Center for Health Care Strategies
In the year 1995, with significant financial aid from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Center for Health Care Strategies was formed. This formation was in response to the introduction of managed care in the US healthcare system, which had threatened to reverse the gains made in the prior years. Its purpose was to make health care affordable and accessible to the most vulnerable members of the populations, which include the elderly, those with meagre earnings as well as those with chronic health conditions. Today, the Center for Health Care Strategies boasts of partnering with a significant number of stakeholders in the health system across all the States in the country.
Center for Health Care Strategies is a non-profit policy center which is primarily concerned with the development of policies that make quality health care accessible to US citizens with low incomes. It spearheads inter-departmental exchanges in terms of resources, policies and skills to ensure the use of best-practices hinged on reliable research in the dispensation and utilization of health care services. Over the years, the stakeholders brought on board by the organization have included state agencies, federal agencies and community organizations, among others. It, therefore, acts as an essential link to all the states and bodies involved, providing critical technical assistance and training besides advocating for the translation of available policies into ground practices.
The organization has grouped its activities into four categories. “Collaborative Learning and technical assistance” enables the smooth transfer of information among peers that guarantees quality healthcare to the vulnerable in the society. “Leadership and Capacity Building” focuses on training through the Medicaid training institute. “State technical assistance” aims to educate relevant state agencies on up to date trends and strategies around the health care system for the betterment of service delivery. Finally, “Best Practices Synthesis and Dissemination” advocates for the implementation of policies that have already been developed, pegged on current trends and with a basis on reliable research programs.
Overall Readiness to Meeting the Healthcare needs of Citizens in the Next Decade
An upsurge in lifestyle diseases will primarily characterize the coming decade. Non-communicable illnesses currently form a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the US, and current trends indicate that the numbers can only go up. As such, the USA is likely to see an exponential rise in diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and other cardiovascular conditions. For instance, several studies have shown that by the year 2030, half of all-Americans will be Obese. Furthermore, changes will translate to higher expenditure in the healthcare system. The cost of obtaining health services in the USA is already prohibitively high. A study released in the year 2017 indicated that the US spent almost double what its peers in the OECD spent as a fraction of the gross domestic product. However, the same study ranked the USA last in terms of accessibility and utilization of health services. Part of the reason was the high cost associated with the consumption of healthcare services in the country. Another research showed that sixty-two per cent of US citizens who filed for bankruptcy in the year 2007 did so because of medical expenses (Center for Medicare Advocacy, 2017).
The Centre for Healthcare Strategies is not prepared to meet the health demands of the coming decade. Information on its official website indicates that more than fifty per cent of Medicaid spending was directed to only five per cent of the patients. In essence, the organization has watched as medical expenditure is directed towards a tiny proportion in the population. Once the population increases as is wont to be, there is a possibility that the agencies and systems supported by the organization may come crumbling. Furthermore, the majority of low-income citizens are from ethnic minorities. This critical population is set to experience exponential growth in its numbers (Center for Medicare Advocacy, 2017). Therefore, the proportion of the people that would be reliant on services from Medicare and, by proxy, The Centre for Healthcare Strategies, will be enormous. Even so, the organization has not put in place measures to address the issue or provide guidance and technical support to relevant stakeholders to ensure sustainability is achieved. If the trend continues, eventually, health care will be a preserve of the privileged, thereby going against the principle of universal health care.
Strategic Plan
For the organization to remain relevant, and for the long term sustainability of the health care system, it will be paramount for the organization to invest in preventive medicine. Furthermore, the investment will have to be purposefully directed towards the ethnic minority.
First, there is an imperative to advocate for lifestyle changes. The diseases of the forthcoming decade cause significant morbidity and mortality, yet, they are quite easily preventable. For instance, obesity can be avoided by vigilant exercise routines and intake of healthy diets. This healthy eating will demand a shift from current trends like drinking, smoking and affinity for junk foods. More or less similar strategies can mitigate the risk of cardiovascular events. However, for the approach to be successful, this vital information must find itself within the domain of the general public. As such, there will be an imperious need to have stakeholders join heads and chart a way forward.
Secondly, regular screening will have to be the order of the day. For normalization of the prohibitive cost of healthcare services, besides prevention, early diagnoses will be critical. Late diagnoses compound patients to more procedures and, subsequently, more costly interventions. If the conditions are nipped in their buds, there is optimism that the situation will be manageable.
Current Issues that could affect the strategy
The strategy advocated for herein aims to reduce the cost of healthcare expenditure, thereby making healthcare services available to vulnerable members of the society, like the low-income earners. This vulnerability is especially and unfavourably skewed against the ethnic minorities. Two factors may affect the success of the strategy. First, whereas the aim is to reduce the cost of expenditure, the initial implementation of the strategy will require significant investment. With the current market forces in play, the initial price will be prohibitively high. However, it will be noteworthy to consider the long-term benefits of the program. In the long run, the benefits will be felt across all sectors. Secondly, the ethnic minority are disproportionately more impoverished. For instance, the US Census Bureau reports that twenty-five per cent of Hispanics are poor, and the number is slightly higher for African Americans at twenty-seven per cent (Center for Medicare Advocacy, 2017). The current economic almost guarantees that the poor become more impoverished as the rich get richer. If the root cause of this selective poverty is not addressed, even with proper strategies, there still will be a poor utilization of health services by the ethnic minority.
Model of implementation of the Strategic Plan
The secret to the successful implementation of the strategy will be the development and expansion of stand-alone outpatient facilities. The rationale is simple. Over the years, it has been proven that outpatient care is cheaper than inpatient care. Furthermore, the development of these facilities is relatively less expensive. They require less capital investment than whole hospital units and are also relatively cheaper on the maintenance. The outpatient facilities will enable frequent visits by the target populations, which will translate to better prevention practices, increased early detection of conditions and averting of avoidable long-term complications of illnesses.
References
Center for Medicare Advocacy. (2017, July 27). Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from
https://medicareadvocacy.org/medicare-info/health-care-disparities/
CHCS. (2019, January 16). Adults with Complex Needs. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from https://www.chcs.org/topics/complex-populations/
CHCS. (2020, January 22). About Us. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from https://www.chcs.org/about-us/