American Health Care Environment

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Dynamic change characterized the American health care environment in the 1990s. Within such an environment, care providers and support organizations must develop and implement new and effective strategies if they are to remain viable entities.

The changes in the health care environment resulted from a combination of factors (increasing costs of health care, changing societal values, advances in treatment therapies, technological innovation, changing demographics, and many others). Cost was a major factor involved in changes in the delivery of health care delivery and support services. It was, therefore, imperative for health care delivery and support organizations to develop procedures that will lead to more effective and more efficient operations.

When health care delivery and support organizations implement changes designed to lead to more effective and more efficient operations, the human resource complement in the health care field is inevitably affected. When governments change regulations affecting the functioning of health care delivery and support organizations, again the human resource complement in the health care field is inevitably affected.

Regardless of how laudable changes implemented by health care delivery and support organizations or government may be in intent, such chan

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. If the current system is not changed, projections indicate that health care costs may eventually reach the level of 40 percent of the gross national product (Health, 1992, p. 24). The term "cost containment" used in relation to the delivery of health care services means different things to different people. When former President George Bush spoke of health care cost containment, he most often referred to initiatives designed to constrain price increases for the delivery of health care services. When current President Bill Clinton speaks of health care cost containment, he most often refers to proposals aimed at slowing or reducing total expenditures for the delivery of health care services. When the State of Oregon speaks of health care cost containment, the focus is on the control of the level of health care services utilization (Eddy, 1991, pp. 2135-2140). When the American Medical Association speaks of health care cost containment, the issue most frequently cited is provider costs incurred by such activities as malpractice law suits and third-party paperwork requirements (Starr, 1991, pp. 22-26). The focus one places on the meaning of health care cost containment typically shapes the character of one's health care cost
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Approximate Word count = 8289
Approximate Pages = 33 (250 words per page)

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