patients. Notably, the current system makes it hard to assimilate the increasing technology base and complex science. It is difficult for healthcare professionals to respond to the changing patient dynamics in such a case. Similarly, patients and family members report a lack of coordination between healthcare professionals. Although patients spend most of their time interacting with nutritionists, pharmacists, home care workers, and other specialists, some of them are ignorant of their past medication and treatment plans.
Poorly designed systems and lack of integration in the various healthcare sectors is the leading cause of harm among patients. Besides, the number of medical errors has been on the rise due to failure to incorporate safety principles into the healthcare systems and lack of adequate medical equipment (Mannion and Davies 123). Despite the separation of healthcare systems into skilled nursing facilities, home care, and hospitals, the lack of collaboration is a leading cause of medical errors. In such a case, patients face significant challenges, including increased mortality and morbidity rates. The key stakeholders, such as policymakers and the government alike, ignore the issue of quality assessment. Although healthcare professionals work together, they fail to collaborate as an interdisciplinary team in addressing patients' needs. Besides, lack of common language among healthcare professionals, differing perspectives and personal values, and existing hierarchies harm the healthcare system's capability to function effectively.
Equally, patients have continued to experience numerous issues due to lack of care coordination, increased healthcare costs, miscommunication between healthcare professionals, and redundant processes. For instance, they suffer from overlapping treatment that is confusing due to their shift from settings such as hospitals to rehabilitation centers, primarily due to fragmentation of care (Mannion and Davies 123). In other instances, adverse health outcomes result from uncoordinated healthcare and contradictory health information from healthcare providers. The flaws in the current system, especially concerning treatment, have resulted in complications among patients. Most healthcare facilities have inadequate measures to control infections. Notably, some facilities have significant issues, such as poor maintenance, poor waste management, and lack of the needed equipment.
Poor accommodation of patients' needs is an equally major challenge in the current healthcare system. In the current era of the proliferation of new forms of technology, Americans are more likely to live longer based on advances in medical sciences and healthcare delivery. However, the number of patients with chronic illnesses has increased as well. In the United States, the government allocates much of its resources towards the treatment of chronic diseases. Although the healthcare system is oriented towards providing acute care, it is challenging to meet the needs of chronically ill patients. The country has inadequate programs to offer a complement of services that people with chronic conditions need. Therefore, the government should facilitate the continuous treatment of chronic diseases across all healthcare settings. However, clinicians across the United States fail to collaborate and patients alike in developing joint care plans. The professionals fail to implement clinician follow-up and face-to-face communication through electronic means. Clinicians in such care environments need to be in interdisciplinary teams and provide patient-centered care.
Poor communication among key healthcare stakeholders has been the leading cause of adverse health impacts. If healthcare professionals fail to exchange relevant healthcare ideas, they fail to pay attention pertinent to patients' preferences, thus leading to heightened levels of mortality and morbidity rates. Besides, ineffective communication excludes patients' family members from making relevant decisions, thus resulting in medical errors. In other cases, poor conveyance of information from the hospital to a nursing home results in emergency room visits days after discharge. The increasing chronic care needs in the United States highlight the importance of healthcare professionals being well prepared to prevent illnesses and health promotion. Inadequate preparation has been a major contributing factor to the poor quality of healthcare services.
Furthermore, the inability to assimilate an increasingly complex science base has been a significant challenge in the current healthcare system. Over the last three decades, the government has increased funding in medical research to advance clinical knowledge. Besides, non-governmental organizations allocate funds towards medical investment in favor of pharmaceutical firms. Such investments result in a doubling of the total drugs that the government approves on an annual basis. Traditionally, medical stakeholders assumed that healthcare professionals could diagnose and treat common illnesses among the populace. Besides, an equally common assumption was that such professionals would assess new tests and procedures in developing clinical guidelines. However, the assumptions are no longer valid since human memory is unreliable in keeping pace with the expanding knowledge base on effective healthcare services. A daunting task among clinicians is to keep abreast of the current advances. The complexity of modern medications exceeds the limitations of the human mind.
Only a few clinicians are prepared to cope with the expanding science knowledge base across the United States in the current healthcare system. Equally, support in assisting the professionals' access and applying the knowledge base is unavailable. In most instances, clinicians need to access relevant information in an accessible format at the delivery of healthcare services. Healthcare professionals need to provide healthcare services consistently and in line with the current healthcare guidelines. Therefore, assimilating a complex science base has been the major challenge in delivering effective healthcare services. Healthcare professionals need to acquire relevant knowledge to address patients' needs. The acquisition of new knowledge is the only way to respond to the advances in the healthcare industry, such as the use of genomics in diagnosing and treating illnesses. The application of epidemiological insight to large populations and databases is relevant to improving the current healthcare system.
Slow adoption of technology has equally contributed towards declining healthcare quality. Since the internet serves as a significant agent of change, modern information technology is likely to contribute towards substantial transformation in the United States healthcare system. According to the quality chasm report, automation of financial, administrative, and clinical transactions is critical in enhancing healthcare quality, preventing medical errors, and improving customers' confidence in the healthcare system (Campione and Theresa p. 28). The report contains comprehensive information on ways that modern i...