Health Care Costs and Health Care Quality
he Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, dedicated to improving the health and health care of Americans, focuses on research, publication and funding. wo of its articles, "What is the National Quality Strategy?" And "What's the price of health care?" focus on several important issues of national health care. By simplifying the explanation of our National Quality Strategy and examining several states' attempts at health care cost transparency, the articles can assist developers of health care policy in their efforts to reduce health care costs while improving health care quality.

Chosen Articles

he articles chosen are "What is the National Quality Strategy?" (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2012) and "What's the price of health care?" (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2012).

Issues Discussed in the Articles

"What is the National Quality Strategy?" discusses the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care, also known as the National Quality Strategy, mandated by the…...

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The authors' Perspectives Compared with Personal Perspective

Both "What is the National Quality Strategy" and "What's the price of health care?" are authored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by Robert Wood Johnson II of Johnson & Johnson, a global leader in health care products manufacturing and dedicated to improving the health and health care of Americans through research, publications and grants (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2012). The American Beverage Institute (Doyle, 2003) and the Center for Consumer Freedom (Center for Consumer Freedom, 2007) both criticize the Foundation for being anti-alcohol. However, from the perspective of a health care provider, the perspective of a major health care products manufacturer that is anti-alcohol -- even if the accusation is true - is not particularly troubling, for two reasons: neither article addresses only alcohol per se; alcohol consumption is, in fact, a significant contributor to health care problems in the United States (National Institutes of Health, 2012), so a foundation addressing health care concerns would tend to include alcohol in its discussions.

"What is the National Quality Strategy?" mirrors the basic elements disseminated by governmental publications (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012) while simplifying the explanations for general

As the increased costs that they are paying, will more than likely mean that they cannot afford to receive routine physicals and checkups. When you begin to reduce the number of visits, the odds increase that various conditions and ailments may be discovered once it is too late. This is when the condition has become so bad, that it will require an individual have to visit a specialist. Once this take place, it means that the cost of treatment to increase. Evidence of this can be found with a Milliman Study, which found that cost shifting represents 15% of the total costs at a health care facility. As various business and government programs are often seeking out ways to reduce their overall financial burden. ("2010 Medical Cost Trends")
At the same time, the rising health care burden on the individual could mean that they might not be able to afford…...

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Bibliography

2010 Medical Cost Trends. Blue Cross. 2010.

"Census Bureau." NY Daily News. 2009. Web. 30 Aug. 2010.

Medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million People. National Academies. 2006. Web. 30 Aug 2010.

At present, we spend nearly 15% of GDP, or $7,000 per man, woman and child in the United States on healthcare. The next highest nations, Germany and France, spend only about 10% of their GDP on healthcare. The additional 50% we spend does not reward us in longer lives or a better quality of life.
Those in the healthcare community would argue that Americans receive the best healthcare in the world, and we therefore pay more. I would argue that the best measure of healthcare is longevity, and Americans do not live longer than those in other developed countries. While we may lead the world in high-tech solutions to healthcare problems, the results are no better than elsewhere -- just more expensive.

We as consumers bear the primary responsibility to control costs

Our current experience in the healthcare system is that we make few choices, and do little to scrutinize the charges…...

Health Care Cost for Average Families Is Increasing
Health care costs are increasing at their lowest rate in 20 years, according to recent studies (AON, 2015), but at 4.1%, these costs are still increasing faster than the rate of inflation (Patton, 2015). For the average American family, the reality that health care cost increases have been sustained over two decades, at rates faster than either wage increases or the inflation rate, is cause for concern. Families already having a tough time making ends meet ultimately find themselves devoting increasingly large portions of their earnings to health care, to the detriment of other expenditures. There are a number of different factors that have contributed to this trend.

One of the reasons why health care costs have increased so much is that there are a number of different causes, and these causes are all working in the same direction of increasing costs. First, prescription…...

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References

AON (2015). U.S. health care cost increases at lowest rate in nearly 20 years: AON. Insurance Journal. Retrieved June 26, 2016 from  http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2015/11/12/388800.htm 

Khazan, O. (2014). Why Americans are drowning in medical care debt. The Atlantic. Retrieved June 26, 2016 from  http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/why-americans-are-drowning-in-medical-debt/381163/ 

Patton, M. (2015). U.S. health care costs rising faster than inflation. Forbes. Retrieved June 26, 2016 from  http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2015/06/29/u-s-health-care-costs-rise-faster-than-inflation/#5cacbed56ad2 

PWC (2016) Medical cost trend. Price Waterhouse Coopers. Retrieved June 26, 2016 from  http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/behind-the-numbers.html

Health Care Costs in the United States on the Access to Care
Total U.S. Spending on Health Care vs. Overall Health in America

The United States spends an extraordinary amount of money on health care. n 2009, health spending was $2.47 trillion dollars and accounted for 17.3% of the U.S. economy in 2009 (Pickert, 2010). This was a significant increase over the 2008 figure of $2.34 trillion and "was the largest one-year jump since 1960" (Pickert, 2010). This has led to predictions that by 2019, U.S. health spending will be $4.5 trillion (Pickert, 2010). Much of this spending is government spending. Approximately one-fifth of the federal budget in 2009 went to health-care spending. That year, the "federal government spent about $500 billion on Medicare; the federal government and states spent some $380 billion on Medicaid" (Pickert). However, while U.S. health care spending has risen, the quality of health care in the…...

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Increased medical costs mean that medical facilities may need to reduce their budgets. Oftentimes, this results in decreasing staff numbers and not replacing medical equipment and supplies when necessary. This is particularly troublesome for large-scale care providers, like hospitals, where supplies form a significant part of their budgets. "Many -- but not all -- of the price hikes are driven by the continually-rising price of oil, but others are not" (Zieger, 2008). The relationship between medical supply costs and oil prices is not simply about transportation, some medical supplies, like latex gloves, require oil to manufacture them. However, they also happen to be critical in helping curb the spread of disease in a hospital environment. "All told, it's an ugly picture that shows no signs of getting better over the near-term. And with many hospitals at the break-even point or even losing money, supply costs could be the straw that breaks the camel's back for some" (Zieger, 2008).

Zieger, A. (2008, July 22). Rising medical supply costs squeeze hospitals. Retrieved December

5, 2011 from Fierce Health Finance website: http://www.fiercehealthfinance.com/story/rising-medical-supply-costs-pinch-hospitals/2008-07-22

healthcare costs which are causing hospital a great deal of financial pain while also hurting patients in terms of higher bills. We need to understand that if an industry knows that its maintenance costs a lot, it will obviously pass on some of those expenses to its customers. The same is being done in healthcare industry and this is primarily because the cost of running and maintaining operations in a healthcare industry is very high in the U.S. The article talks about a research that is being carried out by a university and that seeks to find out if cost reduction methods used by other industries can be replicated in hospitals and other medical facilities as well. This is an important issue and the article is written to highlight the problem of higher maintenance costs in this industry and the fact that much of these costs can be avoided…...

Health Care Costs
ays to Cut Them Right Now

In the face of high health care costs, the health care industry is striving to reduce costs by addressing chronic, expensive drains on health care dollars. Researchers have offered numerous steps that can be taken to significantly reduce costs. Furthermore, while some cost-cutting programs are considered ineffective window-dressing, major health care providers have systematically and pointedly taken successful steps to reduce costs while rewarding compliance with those steps.

Three of the Ten ays to Cut Health Care Costs Right Now, Described by Arnst

hile Catherine Arnst describes 10 ways to cut health care costs right now and Kaiser Permanente addresses all 10 of those ways, 3 of the ways Kaiser Permanente cuts health care costs leap to mind: cracking down on fraud and abuse; developing a healthy workforce; and stopping infections in hospitals. "Fraud and abuse" in health care includes but is not limited to…...

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Works Cited

Arnst, C. (2009, November 12). 10 ways to cut health-care costs right now. Retrieved on July 23, 2012 from www.businessweek.com Web site:  http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_47/b4156034717852.htm 

Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. (2012). Healthy Workforce | Labor Management Partnership. Retrieved on July 23, 2012 from www.lmpartnership.org Web site:  http://www.lmpartnership.org/healthy-workforce 

Kaiser Permanente. (2008). Healthy workforce gateway. Retrieved on July 23, 2012 from epf.kp.org Web site:  https://epf.kp.org/wps/portal/healthyworkforce/selectregion-WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT= 

Kaiser Permanente. (2011, March 9). New research unveils high support for programs to reduce infections in hospitals. Retrieved on July 23, 2012 from xnet.kp.org Web site:  http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/pressreleases/nat/2011/030911sepsis.html

Healthcare Costs
Healthcare Issues

The healthcare industry is in turmoil. Ironically, there are many sides and perspectives to the argument because healthcare in this country is and always was a major part of all aspects of life. We cannot just say 'let's fix the doctors' and all the problems go away. Every single man, woman and child as well as every single private and business decision in one way or another is affected by the existing healthcare cost situation. Most people do not consider that even the price of milk in their grocer's store or the overall cost of their automobile has in some way been affected by the crisis in healthcare. Consider a simple business decision like hiring a new employee in any business sector. This relatively mandatory decision comes with all types of hidden healthcare related concerns. In the private sector, consider a family member deciding to go to college.…...

healthcare costs for smokers are significantly higher than their non-smoking counterparts, and this paper reviews the relevant literature to measure the degree, if any, to which smokers are currently paying their own health care costs. An analysis of the costs that are associated with the second-hand smoke generated by smokers to identify additional costs is followed by a summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.
Smokers Should Pay for Their Own Health Care Costs Incurred from Smoking-elated Diseases

Despite a growing number of aggressive campaigns to completely eradicate the habit in recent years, many Americans continue to smoke tobacco and incur a number of smoking-related healthcare problems as a result. In fact, the costs that are associated with caring for smokers' healthcare needs far exceed those of their nonsmoking counterparts, but some analysts argue that smokers are already paying their own share of health care costs…...

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References

Cox, S. & Foster, J. (2011). A smoking dilemma. Journal of the International Academy for Case

Studies, 17(1), 125-127. [PRINT]

Daynard, R.A. & Barr, B. (1999, November 8). Is Janet Reno's RICO lawsuit against big tobacco legally justified? Insight on the News, 15(41), 40. [PRINT]

Limbaugh, D. (2001, May 7). Federals' tobacco suit should go up in smoke. Human Events,

Higher Health Care Costs on usinesses
Without doubt, America faces some heavy challenges in the forthcoming years. First, still reeling from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States struggles to find the medium ground between protecting its border and sacrificing its people's civil liberties and stepping on other countries' sovereignty and freedom. Most recently, we've faced a large budget crisis, with huge line items such as Social Security and the social welfare net being threatened like never before.

Of course, we face our usual income disparity issues, with the rich getting wealthier, and the poor being evicted from the job market altogether, and with a sense of finality. Then there are the scores of environmental issues, crime issues and the large divide between the "blue" states and the "red" states.

ut none of these problems may be as galvanizing and as critical to solve as the nation's health crisis.…...

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Bibliography

   http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/healthcostsrpt.htm#dir   http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/07/healthcarerpt.htm http://www.fff.org/freedom/1201e.asp 

Canadian Medical Association Journal: Oct. 1, 2002: 167 (The link between publicly funded health care and compulsory licensing.)

www.pfizer.com

Buffett Taylor & Associates: Employee Wellness Initiatives Study.

Technology and Cost Containment:
The ongoing increase in the costs of health care has become one of the major impediments towards increasing the accessibility and affordability of care services and enhancing patient outcomes.

Policymakers and various stakeholders in the health care industry have taken various measures to help lessen the costs of these services. One of the major initiatives undertaken by these stakeholders is the adoption of technology to address health care issues related to cost. Health information technology incorporates a wide range of technologies that are used to manage and share patient information electronically instead of the use of paper records (Takvorian, n.d.). Health information technology has been adopted because of its potential to enhance patient safety, improve the quality and efficiency of health care, and assist in restraining the rising costs.

Even though technology is considered as a major measure for lessening the escalating costs of health care, there have been…...

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References:

Jessup, A, (2012, May). Health Care Cost Containment and Medical Innovation. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website:  http://aspe.hhs.gov/sp/reports/2012/costandinnovation/ib.shtml 

"Snapshots: How Changes in Medical Technology Affect Health Care Costs." (2007, March 2).

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved June 30, 2014, from  http://kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/snapshots-how-changes-in-medical-technology-affect/ 

"Summing Up HITECH Goals." (n.d.). Success EHS -- A Part of Greenway. Retrieved June 30,

U.S. HEALTHCAE
Influences towards the U.S. healthcare costs

Influence on U. S Healthcare

Influences on U.S. Healthcare costs

Throughout the years, the United States level of healthcare has been adversely affected by various emerging trends concerning Medicare. Some of these factors are the increasing health insurance industry, advancement in technologies used in medicine, demography changes and the improvement of customer support for healthcare. This has implicated towards the expenditures that continue to pile up towards the citizen and the U.S. government.

Increment in the rapid changes, in health insurance, has put health policies on the limelight. This is due to the cost containment towards the community (Kaiser, 2007). The issue of affordability of the insurance towards the citizens has advocated the re-address of this issue. Similarly, inconsistencies and different explanations from health policymakers has affected levels of health services from insurance providers and eventually implicating to division of costs from government health parastatals planning…...

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References

Karen, D. (2008). Slowing the Growth of Health Care -- Learning from International Experience. The New England Journal of Medicine. Vol 359. Pg 1751-1755.

Orszag, P. (2009). Demographics is a bigger problem than health care costs. Keith Hennessey: Guide to American Economic Policy.

Siegel, J.S. (2011). The Demography and Epidemiology of Human Health and Aging. New York: Springer.

Hypertension II
Cost of Hypertension

The economics of health care depends on a progressive decision process that allocates scarce resources, in a manner that achieves the best overall outcomes (Alcocer & Cueto, 2008, p. 147-149). This process is necessarily complicated and imperfect, and the desired result can be influenced by a number of social and political forces, including geographic boundaries, racial and economic disparities, and competing funding needs. To provide the best health care possible for a given funding level, policy makers will need to increasingly rely on evidence-based approaches to help them grasp the cost-effectiveness of specific treatments.

This cost-effectiveness calculation is complicated by conditions or diseases that contribute to the morbidity and mortality of other conditions. For example, hypertension is often recognized as a direct-contributing factor to diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease and aggressive hypertension treatment can't always be assumed to be cost-effective (Author, 2012). The actual costs…...

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References

Alcocer, L. & Cueto, L. (2008). Hypertension, a health economics perspective. Therapeutic Advances in Cardiovascular Disease, 2, 147-155. doi: 10.1177/1753944708090572.

Athanasakis, K., Souliotis, K., Tountas, Y., Kyriopoulos, J. & Hatzakis, A. (2011). A cost-utility analysis of hypertension treatment in Greece: Assessing the impact of age, sex and smoking status on outcomes. Journal of Hypertension, 30, 227-234. doi: 10.1097/HJH.0b013e32834d9f18.

Author, J.B. (2012). The cost of hypertension.

Barton, P., Andronis, L., Briggs, A., McPherson, K. & Capewell, S. (2011). Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of cardiovascular disease prevention in whole populations: Modeling study. British Medical Journal, 343, 1-10. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d4044.

Healthcare Costs
A number of factors have affected the costs of healthcare in the United States over the past 3 decades, and there has been a corresponding impact on the nursing field as a result. To determine the facts about these issues, this paper reviews the literature to identify those factors that have had an effect on increasing healthcare costs over the past 30 years following by an analysis concerning how nursing has been impacted by efforts to contain costs. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning factors affecting healthcare costs and their impact on the nursing field are presented in the conclusion.

Factors Affecting Healthcare Costs in Past 30 Years

Although the $2.8 trillion healthcare industry in the United States has become more efficient over the past 30 years, there have been some forces at work that have continued to drive increases in the costs of the provision…...

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References

Fischer, K. M. (2016, January 1). How the educational funding provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will affect the nursing shortage in the United States. Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy, 11(1), 54-57.

Medical cost trends: Behind the numbers 2015. (2014). Price-Waterhouse-Cooper: Health Research Institute.

The facts about rising healthcare costs. (2016). Aetna. Retrieved from  http://www.aetna.com/health-reform-connection/aetnas-vision/facts-about-costs.html .

Schreuders, L. & Bremner, A. P. (2012, June 1). Nurse perceptions of the impact of nursing care on patient outcomes: An exploratory study. Contemporary Nurse: a Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 41(2), 190-193.

Quality of Life
One thing that is extremely vexing and confusion about the United States is the amount of money spent per capita on healthcare and the supposedly related healthcare outcomes that are seen within that same country. Given how high the per capita spending happens to be, it would stand to reason that the healthcare outcomes in the United States would be better than countries that have lesser outcomes. However, that is simply not the case and it is worthwhile to explore why that happens to be the case. While it may be lifestyle choices, inefficiency of care or something else, there is clearly something amiss with the spending that is going on or what it is really having to address.

The eal Causes

Since the healthcare and societal structures of the United States are so complex, it is fairly obvious that there would also not be a singular cause for the…...

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References

Feirman, S., Glasser, A., Teplitskaya, L., Holtgrave, D., Abrams, D., Niaura, R., & Villanti, A.

(2016). Medical costs and quality-adjusted life years associated with smoking: a systematic review. BMC Public Health, 16(1).  http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016 -

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Rudisill, C., Charlton, J., Booth, H., & Gulliford, M. (2016). Are healthcare costs from obesity associated with body mass index, comorbidity or depression? Cohort study using electronic health records. Clinical Obesity, 6(3), 225-231.

1. A diet or lifestyle related disease is one that is brought about specifically because of the type of diet the person has or the lifestyle he or she chooses to live. 2. Obesity causes many health issues. The most common are sleep apnea, type II diabetes, and heart disease. 3. Obesity is linked to both diet and lifestyle. Someone who overeats and also does not exercise can become obese over time. 4. In society, obesity causes higher health care costs, "fat shaming," and discomfort for many people because of a lack of ability to accommodate larger-sized people (think airplane and bus seats,....

1. The Role of Technology in Transforming Health Care Delivery

Discuss the latest technological advancements in health care, such as telemedicine, AI-powered diagnostics, and wearable health trackers.
Explore how technology can improve access to care, reduce costs, and personalize treatments.
Analyze the ethical implications of using technology in health care and the potential for data privacy and algorithmic bias.

2. Addressing Health Disparities through Policy Interventions

Identify the root causes of health disparities based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location.
Evaluate the effectiveness of existing policy interventions aimed at reducing disparities, such as Medicaid expansion and community health centers.
....

Factors Contributing to Healthcare System Inflation
Healthcare system inflation refers to the persistent increase in the cost of healthcare goods and services over time. Understanding the underlying factors driving this inflation is crucial for policymakers and healthcare stakeholders to address this complex issue.
1. Technological Advancements:
Technological advancements, such as advanced imaging techniques, robotic surgery, and personalized medicine, have revolutionized healthcare but come at a significant cost. These innovations enhance patient outcomes but also increase the overall cost of care.
2. Rising Drug Costs:
The pharmaceutical industry plays a major role in healthcare inflation. Patent protection, exclusive licensing, and direct-to-consumer advertising contribute to high drug....