Containment In Healthcare

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Cost containment, better quality of care, and patient safety are the issues that the health care system has been focusing on more in the recent years. The U.S health care cost is much higher than other developed countries such as Sweden and the United Kingdom. In 2011, the U.S spent “$8,233” on health care per person, which is “two-and-a-half times” more than most developed countries in the world (Kana). However, despite the high expenditure on health care, the U.S does not have the best health care system and deliveries lower quality of care compared to other developed countries. In a study, the U.S was compared to ten developed countries, and the “U.S stands out for having the highest costs and lowest performance. Despite having the most …show more content…
The report states that “health care in the U.S is not as safe as it should be and at least 44,000 people, and perhaps as many as 98,000 people, die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented” (To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System). Types of errors include diagnostic error such as incorrect or delay diagnosis, treatment errors such as an error in the dose or method of using a drug, preventive errors such as inadequate monitoring or follow-up treatment, and other errors such as failure of communication and equipment or system …show more content…
The report indicates that one of the factors that contribute to medical errors is “decentralized and fragmented health care delivery system.” A patient sees different doctors, and none of them has access to the patient’s complete information; therefore, the chances of making an error increase (To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System).
To Err Is Human was published almost seventeen years ago, discussing issues that are still the concern of today’s health care system. It means that the health care system has not improved and still struggles with the same issues as it was facing almost two decades ago. The system is still fragmented and lags behind other advanced countries in delivering high-quality care at an affordable price. However, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, which was a turning point in the U.S health policy, is intended to improve and fix the existing problems that have been affecting the health care in the

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