The healthcare controversies that could be expected to develop in the future include emergence of ethical issues, the large percentage of population remaining uninsured, as well as rights of the patients as healthcare consumers. For instance, in the emergence of ethical issues, it was apparent that the following need to be addressed: hacking of medical devices, defending of people’s privacy, scanning of medical information at home, healthy people allegedly switching to technology, biological differences, discoveries on possibilities of prolonging life, bioterrorism due to nanotechnology, technological developments versus evidence based medicine, transhumanism and singularitarianism, as sexuality becoming technological . From the list, it could be construed that there is a sense of controversiality in terms of balancing technological developments versus evidence care medicine. As emphasized, “technological advances have become so fast, it’s really hard to keep track of them anymore. In the meantime, evidence based medicine shapes how we deliver healthcare. The latter is a fundamentally long process” . There could be some benefits in seeing how technological advances could actually be more effective in treatment of diseases; yet, these should still be weighed against evidenced based practice which had been tested through time.
Another controversial issue is one which stems from biological differences. Due to disparities in income, some patients may have greater financial capabilities to improve health conditions, to the point of augmenting “human capabilities, (where) people will get smarter, healthier and faster only by being able to afford them. How do we prepare society for a time when financial differences lead to biological ones?” .
Concurrently, potentials for extending the life span of man could also pose controversies in terms of adeptness in addressing health-related concerns beyond the currently normal life span. Accordingly, there could be some areas that remains unexplored or ambiguous in the delivery of healthcare for both the healthcare practitioners, who could be unequipped to handle health conditions, as well as to the patients who live relatively long lives.
In another concern, there still continues to be people in America who remain to be uninsured despite the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) . As such, in the future, reports disclosed that there would still be as many as 31 million people living in America who would remain uninsured, including workers who remain undocumented, people who could not afford the mandated health coverage, as well as those who openly opted not expanding eligibility for Medicaid, and those who apparently decided to pay a penalty instead of opting to buy health insurance coverage (Washington: Congressional Budget Office, 2013; cited in Rice, et al., 2014). These remain to be controverisal healthcare issues since the gap in inaccessibility to universal health care remains to be unaddressed.
Finally, there are rights of patients as consumers in healthcare which should be looked more closely into. Apparently, medicine was classified more as a commodity, where patients’ needs, other than the delivery of healthcare, are attempted to be addressed; for instance, there is a need to evaluate the viablity of offering of “yoga, fitness classes, cooking classes and art programs in addition to their OB/GYN and cardiology services” . Should there be some restrictions or barriers that health care should forge; given than holistic care is being promulgated?
In sum, the abovementioned healthcare controversies need to be closely evaluated by health care practitioners; as well as policymakers, to ensure that the delivery of high quality patient care would not be compromised.
References
Rice, T., Unruh, L. Y., Rosenau, P., Barnes, A. J., Saltman, R. B., & van Ginneken, E. (2014, September 23). Challenges facing the United States of America in implementing universal coverage. Retrieved from who.int: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/92/12/14-141762/en/
The Medical Futurist. (2016). Ethical Issues of The Future of Medicine: The Top 10. Retrieved from medicalfuturist.com: http://medicalfuturist.com/list-of-ethical-issues-in-the-future-of-medicine/
Washington: Congressional Budget Office. (2013). The effects of the Affordable Care Act on health insurance coverage – May 2013 baseline projections. Retrieved from cbo.gov: http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43900-2013-05-ACA.pdf
Williams, K. B. (2015, April 22). The controversial, uncertain future of the healthcare 'consumer'—and why it matters. Retrieved from Healthcare Drive: http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/the-controversial-uncertain-future-of-the-healthcare-consumerand-why-it/382537/
