Health Care Industry Paper HCS 449 September 1 2014 Health Care Industry Paper Introduction Health care is one of the fastest growing industries It is difficult to keep up with the technological changes that have taken place and will continue to take place We have seen the introduction of The Affordable Care Act and Obamacare the rise of wellness and healthy lifestyles and the highest health care costs in the United States versus any other nation We are struggling as a nation to make health care affordable to everyone but it seems that we are constantly improving technology but we are not improving our health care outcomes The last 10 years in health care The electronic health record EHR or electronic medical record EMR as it is sometimes referred to is probably the biggest change in health care that I have been involved in I started working for a local hospital Columbus Regional Hospital in 2010 and we made the change to an EHR system in 2012 It has been a very challenging experience for everyone involved and so far unsuccessful in the finance area The incentive that was put in place for health care organizations to become compliant with the meaningful use policy influenced several organization to choose an EHR system too quickly Although the EHR system is working very well in our clinical areas Columbus Regional Hospital has also started to use the da Vinci Surgical System to perform surgery This robotic surgical system is state of the art and allows surgeons to operate at a very high level of precision CRH 2014 Robotic surgery offers several benefits over open surgery including faster healing improved patient outcomes shorter hospital stays and smaller incisions CRH 2014 Para 1 Other changes in the last 10 years include mHealth or mobile health which includes using mobile phones and tablets These devices can be used to monitor blood pressure heart rate and record your medical records With these portable wireless devices you can carry your medical history with you at all times which can be quite valuable when traveling away from home Telemedicine or telehealth is increasing in popularity especially in rural areas where it can be difficult for patients to travel There are now self service kiosks where a patient can register him or herself for appointments and can even pay the co pay for that day s appointment without ever having to talk to anyone This can save valuable time for the staff There are now home monitoring systems available for patients that allow your doctor to monitor your health remotely Jayanthi 2014 Medicare has added Part D to their insurance options for the elderly allowing for some relief of the expense of medications Unfortunately the cost of health care and medications has risen to about three trillion dollars or about 18 of our countries gross national product GNP Our health care spending is much higher than any other country and our successful positive outcomes are far less than any other country Pruchnicki M D 2014 Over the last ten years the focus preventative medicine and wellness has been the main topic of health care Many in health care have realized that there are many preventable illnesses and diseases that are caused by individuals lifestyle choices If everyone would eat better exercise and put down the alcohol and tobacco we could live longer healthier lives The more people concentrate on living healthy the costs associated with health care will be reduced The next 10 years in health care The next 10 years in health care will have just as many changes as the past 10 years if not more The 76 79 million baby boomers who will be 60 and older is predicted to be the biggest change There will be a significant growth in long term care facilities and acute care facilities Currently health care is experiencing a shortage of health care workers specifically physicians nurses and medical assistants This will continue to increase over the next 10 years and will create serious situations especially in long term care facilities In the next 10 years we will see greater involvement by individuals in their own health care decisions As patients have both more information about health issues and better tools for monitoring their own behaviors and health status they are gaining more control over their care Brown Smith Augenstein Osius 2013 para 3 In the next 10 years we are going to see major changes in our health care delivery systems The main changes will center on quality of care and preventative care including many new tools that allow patients to be in charge of his or her own health care I predict we will also see many more elderly individuals being cared for in their family homes My role in health care I am not entirely sure of my future role in health care I am currently a financial counselor at the hospital where I work and I help patients who are struggling financially We have an application process that is based on household size and income and I reach out to patients to see if I can assist them in the application process Many people are unaware of the assistance or think it is too complicated to fill out Another thing I often hear is that people think they will not qualify because they make too much money or because they have insurance I love helping patients who really want and need the help but my job can also be very frustrating There are many people who do not seem to care about the cost of his or her own health care and will not do anything to help themselves People who have thousands of dollars that go to collection agencies because they do not want to bother themselves with the application process for assistance Another part of my job is to call on patients whose accounts are getting ready to go to collections and I amazed at just how many people do not care I know that I do not want to be in the collection area in the future but I really love helping patients I will hopefully get more experience with Lean Six Sigma I have been involved with two team projects and love the work done to improve standard work instructions Adapting your skills to grow with the health care industry I plan on constantly educating myself and I currently work for a hospital that is constantly educating employees It is vital to stay on top of all of the changes as they relate to health care including government issues and policy changes One of the things that I love most about health care is the constant change there is never a dull moment How your perception of health