Reply to each students discussion post 1-2 paragraphs. Your responses to peers need to be substantive, with constructive suggestions, critique, or insights. You are expected to use in-text citations and list of references to support your posts.

Errolee Clare (students name)

Data sharing, interoperability, equitable access, empowered consumers, behavior change, and scientific breakthrough are key areas that are expected in the future to transform the health system from treatment-based reactionary care to prevention and well-being. Health care is a key issue in the United States and a major source of debate. The health care system in the United States is complicated and fragmented, making it unsuitable for providing high-quality treatment to the country's millions of uninsured or underinsured citizens. In terms of health care results and patient safety, the United States trails well behind the rest of the industrialized world. In addition, it is the only developed country without universal health care. The United States is one of the few industrialized nations with a healthcare system that is decentralized (the majority of developed countries are centralized). The United States spends more on healthcare than any other nation, notwithstanding its decentralization. This is mostly due to the fact that the United States has the highest incidence of both sickness and injury in the world.

People that are mostly impacted by the challenges in the US healthcare system are the uninsured, rural populations, the elderly, racial minorities and economically disadvantaged. The uninsured lack access to basic health insurance coverage due to the cost or not able to get it through their employers. Rural copulations lack access due to providers unwillingness to establish services in small rural communities or they have no access to transportation. The elderly often has government-based insurance which many have trouble getting care in a timely manner or they struggle with out of pocket cost for supplemental coverage that Medicare will not cover. Racial minorities have less access to healthcare. The economically disadvantage who are below poverty level simply cannot afford healthcare even if they access it.

Advanced technology has resulted in advanced healthcare solutions. One of the healthcare solutions that could be dominant in the industry is wearable technology. Wearable technology has already entered the market with Fitbit and Apple watches. These watches monitor factors like the number of steps taken, heart rates throughout the day, sleep patterns, and number of calories burned. Then the data collected is typically sent to the user’s smart device allowing them to review and assess the information. However, wearable technology still has a lot of room to grow in the future. This technology provides valuable information to their consumer, but it is not in-depth information. According to an article, this disadvantage is “restraining the market for wearable technology and IOT wearable device in regions” (SBWire, 2017). This allows “investments in research and development [to] provide an opportunity to strengthen the wearable technology and IOT wearable device market” (SBWire, 2017).

Changes in the overall economy, demographics, personal lifestyles and behaviors, technology, and federal and state government policies are expected to significantly impact the healthcare industry by 2025. The U.S. healthcare system is constantly evolving as broad economic and demographic trends become relevant to the healthcare world. The ability to recognize these trends allows for new innovations and job opportunities to arise. The economy is expected to be stronger and the patient population is expected to increase. In addition, medical conditions brought about by people’s lifestyle conditions are expected to have an effect on the industry. Advancements in technology are expected to provide better healthcare solutions, and changes in laws will affect how healthcare organizations are expected to provide care. The changes create a need to implement better healthcare solutions to address the healthcare needs of the population.

Gopal, G., Suter-Crazzolara, C., Toldo, L., & Eberhardt, W. (2019). Digital transformation in healthcare-architectures of present and future information technologies. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM), 57(3), 328-335.

Grol, R., Wensing, M., Eccles, M., & Davis, D. (Eds.). (2013). Improving patient care: the implementation of change in health care. John Wiley & Sons.

SBWire. (2017, November 14). Why Wearable Technology and IOT Wearable Device Market

Adilene Mendoza-Pelayo (students name)

· The major trends and future needs of the US Healthcare system are the increase of mental health needs and the growing racial and socioeconomic disparities in access to care and health outcomes.

· The people who are most impacted by the challenges faced by the system are communities, individuals and families, minorities, and healthcare workers. Many healthcare professionals do not know how to respond to the increase in behavioral health needs. As presented by Wilson 2015,  "There is a real sense of responsibility, that part of our job and mission now is the whole student, not just the education of the mind," says Beth A. Pontari, chair of the psychology department at Furman University. "Our job is to produce better-functioning people. But when you have students who are more medicated and have been seeing a therapist since they were 12, that is very difficult."

· The challenges relate to the specific characteristics of the US healthcare delivery system in many ways. It relates in fusion of market and social justice, access based on insurance coverage, high cost of care and unequal access, and imperfect market conditions. For instance, gender inequity is a big problem that affects females more than males. As presented by McDevitt & Roberts 2014,

We have also demonstrated that the effects of imperfect competition and heterogeneous preferences have a meaningful impact on the welfare of female patients. In related studies, researchers have claimed that preference minorities derive less utility from consuming sub-optimal products, though reasonably close substitutes to their ideal products are often available.

            This shows that care is not equally accessible for everyone and that females are often at a disadvantage if they need to see a female provider.

· Technological advancements can both influence the healthcare field in a negative and positive way. For instance, many providers are intimidated by technology as they feel they can not keep up with all the changes especially if these providers are older. Technology can help improve processes as things can get done quicker and more efficiently, but they can also seem very intimidating.

· An approach that is already being taken to address these significant changes are that FQHCS are offering their providers an incentive of $20,000 to specialize in Behavioral Health. This is because due to the pandemic there has been an increase in demand for these services, but the number of available therapists can not meet that demand. FQHCs also help in reducing healthcare disparities and increasing access to care regardless of a patient's ability to pay for services or if they have insurance. 

McDevitt, & Roberts, J. W. (2014). Market structure and gender disparity in health

      care: preferences, competition, and quality of care. The Rand Journal of

      Economics, 45(1), 116–139. https://doi.org/10.1111/1756-2171.12044

Wilson. (2015). An epidemic of anguish: overwhelmed by demand for mental-

            health care, colleges face conflicts in choosing how to respond.(SPECIAL

            REPORT). The Chronicle of Higher Education, 62(1), A38–.