Historical perspectives regarding the delivery of health care in the United States
The delivery of health care in the United States has undergone many reforms to improve the quality of care, efficiency, and develop universal access to health care. The first perspective focuses on the establishment of hospitals. America founded its first hospital in the mid-1700s. The hospital system became fully functional in the 1850s characterized by unskilled labor and hospitals owned by physicians who would provide care at their homes. The health care condition was deplorable as people went to hospitals because there was no other alternative. The second health care perspective is in medicine and medical education. In 1847, the United States formed the American Medical Association (AMS) with the goal of registering all physicians to protect the interest of health care providers. AMS aimed at improving the financial well-being of physicians and standardizing medical education. Finally, in the 1920s the development of health care technologies increased the quality of health care with more trained providers with different specializations, equipped hospitals, and increased quality of care.
The lack of developing technology impacted these perspectives negatively. First, communication was a problem despite the introduction of hospitals. People also traveled long distances in search of hospitals while the lack of advanced equipment to detect illnesses made many people dies of common diseases. Second, the formation of AMS did not achieve its initial goals until health technology was established. The government found it harder managing all health providers since record keeping and individual follow-up became a challenge.
Two technological advancements that have a positive impact on healthcare delivery in the U.S.
The most significant technological advancements that have positively impacted the delivery of health care in U.S. is the introduction of electronic health records (EHR). The health care sector depended on manual processes of keeping health records that were time-consuming, prone to errors, and did not protect the patient safety. The introduction of EHR led to improved patient care, high patient coordination, increased patient participation, efficiency in the practice, improved diagnosis and patient outcome, and lower costs of health care (Bowman 1-10). The second technological advancement is the use of the internet for communication. Communication is of high significance in the health care delivery, and the introduction of technologies in the form of the internet made it possible for providers to communicate with one another and patients efficiently and cheaply. It impacts the health care positively by improving quality, efficiency, and improving public health information infrastructure (HealthyPeople 2020 1).
The influence of technological advancements on public opinion of the changing health care system
The introduction of electronic health records received many comments from the public. The public can now see outcomes of technological advancements in the health care through EHR especially when it comes to delays in hospitals. Luchenski's survey realized high response rates from the public on the positive impact of electronic health records regarding patient satisfaction and quality of care (Luchenski, Balasanthiran, et al. 36). However, the transformation also received a negative public opinion where some patients accused health care providers of using their information for purposes other than medical functions. For example, exposing patient's medical records to a third party without the patient's consent. The internet has also received numerous positive opinions from the public. The public can communicate with physicians at any time through the use of the internet. Similar to EHR, some people complain of physicians taking advantage of their position to engage in nonprofessional relationships with their clients through the internet.
Forecast of the impact of technological advancements in the delivery of care
The use of electronic health records and the utilization of the internet have the potential of reforming the U.S. health care system in the future. The high rate of technological growth will leave the health care sector with no option but to fully adopt technologies in all its operations. The level of technological knowledge of providers, resources available, and public uptake of new technologies act as major factors that simultaneously affect the utilization of health care technologies in the United States in the future.
Works Cited
Bowman, Sue. “Impact of Electronic Health Record Systems on Information Integrity: Quality
and Safety Implications.” Perspectives in Health Information Management 10.Fall (2013): 1c. Print.
HealthyPeople 2020. “Health communication and health information technology.”
HealthPeople.gov. Feb. 09, 2016. Web: Sep. 04, 2016.
Luchenski, S., Balasanthiran. A., et al. “Survey of patient and public perceptions of electronic
health records for healthcare, policy, and research: study protocol.” BMC Medical Information Decision Making, 12.40 (2012): 12-40.
