University of Texas, Dallas - HEALTH 4304final paper

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How the US healthcare system compares to other countries internationally? The U.S Healthcare System The United States has a unique health care delivery system. Nearly all developed countries offer ... universal health insurance programs, and the government plays a central role in them. The most notable way the U.S. differs from other industrialized countries is the absence of universal health insurance coverage. Almost all citizens are entitled to routine, basic, and other health care services. Before comparing the healthcare of other countries, let us see what the US healthcare look like. In the United States, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has expanded health insurance but not achieved universal coverage. Nearly 12.3 million people work in health care delivery settings, including doctors of medicine (MDs), doctors of osteopathy (DOs), nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and administrators, and about 451,500 physical, occupational, and speech therapists in rehabilitation services. The major characteristics of US healthcare System is that the US has no central governing agency and little integration and coordination. It is technology-driven delivery system focusing on acute care. Healthcare services are often high cost, unequal access, and average outcome. The delivery of healthcare is under imperfect market conditions and government is as subsidiary to the private sector. US healthcare is a fusion of market justice and social justice and access to healthcare are services selectively based on insurance coverage (Shi & Singh, 2018). History, Present and Future of U.S Healthcare From colonial times to the late 1800s, medical education and practice were far more advanced in Great Britain, France, and Germany than they were in the United States. The nation had only a handful of hospitals. There was no health insurance, private or public. Therefore, health care had 1 This study source was downloaded by 100000784424693 from CourseHero.com on 04-17-2021 08:48:30 GMT -05:00 https://www.coursehero.com/file/49064661/final-paperdocx/ This study resource was shared via CourseHero.com to be purchased using personal funds, and health care was delivered in a free market. Until around 1870, medical training was largely received through individual apprenticeship with a practicing physician rather than through university education. Only a small number of medical schools existed at that time. The early practice of medicine can be regarded more as a trade than as a profession, because medical education was not grounded in science. It most assuredly lacked the prestige it has today. Before the 1880s, the United States had only a few isolated hospitals, which were found in large cities such as New York, Boston, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. In France and Great Britain, in contrast, general hospital expansion began long before the 1800s. In Europe, medical professionals were closely associated with hospitals and readily adopted new advances in medical science. The forerunner of today’s hospitals and nursing homes in the United States was the almshouse (also called a poorhouse). Almshouses existed in almost all cities of moderate size and were run by the local government. An asylum commonly referred to as a lunatic asylum was the forerunner of today’s inpatient psychiatric [Show More]

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