Us Health Care System

HCS 531

March 26, 2012

The United States Health Care System Paper

The United States health care system is one that has gone under scrutiny for its delivery methods and lack thereof. The health care system in the United States is the largest in the world although some argue if the system qualifies being identified as a system at all. The idea of the health care system in the United States along with the delivery of care, and the burden placed on health care delivery by beliefs and values are areas that need attention to ensure continual improvements in the delivery of care within the United States. This paper will focus on what a health care system is and how beliefs and values affect that system in the United States. This paper will also look at health care delivery models in America and how the health care system applies to models of the health care delivery in the United States

Definition of a Health Care System

To fully understand what a health care system is and does, one must understand what a system is and how it operates in comparison to health care. A system is defined as “a set or series of interconnected 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 way the health care system is run in the United States contributes to its shortcomings of American citizens. By definition, a health care system is “the complete network of agencies, facilities, and all providers of health care in a specified geographic area” (Moby’s Medical Dictionary, 2008, para 1). In the United States, several organizations, and individuals who provide different services, dominate the health care system.

In chapter one of the textbook titled Delivering Health Care in America, Shi and Singh discuss the health care system in the United States. They describe the health care system in the United States as a “veritable system that is a kaleidoscope of financing, insurance,...