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Running Head: LIMITED ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE 1
LIMITED ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE 6
LIMITED ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
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Introduction
There has been a phenomenal increase in and advancement of healthcare technologies over the past few decades that are for quality healthcare access and provision moving forward into the future. These technologies were not only meant to improve healthcare quality and access in the face of diversity but were also expected to help fix many problems that face healthcare (Imran, 2015). However, this is not the case since the expectations are not met as complicated problems impacting activities within and without the healthcare sector have remained stubborn to the technological changes and ever-improving government policies and investments into the healthcare industry to improve access and patient outcomes. Access to healthcare remains one of the stubborn problems in healthcare as it continues to plague everyone both in the rural areas and in the inner-city urban centers. Several factors have been outlined as key contributing factors to limited access to healthcare including limited insurance coverage, transportation and language barriers and lack of professionals in rural areas. This paper seeks to address the limited access to the healthcare services in the United States of America, which is a bigger challenge that cut across the nation from cities to the rural areas. The paper will also endeavor to find a solution to the limited access to healthcare as it is challenging. Telemedicine and in-home health care services have been employed as some of the interventions to address the health problem. The information used in the research has relevant and valid as confirmed by the bibliography.
Elements of the problem
Limited access to healthcare is attributed to barriers that result in unmet health needs including insufficient screening and preventive services, treatment and the high cost of care. The economy of the United States is entirely dependent on the health of its population and access to healthcare is, therefore, one of the fundamental pillars of the country’s economy. Some factors affect healthcare access in a country that is increasingly becoming diversified and population increasing (Kominski, Nonzee, & Sorensen, 2017). Limited access to healthcare insurance is one of the limiting factors to access to healthcare in low-income families, and the United States government made a move to provide universal healthcare to its citizens.
A significant part of the US public is not in a position to meet the medical cost thus locking them from accessing health care services. Even some of those who have medical insurance coverage and high income, sometimes experience difficulties in meeting medical bills thus cannot access medical services because health plans do not even adequately meet all the medical costs. About 40% of the people in the United States of America require high-cost treatments and regular medical checkups that the majority cannot afford (Hudson, 2013).
Lack of health care facilities and health professionals in rural areas of the country are also some of the factors that result in limited access to health care. There are a limited number of mental health professionals and substance abuse counselors in rural areas whose services are core and much needed by these citizens (McEwen, 2014). The capacity of health professionals offering these essential services to the population in the rural setting has been limited and in other cases not accessible at all resulting in limited access to quality health care.
Lack of means of transportation is also another factor limiting the access to health services. Healthcare facilities are located far from some rural regions hence patients need to travel to receive medical assistance (Imran, 2015). Lack of mobility means is a crucial factor to access healthcare, affecting patients who cannot afford these means, mainly those who have special needs such as psychically challenged patients. In urban areas, low-income earners find it difficult to get a reliable mean of transportation at the time they are going for their medical appointments. This situation results in some patients missing their appointments and also results in the poor management of the diseases. Even when medical care is available, it is out of their reach due to the lack of transportation. Poor people living in the cities have the challenge to find means to reach the medical centers thus having a problem of limited access to health care services.
Mitigation measures
To curb patient transportation problem, access to non-medical transportation should be expanded, telemedicine should be utilized to expand healthcare provider reach, medical appointments should be scheduled in cooperation with the availability of non-medical transport.
The limited health insurance problem can be mitigated by installing outreach and enrollment specialists to help patients navigate the complicated healthcare process. This will also help connect insurance with the uninsured. The government and non-governmental organizations in this line of business should also come up with programs that will help the financially and economically disadvantaged pay for the all-important healthcare needs and insurance premiums. Language and cultural barriers to access to healthcare can be obliterated by fostering culturally supportive measures patient safety, adapting systems to identify and eliminate non-proficient English speaking patients, improving non-proficient English patients medical errors, routinely monitoring the safety of patients from diverse backgrounds and addressing the root causes with an aim of preventing medical errors among patients from different backgrounds (Hudson, 2013).
Other mitigation measures include the use of telemedicine technology to help reduce the problem of limited access to healthcare. Telemedicine is a new technology that patients use to receive healthcare services without physically reaching the health care center. This alternative will help to address the issues of the affordability of the health care services and also distance which acts as a limiting factor to access health care services. Another measure is the use of electronic devices and communication gadgets to share health information. Health information from the patients, health professionals, and the public, can be shared on the online platforms thus solving the problem of limited access to healthcare.
Implementation of potential mitigation measures
For this to be implemented successfully, there has to be political and professional goodwill to enable healthcare officials closely work with urban and city planners to consider installing transport to community healthcare providers (McEwen, 2014). There has to be cooperation among players in different sectors both governmental and non-governmental to help improve the health of the United States population.
Conclusion
All problems have solutions, and this is also true when it comes to issues facing healthcare. It only takes the popular will for the proposed solution to work effectively for the betterment of lives of citizens of the United States (Hudson, 2013). The Buck stops with the president in office who should come up with evidence-based initiatives to curb problems facing healthcare.
Ethical issues to implementation of solutions
Some of the ethical issues in the implementation of technology in solving the limited access to healthcare such as telemedicine and use of mobile internet-enabled gadgets are tele-consultation and security. The security of health services ethical problems that were formerly under the Nation a Health Services are now under the European Union Directives’ supervision. The tele-consultation ethical problem can be confronted by doctors being highly competent and recognize virtual communication value, and tele-consultation to be improved to provide full new information and skills access, and the growth of telemedicine use guided by new relevant standards. Telemedicine also threatens the security and confidentiality of information of patients.
References
Hudson, H. E. (2013). From rural village to global village: Telecommunications for development in the information age. Routledge https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781135599713:
Imran, C. (2015). The Transportation Barrier. Available online: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/08/the-transportation-barrier/399728/
Kominski, G. F., Nonzee, N. J., & Sorensen, A. (2017). The Affordable Care Act’s Impacts on Access to Insurance and Health Care for Low-Income Populations. Annual review of public health, 38, 489-505.
McEwen, M. (2014).Theoretical Basis for Nursing, 4th Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://vsaccess.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781469899992
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