Reform Proposal #2

As medical professionals in the making, our group is looking out the the patient, who one day could be ourselves. We want to make sure that everyone has access to the best quality health care possible. Primary care is defined as the first contact with the health care system, in which a health care provider provides basic and routine care including all the patients health care needs (Shi and Singh). As discussed in Delivering Health Care in America by Shi and Singh, secondary and tertiary care are other levels of care. Both of these levels of care come after diagnosis of a disease. Secondary care includes specialist consultations or procedures that primary care doctors cannot provide. Tertiary care is the care of a patient with a rare or uncommon disease. This usually involves hospitalization, highly specialized care, and the latest technology.

Our group believes that if health care providers of primary care put more emphasis on prevention, we could decrease costs of secondary and tertiary care. In a recent news article, Dr. Rick Baxley stated "If [the patients] kept their blood pressure down, if they kept their blood sugar down, if they kept their cholesterol down, if they quit smoking, then the cost of health care in the United States would drop dramatically" (Mort). As seen in the video Sick Around the World, Britain was running a huge preventative campaign. Britain believed that prevention was a key component of health care (Frontline). This is something our group would like to see in the U.S. health care system. According to The National Commission on Prevention Priorities if preventive care was expanded "millions of Americans could live longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives" (National Commission on Prevention Priorities). This same article also stated that if we increased the use of just 5 preventive services in the United States, 100,000 lives could be saved a year.

Robert Jecklin pointed out in the Cost, Quality, and Access lecture that the cost of health care is different for its many players; individuals, employers, insurers, health care providers (Jecklin). The cost incurred by medical providers may increase with the increase of preventative care. The cost incurred by individuals and employers would depend on how the insurance companies would react and how much they would cover. Although costs may rise initially, costs incurred from treatment of preventable diseases would decrease. In the long run costs would be decreased. Say a patient was developing type II diabetes. The progression of the disease could be prevented with diet and exercise. If the patient was not given proper preventative care, the diabetes would progress and could cause many other complications. One such example is kidney failure. The cost of the treatment for kidney failure would be much higher than providing preventative care to the patient.

Our group has a strong believe in quality health care for all. The quality of health care would be improved with this reform. The implementation of increased preventative care would increase patient education and patient health. Diseases could be avoided with the proper prevention education. If the health care system is keeping patients healthy, this is a measurement that proves the good quality of the health care given. Avoiding diseases would increase the patients quality of life. They would not have to live their life being controlled by a preventable disease.

Access to health care can be measured in the numbers of people who can get health care services (Jecklin). If more time is spent on preventative care, our group's theory is that less people will develop preventable diseases. If less people are needing treatment of these diseases, the providers would have more time to see patients and provide proper preventative care. Thus, since more patients are able to be seen, access to health care would be increased.

A previous reform suggested to increase the number of primary care facilities. This would definitely increase access to health care facilities due to an increase in providers. Increasing the number of primary care centers is like increasing your ability to had out medication for an illness. On the other hand, increasing preventative care would be like teaching proper hand washing to prevent the spread of the illness. Increasing facilities would help with treating symptoms of disease but increasing preventative care would allow people to avoid the disease. People would not have to live by treating symptoms; they could stop them before they happen.

References

Frontline. (2008). Sick around the world [Video]. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

Jecklin, R. (2009). Cost, access, and quality [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from: http://uwlax.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/orgTools/ouHome/ouHome.asp

Mort, S. (2009). Some US doctors are practicing preventive care. Retrieved March 10, 2009 from: http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-09-voa44.cfm

National Commission on Preventative Priorities. (2008). Preventive care: a national profile on use, disparities, and health benefits. Retrieved March 10, 2009 from: http://www.prevent.org/content/view/129/72/

Shi, L. & Singh, D.A. (2008). Delivering health care in America: a systems approach. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett.