Essay Sample on Trends in Healthcare

In the perception of quality life, most individuals often consider quality health care as a component of such lifestyle. Healthcare has been considered the political issue as well as an economic issue in most countries across the globe with other nations having it as part of their national identity. With almost all the health economies around the globe facing similar challenges, agility and forward-thinking by some of the health economies has led to some trends in the healthcare industry, enabling them to evolve tremendously and at some point undergo significant change in their structure. According to articles by Bobbi Brown in Health Catalyst and a research report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, some of the trends evident in the decade are; more technology, increased costs, more patients, competition-driven innovations, and the continued need for new healthcare systems are just a few of the wide array of trends in health care (Califf et al., 2003).

Healthcare industry is undergoing transformation through technological advancements. With the proliferation of new technology in the healthcare industry, a significant patient-centered care system is underway. This is achieved through an increase in the demands of data used in decision making and planning of guidelines. Data security and the patient privacy remains to be of top importance. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will ensure providers ensure patient privacy is adhered to.

Regulations such are Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services (CMSs) are causing ripples amongst the physicians. Physicians are concerned with penalties that are associated with the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services (CMSs) quality reporting initiative. Eligible physicians are required to comply with the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services (CMSs) newly introduced Value-Based Payment Modifier program that calculates the Medicares payments to physicians based on quality and annual cost (PollyBeth, 2013). Such changes with additional reporting requirements will engulf the physicians.

Increased information. Health providers need to more about the patients they serve, and with the improvements in technology, information from the patients will improve. By standardizing patient files and making them shareable, there will be interoperability and increased deployment speeds which shall add on the successful outcome of Agency for Health Care Administration (AHC) implementation.

Growth in population health management. There are numerous talks on the population health management and the difficulties in developing the strategies that will eventually improve the health of different patients.

Increase in collaborations. The healthcare industry will continue to fuse through acquisitions and mergers although there might be other interactions such as partnerships, affiliations, and joint ventures. According to (Chernow et al., 2016) broad healthcare industry is leaning towards paying for value over volume and growth of interest in wellness is driving the industry into building new capabilities faster to stay competitive. Furthermore, mergers that have been used traditionally have been impacted by the US Department of Justice and the US Federal Trade Commission

It is therefore imperative to understand that the above trends in the healthcare industry will increase the ability to demonstrate quality with time. From the above trends, it is conclusive that engaging patients in their care decisions and the increase in oversight by the government together with the partnership with providers and employers accelerated change in the healthcare sector. However, it is worth to note that sooner improvements in patient care and service, together with quality will be understood and it will form a strategical part of Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) decisions.

References

Califf, Robert M., and Lawrence H. Muhlbaier. "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)." Circulation 108.8 (2003): 915-918.

Chernow, David. Kochman, Fran. Varga, Daniel. Shine, Kenneth. (2016). Top health industry issues, PwC Health Research Institutes annual report https://www.pwc.com/ en/health-industries/ pwc-hri-top-healthcare-issues.pdfHawk, PollyBeth. "Ready or not: hospital value-based purchasing poised to transform healthcare reimbursement model and introduce new fraud targets under the False Claims Act." Annals Health L. 22 (2013): 43.