Postindustrial System In Health Care

The United State’s healthcare system is one that has morphed and changed greatly over the years. In the countries early days of existence healthcare was primitive, often home-based, and the physicians delivering it were far from qualified. Today, healthcare in the United States is technologically advanced, global, and compromised of highly specialized employees. Health insurance has moved from being totally nonexistent, to an amenity only available to the rich, to one that the middle class can afford and many poor, elderly, and disabled people also receive via government subsides. However, many are still left uninsured. All of these developments have occurred because of different social, political, and economic movements. Yet, I believe …show more content…
In the preindustrial era of the US healthcare quality fell far behind Great Britain, France, and Germany especially in regards to medical education and practice (Shi & Singh, 2013, p.55). There were fewer hospitals, and when one could be found they were often unsterile and filled with people considered to be burdens to society. Developments in the technological side of healthcare occurred during the postindustrial era. This brought great benefits to the United States, but also cause issues in that physician’s had to become specialized in a field to use the technology associated with it decreasing generalists and increasing the cost of healthcare (Shi & Singh, 2013, p.65). Ultimately, an increase in the overall health of the population was seen with these advancements, but many problems also arose with increasing costs. These costs are a major burden of healthcare today. The second thing to have a large impact on the US’s healthcare system was the birth of Blue Cross. This increased the demands of healthcare in the United States and led to the development of more hospitals, creating the system of healthcare that we are more familiar with