Health care delivery in the USA has been a paradox for many years. This country is served with the most expensive and technologically advanced medicine and the best practitioners in the world; albeit, the medical care is too expensive, less satisfactorily, and in most cases, the care is not available uniformly to all. This is attributed to the uncoordinated employer-funded healthcare, private insurance, and government programs. The future of health care delivery in the USA calls for a shift in focus on treatment and prevention of acute illnesses and chronic diseases like cancer, heart failure and diabetes (Kovner et al., 2011). These chronic diseases are usually life-long once they develop. They are difficult to manage as well as very expensive to treat even in the presence of advanced technology in medical care delivery. The new development which ought to be embraced is investment in the prevention mechanism since these diseases can be prevented.
The future of health care delivery in the USA is presently aimed at managing the complex chronic diseases through promotion of health and disease prevention. Focus of the healthcare system that was primarily concerned with treating of injuries and acute illnesses has shifted. To do this, there is a need to counter the significant issue of disruptive and transformational changes in funds. There is a need to address the problems of payment for medical care, management of medical information, funding preventive medicine and public health, paying health care providers, taking better care of one’s health and ensuring that all Americans have access to better health care with a suitable mechanism of paying for it. The medical care ought to be reorganized in order to make the consumer a key decision maker. This will ensure that resources are spent more efficiently and effectively thus leading to improved quality of care at a reduced cost. This can be achieved through the adoption of a high deductible insurance policy owned by an individual, something that would cement the relationship between the patient and doctors leading to quality medical care (Schimpff, 2011).
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Chronic diseases are mostly related to our lifestyles and behaviors and this means they are preventable. Many people smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol to excess, exercise little, eat fatty foods and take soft drinks with chemicals yet it is their responsibility to ensure they stay healthy. Attention needs to be paid to ensuring that people manage stress, exercise, have good nutrition, control their weight, and stop smoking (Schimpff, 2011). To achieve this, generalist physicians should be paid to spend more time with patients and teach them how to prevent certain diseases like diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity among other chronic diseases. A meaningful monetary incentive in the form of an insurance premium reduction if granted to citizens taking action in weight loss, smoking cessation and exercising will help them change their behaviors.
In conclusion, attention should be focused on offering preventive health care and wellness management; there ought to be a shift from the diagnosis and treatment paradigm to the prediction and prevention mechanism. To achieve these, more physicians should be encouraged to undertake the primary care through increment of their benefits. As the health care delivery focuses on the complex chronic diseases, good care coordination among individuals with chronic illnesses and catastrophic injuries should be undertaken (Kovner et al., 2011). To achieve this, some reforms like ensuring access to quality health care for all regardless of one’s ability to pay through quality insurance policies have to be implemented. The cost of medical care should be reduced and physicians should be paid per visit. Lastly, proper focus on the measures of safety and quality of care rendered in the future will ensure effectiveness in service delivery.