Assignment
Complete ALL of the bullet points below:
• Given the increasing longevity of Americans and the costs of providing long-term care, anticipation of the costs should be a major element of every family\’s financial planning. Current information suggests however, that very few families or individuals give this consideration.
• What factors might impede this advance planning? What measures might be effective in raising awareness among Americans about this important matter?
• Identify the major factors that have resulted in the shift in utilization from inpatient hospitalization to ambulatory care services. What are the implications of this shift for hospitals, consumers, and the health care delivery system as a whole?
• The recipients of mental health services in the US represent only a small percentage of those in need of services. Discuss the factors that impede access to mental illness treatment.
Please submit one APA formatted paper between 1000 – 1500 words, not including the title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook. Non-Hospital Entities Essay Paper
Required Text:
• Sultz, H. A., & Young, K. A. (2017). Health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery (9th ed.). Boston: Jones & Bartlett. ISBN: 978-1284114676
Non-Hospital Entities
Introduction
The healthcare system in the US has non-hospital entities besides hospitals. The main non-hospital entities include long-term care, mental healthcare services, and ambulatory care services. The non-hospital organizations play an important role in today’s health care. Within the American healthcare system, the ambulatory services are increasingly being utilized, when compared to the utilization of mental healthcare and long-term care services. This paper will analyze the non-hospital entities in the American healthcare system and factors that hinder the accessibility of some non-hospital entities.
Factors Impeding Advance Planning
The use of advance planning and long-term care in America is not common because the majority of Americans are not aware of the costly effects associated with the longer life expectancy in the current generation. Longer life expectancy whether at home or in long-term care settings like nursing homes is very costly. Therefore, the major impeding factor in long-term care is attributable to finances and lack of awareness. People from lower socioeconomic status expect that Medicaid will be paying the costs in long-term care services while the upper-class and middle-call people assume that their assets and savings will be enough to cater for their old age. However, Medicare does not cover the stay at nursing homes for chronic and age-related conditions. Additionally, long-term healthcare insurance is very costly and the majority of people may not afford the care during the old age.
Therefore, the lack of advance planning can have adverse effects in the future for the majority of people when long-term care is required. This indicates the significance of educating people about the significance of long-term care. The key step to achieving this is enlightening and educating individuals about the significance of advance planning care and the actual costs associated with the long life-expectancy within the US.
Measures to increase awareness include a social media-based campaign aimed to inform Americans of the necessity for long-term care for the older adults and the effects for people and their families. Additionally, campaigns suing public relations, direct mails, and public service media can be used to communicate the message of benefits associated with advance planning. A study by Weiner et al (2015) showed that a campaign on long-term care informed both citizens and policymakers about benefits of advance care planning.
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The Shift to Ambulatory Care
Numerous factors are contributing to the increased use of ambulatory care services. First, the cost is among the major factors because it is less costly to build and operate ambulatory care services when compared to hospitals. Moreover, the intense pressure to enhance the quality of care while lowering the costs has led hospitals to facilitate economies of scale through acquisition and mergers or by partnering with external entities like chain pharmacies to reduce healthcare costs (Beans, 2016). Additionally, the addition of ambulatory services for healthcare organizations, which is less costly helps them to compete with other healthcare organizations. Secondly, ambulatory care facilities are more accessible because they are mostly built near communities and thus easy and convenient to use for the patients. In addition, since ambulatory care facilities are nearer communities, it is easy for them to provide preventative care and promote health in communities more cost-effectively in comparison to hospitals. The increased prevalence of chronic diseases has also contributed to the increased utilization of ambulatory services. According to Vogenberg & Santilli (2018) ambulatory care amenities are able to manage chronic conditions of patients better because of low patient volume and easy accessibility. Lastly, the technological advancements such as the use of telehealth enable ambulatory care facilities to monitor patients remotely and provide coordinated treatment regimens.
The integration of ambulatory care services is essential for healthcare systems attempting to manage population health. For instance, through ambulatory facilities healthcare organizations can provide wellness services and follow-up care following hospital discharge and also provide preventative services like pneumonia and flu vaccinations (Hollenbeck et al., 2015). Additionally, ambulatory care reduces healthcare and operation costs for healthcare organizations. On the other hand, ambulatory care services improve access to care for the patients (Hollenbeck et al., 2015). This is because ambulatory care facilities are more accessible for patients and also, they are less costly when compared to inpatient care services.
Factors that Impede Access to Treatment for Mental Illnesses
Several factors hamper accessibility to mental health in the US. The common obstacles to access to mental healthcare include the stigma allied to mental sickness, limited availability of mental care services, high costs in treating mental disorders, and lack of knowledge and education about mental disorders. First, the number of mental health providers is relatively low and this is a major factor impeding accessibility to the treatment of mental illness. Whereas the American healthcare system is facing a shortage of nurses and physicians, the shortage of mental health professionals is much higher (Lake, J., & Turner, M. S. (2017). The shortage is particularly high in rural areas where people have to wait for long even months before accessing mental health care. Furthermore, inadequate reimbursement from insurance plans leads to a few physicians selecting mental health specialty and further reducing the number of psychiatrists (Lake & Turner, 2017). Non-Hospital Entities Essay Paper
Moreover, the treatment of mental disorders is also relatively high because patients need to pay for medications and therapy as well. The majority of mental disorders are long-lasting and thus treatment may be very costly for the patients. According to Frank et al (2014), even with the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance cover for mental health care, the high treatment cost of mental illness restricts access treatment.
Lack of education and awareness on mental health also hinders accessibility to mental health services. The majority of people are not aware of the symptoms of mental disorders and therefore they may not seek treatment. Finally, the social stigma allied to ill mental health is a major obstacle to accessing mental health services. Several studies have established that the stigma allied to mental disease normally prevents individuals from accessing treatment (Henderson et al., 2015). While individual beliefs regarding mental illness can prevent individuals from recognizing their illness and seeking treatment, the risk of being discriminated in professional and social circles due to mental illness presents a major obstacle to one seeking treatment (Henderson et al., 2015). Individuals may harbor fears that family, coworkers, and friends may avoid them for having a mental illness or that they can be treated negatively at the workplace.
Conclusion
Non-hospital entities are very important in today’s healthcare system. However, whereas many people have embraced utilization of ambulatory care, people are not adequately using long-term care services and mental healthcare services. Ambulatory facilities are preferred due to convenience and increased accessibility for patients as well as reduced healthcare costs for both patients and healthcare organizations. Factors hindering the use of long-term care services include lack of awareness and the associated high costs. Therefore, increased awareness about the importance of advance planning and long-term care services can promote their use among Americans. Finally, factors hindering utilization of mental health within the US include the stigma, limited availability of care services, high costs in the treatment of mental illnesses, and limited education on mental illness.
References
Beans B. E. (2016). Experts Foresee a Major Shift from Inpatient to Ambulatory Care. P & T: a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 41(4), 231–237.
Frank, R. G., Beronio, K., & Glied, S. A. (2014). Behavioral health parity and the Affordable Care Act. Journal of social work in disability & rehabilitation, 13(1-2), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/1536710X.2013.870512.
Hollenbeck, B. K., Dunn, R. L., Suskind, A. M., Strope, S. A., Zhang, Y., & Hollingsworth, J. M. (2015). Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Their Intended Effects on Outpatient Surgery. Health services research, 50(5), 1491–1507. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12278.
Henderson, C., Evans-Lacko, S., & Thornicroft, G. (2015). Mental illness stigma, help-seeking, and public health programs. American journal of public health, 103(5), 777–780. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.301056.
Lake, J., & Turner, M. S. (2017). Urgent Need for Improved Mental Health Care and a More Collaborative Model of Care. The Permanente Journal, 21, 17–024. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/17-024.
Vogenberg, F. R., & Santilli, J. (2018). Healthcare Trends for 2018. American health & drug benefits, 11(1), 48–54.
Weiner, J., Khatusky, G., Greene, A., Thach, T., Allaire, B., & Brown, D. (2015). Long-term care awareness and planning: What do Americans want, 1(1).