Posted by Roni on February 11, 1998 at 16:31:45:
1. Problems I see facing health care practitioners are:
Hospitals: DRG’s
Managed Health Care: The doctors are working for the insurance companies, not the patient. They are faced with the obstacle of lowering costs while providing quality care.
Long Term Care: Many Americans are uninsured for LTC.
Ambulatory Care: Many surgeries are being performed on an out-patient basis that were once in-patient procedures. Again the practitioner is being governed by the insurance company.
Rural Health Care: Cultural diversity. These health care professionals must learn to deal with problems facing the cultures they service.
Home Health Care: In Florida, mostly restricted to Medicare guidelines as to who they can accept and for how long.
2. I think that interdisciplinary health care teams are a trend of future health care. This way each health care profession is a specialist and the pt can greatly benefit from each one’s expertise and specified knowledge.
3. Since I am not currently practicing health care my answer will relate to what I plan on doing when I graduate. At this time, I would not consider working with an HMO because I do not believe they are able to provide the client with the best possible care. They see too many patients per day and are not able to spend an adequate amount of time with each patient. Also, from what I have seen in the past, the client sometimes has a hard time getting the physician to refer him/her to a specialist. I believe that the pt. should have the freedom of choice whether or not to seek additional care and the money and reimbursement should not always be the bottom line. Although I greatly believe in Hospice Care I don’t think I would last very long. Rural Care is not an option because of my children and strong family ties to this area.
I think I will start my career in a hospital setting. In that type of atmosphere I will benefit from observing a wide range of procedures and practicing many skills often. After gaining this experience I think I will then go into Home Health Care. With the changes in health care l think many people are being pushed out of the hospitals before they really should be and I think there will be a great need for home care.