The Evolution of Health Care Systems
Sonya Smith
HCS 533
02/16/2015
Dr. Kevin Lett

The Evolution of Health Care Systems
Healthcare facilities has changed drastically over last 20 years in more ways than one. They have completely changed from what they were then to what they are now. The needs of patients and society has changed, the way technology is used is more advanced now than ever before, and the cost of healthcare is dropping. Another key important note is how health care information systems have progressed in medicine and in informatics. All the changes that health care facilities have under went not only affects the patients, it also affects the workers and the communities. With changes in health care organizations and delivery come changes in staff roles, responsibilities, and training needs (Pindus, 2013). In this paper, I will compare and contrasts contemporary health care facilities with healthcare facilities from 20 years ago. I also will include an examination of information systems in the workplace and an analysis of how data was used 20 years ago in comparison with how it is used today. I will lasty identify at least two major events and technological advantages that influenced current Health Care Information System (HCIS) practices.
Compare and Contrast
In order to understand how health care facilities have changed over the years, you have to know what that health care facility was before the changes. Change does not happen overnight, however in the healthcare industry, changes are constantly and increasingly taking place. The restructuring of the healthcare industry refers to a sweeping array of changes in the organization, ownership, and regulation of health care providers and in the delivery of services (Pindus, 2013). Twenty years ago, health care facilities were known to include lengthy stays, severe blind spots in prevention and a lack of patient respect, according to medical historians and health care professionals (US News and World Report, 2015). Healthcare facilities were not as patient-driven back then as they are now. The hospitals of yesterday were still facing patient segregation and discrimination based on race. According to a 2003 article published in the American Journal of Public Health, some hospitals treated patients of certain races only, while other facilities were segregated by floor or sections, with better amenities provided to white patients (US News and World Report, 2015). The stay at hospitals were long and lengthy. Sometimes a visit to the hospital could have taken 24 hours just to run a series of tests. Smoking was allowed on the hospital grounds in certain areas such as the cafeteria, the waiting room and outside. Patients had very little say so of their own care. The most critical was that technology was not as up to date twenty years ago. Today’s health care facilities have changed alongside healthcare. “Health is driven by health care, but it also is driven as much by everything that is not health care - all the social factors, economic factors, and demographics,” says Maulik Joshi, senior vice president and CEO of the American Hospital Association’s Health Research & Educational Trust (US News and World Report, 2015).
Nowadays, health care facilities are no longer segregated and treats patients of all race and national origin. Today’s contemporary health care facilities now have the technological advances that drive majority of the changes that have taken place. Instead of staying so long in hospitals, patients can now take home a lot of the equipment that is needed for care. Outpatient clinics were developed to help filter out patients that would usually require a hospital stay, now they can be treated through outpatient care. Moving patients out of the hospital quickly, discharging patients sooner, and still delivering the best care has became the most important to health care professionals. Another big issue that changed from 20 years ago was smoking