Our group felt that there should be universal health care in the United States for the wide range of outpatient services and primary care including:
- Wellness and prevention: services may include counseling, family planning, diabetes education, and nutritional counseling.
- Diagnosis: services may include ultrasounds, MRIs, CT scans, and laboratory testing.
- Treatment: services may include endoscopy, radiation therapy, and pain management such as acupuncture.
- Rehabilitation: services may include physical therapy, drug rehabilitation, cardiac rehabilitation, and home care services.
Shi and Singh write that “an estimated 75-85 percent of people in a general population require only primary care services in a given year (2008)”. Primary services are essential because many people access this type of care. There needs to be equal access to outpatient and primary services. This could be achieved through a national health care program.
As community health educators, outpatient and primary care services are very important to us. Wellness and prevention are included in these services and it is what we are using to improve peoples’ quality of life. We want people to be able to access and afford primary care because we are helping them achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Outpatient services. (2008, April 17). Retrieved February 12, 2009, from http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/outpatient-services-learning-about-outpatient-services
Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2008). Outpatient and primary care services. In Delivering health care in america: A systems approach (4th ed., pp. 244-282). Boston: Jones and Bartlett.
Author: Melinda Froehlich
I think that outpatient service is a very serious topic and should be taken into consideration more within the community health field. I thought the line, "We also feel that the responsibility should be shared and the healthy should take care of the sick," is very true. More people should think this way.
ReplyDeleteAs a future nurse and current employee at a hospital I see firsthand how access to healthcare is a problem in the United States. ER’s are flooded with patients, who have every right to healthcare but are unable to pay for the services that they need. I think that social justice is such an important concept in terms of access to healthcare and that our government needs to focus their attention to creating a healthcare system that allows people equal access to adequate healthcare as well as the necessary preventative measures to ensure a healthy future for our country.
ReplyDeleteER visits are the most expensive of all types of patient care but to some people it is the only way that they can be seen by a physician without insurance. I think that yearly physical exams should be available to everyone, as part of a government run healthcare system, as well as health education about diet, exercise, and modifiable risk factors that lead to many of the chronic conditions we see in today’s population.
As young healthcare professionals, I think that we have the drive and desire to create a better healthcare system and better social justice for all people.
This is such an important topic. I agree with this reform in that outpatient care should be affordable for all because the services that are offered deal with the wellness and prevention of illness and disease. If universal care was offered, people would be able to catch things early on and even prevent them from happening in the first place and would improve the quality of life for everyone.
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