Market driven healthcare
Strategists argue that healthcare systems should react as occasioned by the market demand and needs. However, the market driven health care has proved to challenge stakeholders in the health sector with many people suffering the consequences of the system. Individuals in favour of this system believe that market driven healthcare has potential of reducing the costs of the health care. However, this has proved to be ineffective, as the cost of healthcare services has continued to escalate. The paper examines the problems characterizing market driven health care with the view of proposing solutions to these problems.
Market driven health care encounters a number of problems that demand urgent attention. Initially, the system creates a situation where people have low knowledge of the health care matters. Most people in market driven healthcare systems lack adequate health care education. Members are often not equipped with health related information as companies prioritize profit making. Furthermore, most individuals offering healthcare services in these systems are ignorant of good health habits (Morton 30).
Market driven health care suffers various challenges as most of the health care providers prioritize market share and monetary gains to the quality of the services they offer. Most of the people in the areas where the consumers determine the health care services access poor services because the health providers do not concentrate on the quality of their services. In such a system, routine claims and costs compensate the providers using a consumer-controlled account versus a fixed health insurance benefit. This means patients possess greater control over their own health budgets thus the health providers have to literally battle for market. This would result to a situation where attention diverts from quality services to market widening and development (Herzlinger 52).
In the consumer controlled health care systems, patients suffering from chronic illnesses are likely to incur higher costs in the health care facilities. In the market driven health care facilities, the consumers determine the services offered as they pay and pool their problems together. In return, they save taxes on this amount and healthcare providers earn returns from their activities. However, chronic illnesses do not have enough people to create large pools. For example, patients suffering from chronic illnesses pay higher due to limited interests and discounts.
Individuals and the government assume vital roles in fixing the problems in the health care system that arises from the market driven ideologies. I would fix the problem by encouraging the services providers to value the idea of offering standardized and high quality services. This would include setting standards and guidelines that would control operations in this sector. For example, I would institute policies that ensure that healthcare providers are providing patients with essential information regarding the services that they offer. This would effectively help fix the quality problems in the healthcare system. I would also fix the problems through insurance. Health insurance is a means that people can use to lower the costs they incur in treatment and diagnosis. Most of the chronic illnesses cost the people too much because they lack the insurance policies that would rather reduce the costs.
I would also seek information regarding the consumer driven healthcare systems so that I do not have the information lapse that would cost my access to the products. One of the challenges that face the market driven healthcare is that people do not have the information to enable them access the services with utmost quality. However, I would individually work to bridge the gap and get the required information to drive my efforts in getting the best healthcare.
The government on the other side can solve the problem in a number of ways. Firstly, the government should develop schemes that will lower the costs of chronic illnesses by subsidizing the costs in the consumer driven healthcare systems. This would reduce unnecessary competition among the healthcare providers and move the facilities towards quality services (Morton 56). Moreover, the government should help people to get enough information about the healthcare facilities. Adequate information network and support system in the consumer driven healthcare need to be established in order to enable the members stay better informed to make better decisions and more involved in their healthcare service provision.
The government should also establish effective measures for curtailing quality flaws in the market driven healthcare services. Most of the facilities concentrate more on the market share and profits over the quality of services they offer to the people. The government should set up standards that the healthcare providers must adhere with in order for them to continue operating. Through setting standards, the government will ensure that the healthcare providers do not provide poor services to the customers (Herzlinger 23).
In conclusion, the future of the consumer driven healthcare services rests in the hands of the people. The population bears all the responsibilities in developing the consumer driven healthcare services. Emphasizing on the market driven healthcare services is detrimental because healthcare providers abandon the basic principles for effective healthcare in pursuit for profits. The government and the society should put together their efforts and discourage the idea of market driven healthcare to promote efficiency and improve services in this sector.
Works Cited
Herzlinger, Regina E. Consumer-driven Health Care: Implications for Providers, Payers, and Policy-Makers. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. Print.
Morton, Lois W. Health Care Restructuring: Market Theory Vs. Civil Society. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 2001. Print.
