Healthcare Reform and Implementation of Information Technology (Essay Sample)

Healthcare Reform
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Healthcare Reform
Introduction
The health care reforms have raised many concerns in the American society. The country is involved in a discussion over the future of the health care system in the country. Despite the dissatisfaction with the health care system, there has been no agreement on how to reform the health care system. The implementation of the Patient Protection Act was the first step towards the reforming of the health care system. This enactment of the Patient Protection Act is an efficient process for health care reforms. The ability of the Congress to pass the Patient Protection Act and the Affordable Care Act was a strategy to address some of the issues that affect the health care system in the country. The implementation of information technology in health care is one critical area that the government should consider. This paper will examine the initiatives that the federal government intends to use to fulfill the health care reforms.DiscussionsThe federal government has provided some health care initiatives with an aim of improving the performance of the health care system in the country. The health care system have faced many challenges (Glaser & Salzberg, 2011). One of the challenges is the managing of the funds associated with health care services. To solve these issues, the government has set up some initiatives that include improved quality care that relates to the health care information technology. Another initiative that the federal government has initiated is the cost savings that is associated with the Medical Supply Tracking and Inventory. The ability to increase accessibility of the medical care through Telemedicine has also been established to help the reform of the health care system in the country (Williams, 2011).Improved quality care associated with Health Information TechnologyThe federal government ability to integrate Health Information Technology is intended to provide efficiency in the health sector of the country. This program includes the incorporation of various electronic methods that are employed to manage the information concerning people’s health and the health care system (Glaser & Salzberg, 2011). This information system is aimed at providing services to both individuals and group patients. Despite its high costs, the information technology in the health care system tends to provide efficiency for medical care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) information technology initiative is included in the country’s strategy to make sure that the information technology works in the health care system (Williams, 2011). In the primary health care, some of the health care information technology involves:
* Clinical decision support
* Consumer health information technology applications.
* Computerized disease data
* Computerized provider order entry
* Electronic medical record systems
In 2001, AHRQ agenda was to reduce medical errors in the health care system. The appropriation included an estimate of US$50 million. This was also employed to improve the patient’s safety (Salvendy, 2012). Health care Information Technology tends to provide an environment that the health care providers can manage the patients effectively and better through secure application and sharing of the health information. The ability to provide secure and private electronic health information for the American communities and be able to provide the information that are available electronically when they are needed will improve the health care system of the country. The introduction of the information technology will improve the health care system even though it will increase the cost of operation (Coady et al. 2012). With the provision of the health information technology, the health care providers are likely to have the following:
* Accurate and trustworthy information concerning the patient’s health is provided through the health IT. Through this system, the health care providers are able to provide the best possible care to the patients. This may be during a medical emergency or a routine check.
* Health IT is likely to provide the health care providers with the ability to have an effective coordination when attending to the patients. This will be helpful in situations where a patient has a serious medical emergency.
* The health information technology can also be helpful when the patients need to make decisions about their health care. This can help the families of the patients be able to participate in decision making about the patient’s conditions.
* Another important thing that the health information technology provides to the health care providers is the ability to have the right diagnosis. The health providers may be able to identify the problems with the patients and be able to solve it sooner before it develops into a serious problem.
The health information technology requires analysis and understanding of how the current health care system work. An important area that the government should consider while implementing the health information technology is the cost of implementing (Long, 2012). The cost of implementing the health IT is expensive, and it will require the government to employ a high percentage of the country's budget to implement the initiative. The change support and human capital are important in the implementation of this initiative. For a successful implementation of the health IT, the change management in the health care system is critical. An effective management should be adopted to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the health care system ((Salvendy, 2012).Cost Savings associated with Medical Supply Tracking and InventoryThere are more reforms that are pushing medical facilities to adopt new methods to reduce the costs associated with health care, and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the health services. According to statistics, an estimated US$5 billion is lost every year (Bidgoli, 2010). This loss is associated with the operation of the medical supply chain in the health sector. Adopting an effective supply chain and inventory management will allow the health sector to reduce the cost used for managing the supply and inventory. The first method, which can assist in managing the inventory and supply chain effectively with an aim of reducing the operating costs, is the adoption of automating manual processes (Long, 2012). Through this method, the providers, and the suppliers will be able to get rid of the error-prone system from the inventory and supply chain.The health care system should be able to adopt a system similar to E-Commerce. The adoption of E-Commerce by the health providers or the supplier will allow a reduction in the health care cost loss (Long, 2012). E-Commerce systems such as expense management software have been helpful in the management of time and funds. This will work efficiently when the health providers and the suppliers apply the system correctly. These E-Commerce systems tend to provide important connections between organizations, providing visibility and accessibility of information that enables efficient management of data that the health providers and the suppliers wrongly enter into their systems. The ability to have the correct data during health supplies is important in reducing the costs. This will include inventory management and the ability to capture accurate data. The health care system has been interested in developing a standardized information system that will be able to leverage the automatic identification that will communicate information throughout the chain supply chain (Denton, 2013).The ability to establish an efficient business partner relationship with other stakeholders of the health system will allow the health sector to reduce the cost associated with supply chain and inventory. Efficiency tends to grow when there is a healthy relationship between business partners (Denton, 2013). The ability to have a close relationship with the trading partners in the entire supply chain environment will provide accurate and efficient business transactions thus reducing the unnecessary costs incurred during supply chain activities. It is important for the medical facilities to have a close relationship with the suppliers to provide better health care to the patients. The cooperation between the health care facilities and the suppliers will determine the productivity of the health care system in the country. The healthy relationship that exists between the providers and the suppliers is likely to reduce the costs associated with supply chain and managing inventory (Bidgoli, 2010).Increased Accessibility via TelemedicineThe health sector believes that telemedicine can provide better health care services to rural patients in the country. Telemedicine has been believed to have great potential to increase accessibility and quality of the health care in the country (Bidgoli, 2010). The introduction of technology in the health care system has allowed the rural communities in the country to have easy access to medical care. Telemedicine refers to the ability to deliver health care services and information remotely using telecommunication as a technology. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), the ability to use the telemedicine will enhance the quality service delivered by the health facilities. This initiative is thought to be effective in maintaining patients’ safety. More health facilities have been able to adopt the technology to expand their operation to the rural areas (Hall, 2012). This move is intended to establish a stable health care management throughout the country.The use of telemedicine has been proved effective in allowing the rural communitie...