Industries in healthcare

4 paged APA styled paper.

Please answer to rubric level 3 – exceeds expectation.

Summarize how the following industries affect healthcare in the 21st century. (3–4 sentences each)

• Pharmaceutical research and manufacturing
• Information technology
• Regenerative medicine
• Patient-centered care
• Medical supply industry
• Healthcare marketing
• Long-term care
• Labor unions

Grading Rubric

Sub-Competency 2: Explain how socio-economic and healthcare trends have impacted the U.S. healthcare system.	Level 0	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Learning Objective 2.4: Summarize how various healthcare related industries affect healthcare.	Summary of how industries affect healthcare is missing.	Response includes a limited or incorrect summary of how industries affect healthcare.	Response thoroughly summarizes the impact of the following industries on healthcare: pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, information technology, regenerative medicine, patient-centered care, medical supply industry, healthcare marketing, long-term care, and labor unions.	Response demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following: Response provides additional insights on the positive and/or negative impact these industries have on providers and patients. Response is supported by references to two relevant academic and/or professional resources.

 

Sample response for illustration purposes only

2.4: Summarize how various healthcare related industries affect healthcare.

Pharmaceutical research and manufacturing

The pharmaceutical industry impacts healthcare as a medicine provider that has enhanced the outlook for patients with many diseases through their commitment to research and development (Henry & Lexchin, 2002; Brennan et al., 2006). Henry & Lexchin (2002), however, argues that, though treatment options are available for diseases, the drugs are expensive especially for those who require them most. Besides being beneficial to the patients, the pharmaceutical industry also enhances the physician’s professional growth through continuous medical education (Brennan et al., 2006). Through interaction with the providers, the industry has been criticized for negatively influencing physicians to increase prescriptions, but this can be countered through policies developed by professional medical bodies (Brennan et al., 2006).

Information Technology

Information Technology (IT) has become an essential tool in the management of healthcare organizations as well as managing patients’ health (Shi & Singh, 2012). For example, patients with heart failure can be monitored via telemedicine as they manage their health in their homes. Though IT is considered useful in the 21st century, there is some drawback such as increasing health care costs associated with advancing technological initiatives (Thompson & Dean, 2009). Healthcare providers have pointed out the benefits of IT in healthcare delivery such as reducing medical errors while using electronic medical records which has improved patient safety and efficacy of delivery of services (Yan, Qu, Li, & Xu, 2018).

Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative medicine is an advancement in medicine where scientists and clinicians develop therapies that can regenerate or create new tissues to stimulate the healing of diseased tissues or organs (Kevin et al., 2018). This advancement could help patients with diseases that were previously hard to treat such as diabetes, heart diseases, renal failure and spinal injuries (Shi & Singh, 2012). Regenerative medicine will motivate physicians to come up with innovative ways to deal with illnesses and advance health care (Kevin et al., 2018) which will be beneficial to patients with diseases caused by malfunctioning, or filed tissues (Shi & Singh, 2012).

Patient-centered care

Patient-centered care is vital to improving access to health care (Brunner et al., 2018). It is beneficial to the providers as they can understand the patients’ individual needs thus give the patients information that they require to make decisions regarding their healthcare (Shi & Singh, 2012). Shi and Singh also noted that the model improves health outcomes such as adherence to treatment and patient satisfaction. With the coordination of a team of caregivers, patient-centered care is essential in the management of chronic illnesses (Sheik, Khan, & Lageson, 2017).

Medical Supply Industry

With innovation in the healthcare sector growing, there is a growing need for products and procedures that would improve diagnosis and treatment which as (Robinson, 2008) noted would require the medical supply industry to be encouraged to produce cost friendly yet efficient and quality goods.  The devices assist physicians in decision making as well as treating patients. However, the cost of acquiring them becomes a burden to the payer. Agwunobi & London (2009), recommended that healthcare industries need to have improved supply chain management and high volume purchasing to reduce supply chain related healthcare cost.

Healthcare marketing

Healthcare marketing is a relatively new concept in healthcare that can be used to influence patients and attract customers (Sayre, 2014; Koumpouros, Toulia, & Koumpouros, 2015). Marketing on the internet enables patients to seek valuable health-related information and makes the patients comfortable to communicate with their physicians as noted by (Koumpouros, Toulia, & Koumpouros, 2015). Though this medium is beneficial to patients, it can have adverse effects such as misleading information as well as the lack of security and privacy. Patients therefore need to be cautious about the knowledge that they gather form marketing, especially on social media. Most physicians though, are yet to fully embrace this new trend of communication with patients as this appears an excellent opportunity for both patient and healthcare providers (Koumpouros, Toulia, & Koumpouros, 2015).

Long-term care

With an aging population in America, long-term care (LTC) will be a necessity as it is generally needed in later life as discussed by (Shi & Singh, 2012). One of the drawbacks is long-term care financing, as Medicare only covers a small percentage of adults who need it, with time the healthcare expenditure will increase due to this need. With the rising issues of financing long-term care in America, the cost of coverage for their health needs may be addressed by the young American taxpayer money which may cause disdain (Zachary, 2018). Zachary concludes that to discuss the LTC financing crisis the population needs education on the need for planning for their health care in later life and policies addressing financing should be fair to all demographics to avoid suppressing one group over the other.

Labor unions

As the cost of health care in America has been increasing, labor unions help shape health care reform debates (Steve, 2003). Steve argues that through labor unions, Americans can challenge the government for improved health services as the unions fight politically for the workers’ needs and not necessarily what the leaders think should be provided.  Unions not only represents those seeking health care only but the providers as well. There is an increase in nurses’ unions due to the increased job pressure which helped address oppressive management (Forman & Davis, 2002). By addressing the nurses’ issues, the unions have assisted in employers in having construction relationships with the workers leading to less stress and health worker satisfaction.