Hcs 531

The U.S. Health Care System

Toccara L. Grant

HCS/531

June 25, 2012

Jennifer Culotta

Abstract

The healthcare system in United States has been under close examination for their delivery methods. As you read through it will go more in depth with the health care models in the United States. This paper will discuss the meaning of health care systems, health beliefs and values, and health care delivery prototypes. United States has the largest health care system in the world. The health care system has beliefs and values that can improve in the delivery of care within the United States.

The U.S. Health Care System

Health care system is sometime referred to as healthcare system. Health care system is the organization of people, establishments, and resources to deliver health care services to meet the need of the population. A system is“a set or series of organized or interdependent parts or entities that act together in a common purpose or produce results impossible by action of one alone”(Moby,2008, para 15). “The complete network of agencies, facilities, and all providers of health care in a specified geographic area” (Moby Medical Dictionary, 2008, para1). “Veritable system that is a kaleidoscope of financing, insurance, delivery, and payment mechanisms that remain unstandardized and loosely coordinated (Shi, Singh, 2008, p.4). The United States health care system functions mainly off private entities with the small exception of individuals who qualify for governmental insurance help or are self-payers. Many critics of the health care system in the United States have argued that the current system allows private entities to control the market and drive up costs. Shi and Singh also state that missing dimensions in the current health care system in the United States has led to duplication, overlapping, inconsistency, and waste” (Shi, Singh, 2008, p. 5).

Health Care Delivery Models

Health Care Delivery Models in America There are four different health...