American Healthcare System: Policy Analysis and Decision Making Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the American healthcare system, addressing key aspects such as current outcomes and costs, the quality of the healthcare system, its inherent complexity, the impact of industrializing structures, and the medicalization of society. The analysis delves into the high per capita healthcare spending in America compared to other developed nations, and the challenges in ensuring high-quality care for all citizens, including issues of access, racial and ethnic disparities, and technical management of care. It also explores the complexity of publicly financed programs and the challenges posed by political factors. Furthermore, the report examines how industrialization has been applied to address healthcare trends, and how medicalization influences the perception of health and illness in American society. The report concludes with a synthesis of the discussed topics, offering insights into the future of healthcare in America.

Running head: HEALTHCARE POLICY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING
Healthcare Policy Analysis and Decision Making
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HEALTHCARE POLICY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING 2
Introduction
The American healthcare system is at a state of flux because scientific research and
knowledge, as well as technology in the country, continues to grow to change the definition of
wellness and illness of various infection which is termed as a health hazard to the citizens.
Citizens in the country are forced to respond by changing how healthcare professionals deliver
healthcare services to them. Healthcare services have a very significant impact on the state (Atun
et al., 2015). The effects of health care services involve ensuring that the well-being of citizens is
catered by providing healthcare services to individuals whenever they are infected by various
infections which improve quality of life in the country. It also creates job opportunities too; this
is because it offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to earn a living by providing health
care services to citizens (Boucher et al., 2013). The American healthcare system is also in the
unstable situation because it has grown more into the economy and thus becoming a threat which
can lead to collapsing of other public services such as education and maintenance of the
infrastructure. Citizens in America over the last few years they have been trying to do something
about the cost of health care services which seems to be very high making it hard for individuals
from poor socio-economic backgrounds to access them. Even though the Affordable Care Act
(ACA) policy which was established in 2010 is putting a lot of efforts to ensure that cost of
health care services is reduced and made affordable to all citizens and that citizens can easily
access healthcare attention by establishing more healthcare centers even in the remote areas, the
policy has been facing a lot challenges from the opposition (Faden et al., 2013). The future of the
healthcare system in America is highly uncertain, and it is, therefore, the role of every
stakeholder to plan and act early in advance as time goes on.

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Current Outcomes and Cost of Healthcare in America
The healthcare system of America spends a lot of healthcare per capita as compared to
other developed countries, and hence it does not seem to offer high-quality healthcare services to
citizens. In 2015 the healthcare expenditure was predicted to rise by a rate of 20% in America
gross domestic product (GDP) healthcare sector in the country has projected health expenditure
to increase from 18.2% to 19.5% by 2021 (Owusu-Edusei et al., 2013). A large percentage of
employers in America offer healthcare benefits to the employees, but they cut it back on the
employee retiree benefits. Healthcare professionals are not able to control and manage healthcare
services in the country because they are threatened by outsiders who are calling for government
programs and customer-centered care. Healthcare outcomes in America are not associated with
any particular organization or any financial approach; the healthcare outcomes depends on the
healthcare experts who are charged with the role of handling various health hazards in the
country (Anderson et al., 2014).
Stakeholders who are responsible for making health care policies should be able to reflect
and ensure that Americans are getting better high-quality healthcare services regarding a large
amount of capital they incur to get the treatment and medication. The study which was conducted
in the country indicated that a large number of capital Americans bear compared to the kind of
health care services which they get is unreasonable (McGinnis, Stuckhardt, Saunders & Smith,
2013). America spends more capital in the healthcare system than any other country. Even
though Americans have to pay more expenditure on health care services they have to queue in
hospitals because the state does not have enough healthcare facilities. Patients who seem to be
from poor backgrounds are not treated the same as those who come from good backgrounds.

HEALTHCARE POLICY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING 4
Quality of Health Care System in America
The healthcare system is facing a lot of challenges, and it, therefore, requires urgent
reform. There are various frameworks which can be applied when evaluating the quality of
health care services offered by healthcare professionals to American (Zimlichman et al., 2013).
These framework includes access to health care services by patients, continuity of care after a
patient is discharged from the hospital, technical management which means the techniques and
new technologies which are applied by healthcare professionals to take care of patients and the
management of interpersonal relationships between healthcare professionals and patients. Even
though there are many frameworks which can be used to evaluate the quality of care, these are
the most commonly used ones. In the evaluation of the variety of healthcare services,
stakeholders who are concerned have to employ system categorization with modification to be
able to obtain appropriate results. Access and availability of health care services are considered
vital values which determine the quality of health care services which are offered to patients. For
example, in case a person is involved in an accident, he/she requires an ambulance so that they
can be able to arrive at the hospital quickly and receive health care services which can be used to
stabilize their health situation (Burwell, 2015). It is, therefore, necessary to have an ambulance
available in cases of emergencies so that victims can be able to access healthcare institutions.
With the availability of and accessibility of health care services, then the quality of the health
care system is termed to be high or in the right term.
For the healthcare system to be termed as of good quality, it should be able to take care of
patients whose health situation life threatening regardless of them of being unable to pay for the
services offered. Racial and ethnic health disparities is another factor which is used to evaluate
the quality of health care services in America. In America, black infants are at very high risk of

HEALTHCARE POLICY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING 5
dying as compared to white infants. This is supposed to mean that there is discrimination in
hospitals and blacks are isolated and mistreated. Healthcare professionals choose to give their
efforts and a lot of attention to patients who can pay for health care services they receive. Which
means patients who are not financially stable may be discriminated in the hospital which may
cause their health situation to deteriorate. Technical management of care is another main
framework which is used to determine the quality of healthcare (Obama, 2016). In America,
health care professionals are well trained, and their credentials are carefully checked by
healthcare institutions before they get employed. Healthcare sector of America should be able to
manage interpersonal relationships because most Americans believe that for a patient to be able
to receive high-quality health care services they should establish a therapeutic relationship with
their healthcare professionals.
The Complexity of Healthcare in America
One obstacle to access to health care services by citizens may be the complexity of
publicly financed programs. Some of the health care programs which are provided by the
government are only available to people who are federal poverty level. Some other state
programs can enroll families up to 300% of FPL. Stakeholders should note with great concern
that family’s needs make 200% to 300% of FPL before it has some capital which is left to cater
for food, shelter, education and other essential which they need to have quality lives (Flores,
Glusman, Brogaard, Price & Hood, 2013). Affordable care act (ACA) which was established in
2010 by key stakeholders in the health sector should ensure that health coverage expands to low
and moderate income families so that they can also be able to access healthcare services
whenever various infections infect them. This policy is affected by multiple challenges
especially from the opposition which makes the health care system of America more complex.

HEALTHCARE POLICY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING 6
Since 2012 after the establishment of this policy, the Supreme Court which is ruling ACA has
chosen not to support and participate in Medicaid expansion which is under the plan.
The political sector which is marked with the development of the health care system has
left ACA leaving the plan with a lot of financial complexities because they are not able to
achieve all the set objectives. In the Medicaid program of America, the program has more than
50 independent healthcare system which is aimed at ensuring that the poor and disabled in the
society can access health care services without them been discriminated by healthcare
professionals (Misra et al., 2013). This policy covers most of their medical bills which include
nursing home cares for the elderly and medication and treatment which is administered to them
by healthcare professionals. Medicare which is federal health insurance for those adults who are
above 65 years old is facing a lot of challenges which is making the health care system of
America more complex. Americans who are in need of medical attention whose income is
reduced, healthcare programs such as Medicaid should cover them.
Industrializing Structure for Delivery of Healthcare
Industrialization is a term which is among the ways which can be sued to address
undesirable healthcare trends in America. Industrialization was applied in the early 20th century
to break large complex tasks into a small, simple task which were then assigned to different
members of a team (Finkelstein & Taubman, 2015). It was also used to analyze and specify the
best way in which a task can be handled to have positive results. This resulted into task been
shifted from been controlled by craft people into a more systematic approach which is more
efficient. Despite the monopolies which have been affecting the healthcare system in America,
multiple healthcare tasks can be done in more than one level of healthcare professionals. An

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example is that midwives and obstetricians are also capable of helping pregnant women to
deliver their babies. Through the use of industrialization pharmacies are now capable of using
pharmacy technicians and pharmacists. Industrialization has led to the employment of more
physicians to offer health care services to patients rather than having partners in nursing practice.
Industrializing structure in the healthcare sector of America has made it possible for the
exchange of external information which are related to experience and outcome quality of
healthcare delivery as well as the cost which Americans should be charged with after they get
medical care (Popescu, 2014). Industrialization has also led to the development of mire focused
factories which can specialize in a few numbers of procedures which have led to specialization in
hospitals and enhancement of the ambulatory surgery services.
Medicalization of the Society
Life-threatening problems that require medical attention has increased over the last 30 years. The
definition of these medical situations makes Americans be able to understand what health hazard
they can be able to tolerate in their country and what conditions can be changed in their societies
(Frances, 2013). The recent study which was conducted indicates that British patients reported
better health improvement after seeking medical attention and spending less capital as compared
to Americans who have to spend a lot of money to pay for the health care services which they
receive from healthcare institutions and they show no improvement in their health conditions.
Some of the factors which contribute to this results include the stress level in America. It clear
that the number of people who are living with various infections in America is higher as
compared to those who are healthy (Drees, Pineles, Harris & Morgan, 2014) . This has led to the
definition that a healthy person is the one who has been examined by a healthcare professional
and confirmed to be free of infections. Another main issue which is associated with the

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medicalization of society in America is the dependence of the economy. A study which was
conducted in 2006 indicates that construction and healthcare sector in America has led to rapid
growth of in the private sector which has led to employment opportunities. In the same year, the
healthcare sector was able to have 1.7 million jobs in the country (Bandini, 2015). Healthcare
issues and challenges which are experienced in the country has increased the emphasis in news
reporting, television advertisements, and television programming as well as recreation facilities.
Medicalization has led to an increase in both political and economic risks.
Conclusion
Healthcare system in America is said to be a flux state. This happens because of changing
nature of the infection and the treatment and medication techniques which are used to handle
diseases (Flores, Glusman, Brogaard, Price & Hood, 2013). The quality of health care services
which are offered to Americans requires a lot of capital as compared to other developed
countries. It is also clear that patients who are financially unstable are not treated the same way
as compared to those who have money (Boucher et al., 2013). It is, therefore, the role of
policymakers to ensure that they establish some rules which punish healthcare professionals who
seem to isolate patients because of their poor background status. Healthcare system in America
should adopt industrialization of the structure so that it be easy and more efficient to deliver
health care services to the citizens.

HEALTHCARE POLICY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING 9
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