The Impact of Medical Technology on Health Care Finance

The Impact of medical Technology on wellness C ar Finance Patricia Brewer health sustentation greet arrive at been get on up for several years. United States wellness alimony Exp shuttingitures surpassed $2. 3 meg in 2008, much than three times the $714 billion spent in 1990, and oer eight times the $253 billion spent in 1980 (Kimbuende, 2010). f completely this growth has become a major(ip) policy priority, as the judicature, employers, and consumers increasingly struggle to keep up with wellness attention tolls.In 2008, U. S. wellness c everyplace consumption was ab step forward $7,681 per resident and accounted for 16. 2% of the nations gross Domestic Product. This is among the highest of all industrialized countries. Total wellness trade expenditures grew at an annual rate of 4. 4 percent in 2008, a dim-moving rate than youthful years, yet still outpacing flash and the growth in national income. There is a general agreement that health be are likely to continue to farm in the near coming(prenominal).Many analysts realise cited controlling health care approachs as a signalise for broader scotch stability and growth, and President Obama has made cost control a focus of health reform efforts under way. By 2016, total health consumption is projected to rise to $4. 2 trillion. Rising health care cost raise health insurance premiums, which are similarly exploitation at a much quicker pace than overall inflation or workers earnings. health spending has been rising two and a cardinal-half percent a year, faster than the gross domestic product over the past quadruple decades (Covington, 2008).Although Ameri provides benefit from many a(prenominal) a(prenominal) of the investments in health care, the recent rapid cost growth, plus with an overall economic slowdown and rising federal deficit, is placing great strains on the arrangings workoutd to finance health care, including private employer-sponsored health insurance cov erage and human race insurance programs much(prenominal) as Medicare and Medicaid. Since 1999, family premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage nonplus increased by 131 percent, placing increasing cost burdens on employers and workers.The average cost of a unity-day stay in a infirmary has now risen to over $500, the total cost of a coronary bypass operation and follow-up treatment has reached $37,300, and the average cost of de spicyring a baby now exceeds $2500. As cost nurse increased, few people require been able to relent the medical checkup care they need. oer 37 one thousand thousand Ameri tins, including over 12 million children, carry no health insurance at all and are unable to afford private health care, they must rely on a common health system that quarter non deal with much(prenominal) a burden.With workers wages maturation at a much pokey pace than health care costs, many face difficulty in affording out-of-pocket spending. Government programs, suc h as Medicare and Medicaid, also account for a significant share of health care spending, except they have increased at a slower rate than early(a) private insurance. Medicare per capita spending has gravid at a slightly lower rate, on average, than private health insurance spending, at about 6. 8 vs. 7. 1% annually between 1998 and 2008.Medicaid expenditures, similarly, have grown at slower rate than private spending, though enrollment in the program has increased during the current economic recession, which whitethorn consequence in increased Medicaid spending figures in the near future (Kimbuende, 2010). A major ground of the rise in health care spending is re carryable to advancements in medicine and engineering science. Both have improved and lengthened the fucks of many Americans, but as most know they do not come without a cost. Newly rising procedures are often expensive to cast and increase overall health care spending. According to theCongressional compute king, the start of increases in health care spending could be attributed to the development and airing of new-made technologies and medical work. Such advancements also conk to changes in practice, which in concert tend to increase spending. Consumer demand and increased utilization add to costs (Changes in Medical Technology, 2007). Ethics comes in at this point beca wont medical engineering science is highly valued as a beloved consume of American medicine. Patients expect up to date procedures, doctors are primarily clever to use it, and the medical industries fuck off billions of dollars selling it.The rising costs are seen as a major issue because many people in the United States aid from the new procedures and treatments produced each year. Medical technology refers to the procedures, equipment, and processes by which medical care is delivered (Barbash, 2008). Changes or advancements in technology would let in new medical and operative procedures, as well as new drugs a nd medical devices, such as scanners and defibrillators. excessively the recent rise and interest in universalizing Electronic Medical Records and the use of pr rasetive medicine has attributed to the development costs. scientific figure has given us vaccines, antibiotics, advanced content disease care, splendid surgical advances, and fine malignant neoplastic disease treatments (Barbash, 2008). Most health policy analysts agree that the farthestsighted- depot increase in health care spending is principally the final result of the health care systems incorporation of these new serve in clinical practice. A robotic surgical device is an example of how technology advancement can increase health care costs. These high tech procedures of becoming extremely popular and seem to be the future of surgery.These robots give surgeons to operate remote-controlled robotic arms, which whitethorn facilitate the accomplishance of laparoscopic procedures. Laparoscopic surgery is associated with shorter hospital stays than open surgery, as well as with less surgical pain and scarring, and lower risks of infection and need for blood transfusion. Robotic technology has been adopt rapidly over the past four years in both the United States and Europe. The human action of robot-assisted procedures that are performed worldwide have nearly tripled since 2007, from 80,000 to 205,000. Robotic technology affects expenditures by increasing the cost per procedure.Robotic surgical systems have high immovable costs, with prices ranging from $1 million to $2. 5 million for each unit. Surgeons must perform 150 to 250 procedures to become adept in their use (Robotic mathematical process Technology, 2006). The systems also require costly maintenance and demand the use of rise to poweral consumables. The use of robotic systems may also require more operating time than alternatives. Robot- assisted procedures may contribute to shorter hospital stays, which leave decrease costs, but at the same time require physicians to train on these cats-paws. Each instrument is a pricey expenditure for a hospital to pay for (Barbash, 2008).To view as these instruments and keep them up to date ordain be an added cost as well. These instruments perform miracles and may seem like a wonderful addition to the surgical world, but are not cheap. Advancements in scanner technology, such as CTs, allows for greater visibility at a higher(prenominal) resolution than was possible before. Innovative scanners, advanced applications, and exciting break finisheds in clinical procedures are driving an increased use of a CT as a first-string diagnostic tool for procedures such as colonography, cancer detection and staging, lung analysis, cardiac studies and radiotherapy planning (Diagnostic Imaging, 2011). hospitals and other health care facilities are pressured to purchase such equipment to keep up with the public demand for these high-specialized tests. With out such machines and t echnology the public will romp elsewhere to receive the care that they so desire and need, which will end in a loss of profit for such hospitals and other facilities. some other technological advancement that has a great impact on health care finance is the emergence of the Electronic Medical Record. Electronic Medical Records is a computerized medical record created in an organization that delivers care, such as a hospital or physicians office.Electronic medical records tend to be a office of a local stand-alone health information system that allows storage, convalescence and modification of records. The 2003 IOM Patient Safety Report describes an EMR as, a longitudinal accretion of electronic health information for and about persons, immediate electronic inlet to person- and tribe-level information by authorized users, and provision of knowledge and decision-support systems that enhance the quality, safety, and susceptibility of unhurried care (Electronic Medical Records, 2011). The adoption of these records can be quite costly.The price of an EMR system can range from a 1000 dollars to ten grand dollars, and in some cases they can cost even more. EMR costs increase as the system becomes more feature-rich. Huge facilities can buy complete EMR systems that cost around plus forty thousand dollars. Training and maintenance costs also have to be interpreted into account when purchasing EMRs. All staff must be prepare to operate the new machines, coming familiar with the new software and patient records. If you want to utilize the EMR product to its full potential, then you need ironware that perfectly complements the software.Purchasing computers and up to date software that will last for the long term is also an added cost. These systems also require maintenance to keep them on the job(p) sufficiently. A facility may also need to hire a networking professional to monitor and maintain the network in their facilities. A networking in effect(p) wil l ensure that the workstations remain connected to each other and seamlessly switch over data (Electronic Medical Records, 2011). The installation and upkeep of EMRs is not a cheap process. Many hospitals and private facilities are hesitant to make the improvement.The costly technology can improve the quality of care for patients by knowing ones medical history and ethical drug medicine drugs they are on or allergic too. It can also decrease unnecessary testing in many cases. President Barack Obama, as part of the effort to revive the economy, has proposed a massive effort to modernize health care by qualification all health records standardized and electronic. His aim is to computerize all health records within five years. He believes the quality of health care for all Americans gets a big boost, and osts will decline. Independent studies from Harvard, RAND and the Commonwealth Fund have shown that such a plan could cost at least $75 billion to $100 billion over the ten years t hey cipher the hospitals would need to implement program. The healthcare initiative will be one of the priciest parts of the plan. Along with the high costs a major refer of the government is that lack of skilled workers to build and implement the necessary technology. The biggest cost will be paying and training the labor force essential to create the network.The savings of such a plan could be substantial. The government estimates that a fully computerized health record system could save the fabrication $200 billion to $300 billion a year, and could ultimately slow the rapid rise of health care premiums, which have cut into Americans pay checks. There are many advantages that the Electronic Medical Records pose for both patients and physicians. The EMR can sign up errors in medical records. Handwritten records are composition to lots of human errors due to misspelling, illegibility, and differing terminologies.On-screen or printed text is often far more legible than handwrit ten. This can help prevent patients receiving the wrong medication or procedures, saving doctors from medical malpractice suits (Molar, 2010). Clinical errors cause at least 44,000 deaths annually in the United States. These deaths largely result from process errors, or the failure to provide recommended treatments for patients with certain medical conditions. With compute medical costs estimated at $17 billion annually, these errors impose a substantial burden on both the health care system and society as a whole.The real time paperless record include reducing the need for costly reproductions of laboratory findings and diagnostic reports, which in many health care facilities are still typed, copied, and physically carried to a hospital floor, clinic office, or medical records room to be placed in the patients map (Hunt, 2009). Loss of reports, or delays, are common until this information reaches the chart and the providers. magic spell wages are rising at a rate of around 3% a year, health care costs are increase at about three times that rate (Goldman, 2009).Prescription drugs also sport a role in Health Care finance. Advances in pharmaceuticals have transformed health care over the last several decades. Today, many health problems are prevented, cured, or managed effectively for years through the use of prescription drugs. In some cases, the use of prescription medicines keeps people from needing other expensive health care such as being hospitalized or having surgery. In 2007, 90% of seniors and 58% of non-elderly adults rely on a prescription medicine on a regular basis (Kimbuende, 2010).Since the 1990s spending on prescription drugs has been a much more prominent particle of growth in total spending. From 1995 to 2005, it grew by an average of about 10 percent per year and is still on the rise as the future of prescription drugs lies in the baby crusher generation (Technological Change, 2008). increase Medical Technology has led to the use of def ensive medicine by many health care physicians. Defensive Medicine refers to services that have little or no clinical value, but that physicians order or perform at least to avoid lawsuits (Technological Change,2008).With high malpractice premiums, more physicians everyday are turning to this type of practice. It is raising health care costs by performing unnecessary tests and procedures on patients that may not need them. There is reason to believe that new technology can in fact reduce health care spending. Some vaccines may project the potential for savings, and certain types of preventive medical care may help some patients avoid costly hospitalization for acute care. future tense advances in molecular biology and familials, may one day offer the possibility of savings if they make curative therapies available.Continued advances in understanding the genetic origins of disease offer the credible possibility that future providers will accurately predict the health risks faced by individual patients and design therapies tailored specifically to them (Convington, 2008). Overall, examples of new treatments for which long-term savings have been clearly present are few. Many medical advances to date have increased spending because they made treatments available for conditions that were previously impossible to treat or were not aggressively treated.Furthermore, improvements in medical care that decrease mortality by helping patients avoid or survive acute health problems paradoxically increase overall spending on health care because live patients live longer and therefore use health services for more years (Technological Change, 2008). With the baby boomers approaching retirement age and living past recent life expectancy age, health care costs are projected to rise even further. Technological advances and new medicines and prescription drugs are keeping people alive longer and putting a strain on our health care system.In coming decades, the share of the po pulation that is covered by Medicare will expand rapidly as members of the baby- boom generation become eligible for the program, and the share that uses long-term care services financed by Medicaid will also probably increase. According to the American Hospital Association, the first boomers will reach 65 in 2011 and 37 million of them will be managing one chronic condition by 2030. Also 14 million Boomers will be living with diabetes, thats one out of every four Boomers. Almost half of this generation will live with arthritis, and that number peaks to just over 26 million in 2020.More than one out of three Boomers, over 21 million, will be considered obese. As these patients live with multiple chronic diseases, demand for services will increase. The number of physician visits has been increasing for all adults, up 34 percent over the last decade, and this trend is expected to continue. By 2020, Boomers will account for four in 10 office visits to physicians and over the next 20 y ears, Boomers will make up a greater proportion of hospitalizations as they live longer but with multiple complex conditions.At the same time, the number of registered nurses, primary care and specialty physicians will not keep pace with demand. As the Boomer generation is more racially and ethnically diverse, there will also be a greater need for caregivers who reflect the novelty of and increase in this population (How Boomers will change Health Care,2007). With ever-changing demands, expectations and new technology, care delivery will also change. Boomers have lived through an amazing array of medical advances, from polio vaccine to radical heart surgery, and that trend will continue over the next two decades.Medical Advancements are taking place every day and are given rise to growing health care costs. Rising health care expenditures lead to the question of whether we are getting value for the money we spend. Compared to other high-income countries, the U. S. spends more, but this spending is not reflected in greater health care resources, such as hospital beds, physicians, nurses, MRIs, and CT scanners per capitaor better measures of health. The United States necessarily to figure out a way to use these advancements to our benefit and reduce cost while maintaining good quality of care to every patient.With the growing elderly population, medical technology is in high demand as many people over 65 are suffering with at least one chronic condition. The Untied States government and health care providers need to figure out a way to reduce the health care costs. The incorporation of preventive medicine and Electronic Medical Records can aid in cost reduction for the future. Unnecessary testing should be avoided to also help reduce costs. Hopefully, EMRs can reduce the derive of tests being performed and duplicated.Policies focusing on new and expanding technologies may have success in reducing the rate of growing health care costs but can be difficult to implement. In the long run, livery health spending growth closer to the rate of overall economic growth would require finding shipway to slow the development and dissemination of new healthcare technologies and practices, as well as developing ways to weigh the costs and benefits of new technologies (Technological change, 2008). References Barbash, G. (2010). New Technology and Health Care Costs. 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