Significant Health Care Event
HCS/531
8 June, 2015
Significant Health Care Event
The United States delivery health care system is in a constant revolving state of change. There are many factors involved in the changes to include managed care, capitation, the multiple-payer system, and excessive litigation. The changes that occur are mainly due to events such as a reactive response to concerns regarding cost, access to care, and the quality of the care being received. This paper will focus on how the technological revolution relates to the changes on health care, how it has impacted the historical evolution of health care, and whether I personally agree with the event’s significance.
Technological Revolution
Technological innovations have made it possible for users to use portable devices such as their phones to access medical information. With technology it is also possible to monitor vital signs, take tests at home, and even receive care at home from a physician through a computer or other portable device. Technological revolution has been primarily responsible for bringing medicine into the public domain. Advancement of technology has influenced other factors as well such as medical education, growth of institutions, and urban development (Shi & Singh, 2012, p. 82).
Technology today has dramatically changed how we communicate with each other. Technology has also changed the medical field. We can now, using new technology, image any part of the body and do a three-dimensional reconstruction, eventually leading to the capability of printing an organ. The direction technology is growing on a daily basis it is seemingly unlimited. Cloud servers, genome sequencing, imaging capabilities and health information systems it seems as though the sky is not the limit anymore. There is much more that we as a species can accomplish. Yet, it is unfathomable why so many almost one out of every two adults in the United States has at least one chronic illness, many of which are preventable ("National Prevention Strategy: America's Plan For Better Health And Wellness", n.d.).
Historical Perspective
The manner in which technology advances is almost impossible to keep up alongside with, let alone fully understand. Let’s take a step back into time where electronic medical records did not exist. Paper records, paper charts, paper files are how everything in health care for a patient was recorded. One aspect that stands out, in my opinion, is reading other peoples handwriting. This might seem like a miniscule subject, but if a nurse or doctor cannot read another person’s handwriting time is wasted