HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT

Health Care Management



Health Care Management

Thesis statement

The paper discusses the latter chapters of Health Care Management. The paper discusses the importance of health care management. The paper mentions the health laws and issues. The paper provides the summary of main points discussed in the following chapters.

Introduction

The concept of Health Care Management has got a lot of importance. Because of an increasing number of patients these days in many parts of the world, this topic has gained a lot of significance in recent years. Hospitals are investing a lot of money in this regard for the betterment of patients. Although, it demands exorbitant costs but, they are necessary. If any hospital, needs to maintain proper management of healthcare services, than a certain level of financing would be required (Finkelstein, 2007).

Discussion & Analysis

One of the salient points is the latest and advanced technology. Using information technology (IT) to provide comprehensive patient records would both reduce medical errors, such as prescription of drugs that are counterproductive, given patient allergies or when combined with other medications, and provides cost-savings by eliminating unnecessary duplication of diagnostic tests. Another use of IT is the expansion of health care provided report cards. Although critics fear that providers will attempt to avoid treating the most difficult cases that might spoil their records, risk/adjustment applied to reporting can largely overcome this difficulty, and public support for making such information available is now widespread. The use of IT to simplify and standardize insurance claim forms is also broadly advocated. A related proposal requiring that all health insurance contracts cover certain basic services is more controversial. Critics argue that this would curtail freedom of choice if “consumer-driven” insurance options were ruled out. However, proponents of regulation believe that most consumers would benefit from requirements that all plans cover a broad range of medically necessary treatments and not exclude any on the basis of pre-existing health conditions (Gruber, 2000).

Another important point discussed in the book is the medical care. Medical care also differs from most other expenditures, even those that people think of as human capital investments, because much of it occurs as a result of negative shocks to health that is widely unanticipated. It is the combination of the degree of uncertainty about one's future health state and the high cost of medical care (relative to household budgets) that makes the transferring of risk to a third-party payer through insurance such an important phenomenon in the market for health care. Education has also been found to be positively associated with the demand for health, although it is still under investigation. Education may shift the demand for health, because of a taste or preference change, and/or may increase the productivity of the inputs into health. This model can easily be accommodated to incorporate risk or uncertainty. The role of uncertainty in the demand for health and health care is very important (Pauly, 2001).

An important advancement in health care is related to technology, modern discoveries and ...