The American healthcare system is a fractured puzzle, but it is undergoing some important reforms as a whole. Here is a guide to some of the most important areas in which it is changing, and some of the most important areas in which it needs to change.
Smart Patient Administration
Healthcare providers are increasingly using smart software to administer patient appointments and records. This patient management software provided by Brevium, for instance, is used to decrease the workload placed on the shoulders of hospital and surgery administrators when keeping track of their patients.
Digital Diagnostics
American healthcare providers are increasingly adopting smart diagnostic tools that compare huge datasets to offer doctors information on the possible cause of a set of symptoms.
Data Security
High profile data breaches such as those conducted by the Lazarus Group using the WannaCry ransomware attack have opened up the public’s eyes to the dangers of data insecurity. Healthcare organizations hold all sorts of immensely sensitive data on their systems. Due to this, they need to invest heavily in data security strategies. Cybersecurity needs to be invested in heavily if American healthcare providers are to maintain the levels of trust they currently have with their patients. Patients will not submit their data unless they are quite certain that it will not be leaked to criminals and government organizations.
Public Health
Healthcare strategists have (hopefully) learned many lessons as a result of the devastating coronavirus pandemic. One of these lessons involves a realization: public health is more important now than ever. Public health is a field that was first developed 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. It is a form of healthcare that uses public education and vaccine provision to prevent widespread suffering, instead of just treating the symptoms of it. The coronavirus pandemic has opened healthcare strategists’ eyes to the fact that no healthcare system can withstand a pandemic unless it is concerned with meeting public health aims that prevent people from relying upon mass treatment. In the future, we can expect far more healthcare education to be funded.
Tackling Inequality
Inequality is rife in the American healthcare system. Inequalities based on race, sexuality, gender identity, and class are all too common in a system that should be centered on the provision of compassionate, science-based care. All these inequalities pale in comparison, however, with the huge financial inequality inherent in the American healthcare system. Massive changes need to be made to stop poorer Americans from receiving sub-standard healthcare – if any at all. Around 31 million Americans do not currently have health insurance, which essentially rules them out of being able to pay for healthcare without incurring huge debts. The financial inequalities in the healthcare system impact wider society. Prisons are teeming with inmates that have fallen into a life of crime after defaulting on uninsured healthcare expenses. Around 50 percent of Americans now carry some kind of medical-related debt. Tackling inequality in the healthcare system cannot be an achievable aim without widespread commitment to financial reforms.
