Business of Healthcare
Health finance touches many aspects of healthcare institutions including the mobilization of funds, allocation of budget and the mechanisms that run the centers as well as the income of the centers. From a broader perspective, health is a universal necessity and is dependent on age, sex and heredity of the population as the main factors (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016). The choices made with regard to these determinant factors also remain to be core and critical aspects to the health centers. Factors that affect health including the environment and social factors have a direct impact on the financial stability of a healthcare center. Government interference and support have also potential impacts on the wellness of financial institutions with much of the influence being on insurance coverage for healthcare services. Basing the discussion on factors that affect health and the healthcare institutions, health care institutions experience financial fluctuations depending on a number of factors (Cleverley & Cameron, 2007).
First, social economic factors have a direct interaction with the healthcare financial status. This implies that an improvement of social economic factors may lead to improvement in the healthcare sector because they are linearly dependent. For instance, citizens who earn very little incomes often lack the required resources that may allow them to access nutritious diet, proper housing and proper working conditions that promote health. As a result, health complications such as high blood pressure are likely to befall on this people (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016). In such circumstances, the government of the United States passed the Affordable care act which aims at reducing the costs of healthcare services and covering all Americans with healthcare insurance. This has been the answer to the problems of the less fortunate in America in the healthcare sector. Unlike those who earn adequately they will lack even treatment funds for these complications (Cleverley & Cameron, 2007).
In general the degree to which health status are valued has a direct effect to their well being and hence the status of the financial status of the healthcare centers. From a community perspective, the structure of the society which include the availability and distribution of resources, the culture and the population at large affects the health status of the locals (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016). From a recent research, some of the health complications such as mental disorders, obesity and low literacy are deep rooted by the way of life right from childhood. The role of nurses in fiscal responsibilities would have demanded them to improve the conditions of the working environment because they have what it takes to get this right. From this analysis, it is clear that social economic factors have a direct impact on the health and the healthcare centers (Cleverley & Cameron, 2007).
Secondly, the level of technology has an effect on the financial status of a healthcare center. This is because the credibility of the technology determines the quality of services and the efficacy to which the tasks are accomplished. Spending growth and savings are regulated with increase in technological advancement. Medical databases have improved the accuracy and speed of the filing of patient’s progress records failure to which a healthcare center would invest a lot of time and resources in getting the same job done. From the costs analysis studies done to assess the cost saving advantage of medical technology, the health economists have estimated 40-50% percent of the annual costs has resulted from the deployment of the technology.
The other potential factor is the demographics as well as the characteristics of patients. It is evident that aged people are prone to health problems compared to the young and therefore a country with large number of aged people requires more investment in treatment than that of young people. Gender also matters because the healthcare needs for women are very different from those of men. The amount of a healthcare spending is therefore dependent of the demographic factor which counts for the populations and insurance coverage of the patients. In connection with this factor, insurance coverage is also a determinant factor because it to some extend holds the population jointly (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016). Insurance coverage for a family with few members cannot be the same with that of many members. The emphasis put on health insurance coverage’s by the government greatly contribute to the well being of the financial stability of the healthcare centers. It was alarming that 33 million Americas did not have a health insurance cover in 2014 which means that the OECD does no0t recognize universal care. Even though many people consider health care to be a right, it is evident that it is a social responsibility and not the role of the government. For instance, the recent trend by which the insurers and the employers are placing fiscal duties on patients’ shoulders has significantly brought down the growth rate of the financial status of healthcare centers (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016).
It is also important to note that the kind of products and services a healthcare deals in has an effect on the financial well being. For instance some hospitals that have specialized in a specific type of service may experience some fluctuations if the kind of service comes to an end (Cleverley & Cameron, 2007). The kind of product or service determines the investment cost as well as the income expected for the future of the center. In addition, the kind of service affects the marketing power of the healthcare. It has been evident that marketing power carries forward the expenditure and the savings of the center. For instance, healthcare providers, physicians and other specialists can merge together to improve their market power over that of insurers. This confirms the fact that consolidations can lead to an increment of the hospital prices by up to 5% (Cleverley & Cameron, 2007).
In conclusion an ideal world would uphold equality and consider human health as the top most welfare to consider. Factors mentioned would not be something to consider because uniformity would fill the gaps between accessing the healthcare services due to social-cultural differences. Finally, the financial status and stability of a healthcare are dependent on a number of factors. First, the level of the financial stability is determined by the credibility of the technology. The number of health insurance coverage and the marketing power of the healthcare also affect significantly (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016). The demographics and the characteristics of the patients is also a factor because it affects the spending of a hospital. The kind of services offered is also contributing factors to the financial status of a healthcare center. These are just a few of the many factors that shall be detailed in this paper to deliver a quality analysis.
Reference
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Finkelman, A. W., & Kenner, C. (2016). Professional nursing concepts: Competencies for quality leadership.
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Cleverley, W. O., & Cameron, A. E. (2007). Essentials of health care finance. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
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