Elderly Health Care Issues
There are not many people in the United States who are satisfied with the healthcare system. There are complaints about cost and the abbreviated time spent with their doctors.
It has become much more difficult to get the care they need at a price they can afford, whether they have good coverage through an employer, or through a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid.
Some of the problems and frustrations that exist and that require some adjustment for improving the system to make health care more affordable and accessible are: Quality of Care vs. Cost of Care, Time vs. Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Lack of Preventive Services, with too few Primary Care Providers.
Americans have access to the best that medicine has to offer, have the finest doctors in the world, they have the latest and greatest technology available, and the knowledge of diseases and possible treatment is excellent, but the problem is that the system has evolved to one where the balance between cost and access is at an all-time low.
Millions of Americans have no health insurance or coverage, which means that they cannot access this excellence. Many are underinsured, and in most cases, those people do not realise what they cannot access because of cost.
It is believed that 101 000 Americans die each year just because they did not have medical insurance.
The adage “time equals money” is exactly how American healthcare providers look at their own practices to stay in business. Because the payment system is based on saving expense, doctors and other providers are forced to perform their duties in less time, so enabling them to see more patients in a day and look for other ways to save time so they can bill for more people and procedures in order to make the money they want or need to make. Patients complain that doctors do not listen to them because they are in too much of a hurry.
The doctors are making more misdiagnoses and prescription errors, and there is no doctor-patient relationship which is so important for the patient as they age and need care that co-ordinates with other medical problems.
It is believed that at least 98 000 deaths occur each year due to safety problems with surgeons who are working hurriedly do not follow guidelines and assure everyone that they are operating on is the right patient, the right body part, or even remembering to pull all the instruments and objects out of a patient when they are finished. This is a very harsh statement, which also brings us to pharmacists working under pressure to prepare and dispense more drugs at a faster pace, creating more possibilities for mistakes to be made.
The bottom line is that Americans are not getting the effective healthcare they need, when they need it, and at a cost that is affordable, and so the call for healthcare reform is essential for a good, reliable, effective healthcare system.
Meals on Wheels is a non profit organization providing food to poor people, old people and children and provides assistance where it is most needed.
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Tagged with: Elderly Health Care • health care • health care issues • health care issues for the elderly
Filed under: Alternative Therapies
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