In todays world, research is a fundamental segment when it comes to nursing as well as expanding the nurses roles. From what I learnt, nurses nowadays want to conduct thorough research on as many problems as they can, as well as observing patients more as compared to the traditional hospital systems. This move sets the grounds for multi-disciplinary research, as it is a plausible feature in scientific study. I agree with Woolf when he says that any new treatment as well as research knowledge should reach different populations or patients. In many cases, once there is a new treatment, many patients are not in s position to get to it simply because they do not have enough resources to purchase the same. Having access to patients is usually not an easy task, which explains why when it comes to independent research, quite a huge number of nurses are obligated to get permission from physicians.
From what I have read, it is clear that multidisciplinary research has quite a number of benefits like being in a position to get to patients who otherwise may be unreachable. Additionally, it gives chance to share as well as broaden each others ideas particularly from other disciplinary views. Consequently, this move leads to the prevention of focus from being extremely narrow and widening the viewpoint. I am also of the opinion that the soul value of a discipline is in its system of values and ethics, its scientific knowledge body, as well as its societal worth. Collaboration with other disciplines in my opinion is greatly advantageous as there is access to information especially in matters concerning diagnosis and psychological testing.
As the newly hired Vice President (VP) of quality and safety for a full-service 600-bed government healthcare organization, I would like to bring to the CEOs attention the knowledge of the fact that there is a likely, explicit, and an imminent terrorist threat against the United States and that our health facility may be directly impacted. Therefore, there is a need to reevaluate the facilitys preparedness in the event of the occurrence of the looming security threat, which may lead to increased emergency traffic to the facility. Driven by this concern, I would like to bring to your attention some of the necessary considerations that I have adopted to guarantee quality service delivery during the disaster period based on the assumption that the threat will not destroy the medical facilitys infrastructure and equipment.
Procedure Related to Ten (10) Essential Public Health Services
The healthcare facility has the obligation to diagnose and investigate various health problems coupled with hazards in the community. In this effect, the hospital communication personnel have been instructed to ensure ardent communication to the surrounding communities and beyond concerning the preparedness of the facility in receiving and treating casualties in the event of a threat occurrence without any discrimination, irrespective of the victims ability or inability to pay.
Secondly, the essential public health service procedures require any health facility to mobilize community partnerships to help in identifying and resolving health problems (Center for Disease Control, 2014). To this extent, communities have been sensitized about the threat. They have been requested to participate actively in the recovery process by helping to avail their directly affected loved ones to the hospital for any emergency diagnosis and treatment. In case the worst occurs whereby the medical facilities will be interfered with by the threat, the amenity is committed to linking people to its healthcare staff to guarantee care delivery through other hospitals. The facilitys ambulances with their onboard medical facilities will be deployed for this purpose.
Fourthly, the communities are assured of the availability of reliable and competent healthcare workforce at the facility to take charge of emergencies arising from the disaster. All causalities alongside their loved ones are encouraged to provide adequate information to a team of dedicated medical practitioners to facilitate quick emergency care to minimize the possibility of occurrence of deaths, which would otherwise be avoidable.
The Principal Effects of the Four identified Procedures
The four procedures are aimed at achieving three main goals. They are anticipated to achieve the outcome of policy development, assurance, and assessment that are necessary for ensuring adequate response to events that may lead to increased demand for healthcare services. Diagnosis and investigation are critical in the assessment stage of healthcare delivery in response to any threat to community health. In the case of the imminent threat, this stage is necessary when it comes to facilitating timely identification coupled with the investigation of the impact of the threat on the communitys health. Since I have already received reliable information concerning the possibility of the terrorist threat, the medical facility remains committed to using the principle of assessment to ensure timely response to the various plans of addressing the hospitals risk preparedness. Communities are highly assured of the availability and commitment of the health facilitys proficient healthcare workforce to delivering culturally competent and responsive services to all the affected people.
In the realization of the third procedure, we recognize that ardent response to an imminent threat whose danger to community health may not be estimated, the mobilization of community partnerships is inevitable (Center for Disease Control, 2014). For example, the disaster may overpower the medical facilitys reserves such as the blood banks supply capacity. Therefore, people are put on notice to respond urgently, should any demand or critical replenishments emerge.
Patient Evaluation as stipulated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) during the Emergency
In the event of emergencies, EMTALA places stringent requirements for any medical facility, including my health care center that accepts funding from Medicaid and Medicare. It requires our emergency department to offer medical screening examination (MSE) to all people who seek treatment for any medical condition. The screening should be done, irrespective of the individuals capacity to pay, his or her legal status, or citizenship. Consequently, in the event of the occurrence of the imminent threat, the emergency department has no legal grounds to turn away patients. This awareness makes it incredibly important to evaluate patients during the disaster as stated in the EMTALA Act for the hospital not to run out of resources. Such evaluation is necessary since it allows referrals to be made to other hospitals at a threshold level.
Measures to Maintain the Electronic Medical Record System during the Emergency
Electronic medical records help in organizing patients health check history, medications, names of providers, health condition, and contact information among others (Muhammad, Telang, & Marella, 2015). To maintain electronic health records during the disaster, I seek to establish a partnership with HIM professionals to guarantee the provision of personal wellbeing data to consumers before the imminent threat occurs. This plan underlines the second important measure, which involves ensuring that customers have the knowledge about the development coupled with maintenance of personal health records (PHRs), including the merits of maintaining patient portals. These two strategies are crucial in ensuring that patient medical records and any other data are available even when the disaster strikes. Thirdly, the internal patient backup data storage system will be relocated to an area where the terrorist threat is not anticipated. Even if the hospital infrastructure will be affected, this move will ensure that patients data is still available through a network of servers.
Health Insurance as a Source of Income for the Hospital during Disasters
In the event that the imminent threat occurs, the immediate response entails pre-hospital care through ambulatory services (Shoaf, 2014). However, I strongly believe that such care cannot be sufficiently competent without an effective and responsive hospital service as the main entry point following a disaster. Ambulatory care would not segregate injured people in terms of their health insurance. Hence, it is also important to ensure that hospital-based care does not also allow discrimination to ensure effective response (Shoaf, 2014).
Therefore, accepting health insurance as a source of income for the hospital during the disaster is incredibly important. In support of this position, a terrorist attack may expose people to dangers that may negatively influence their capability to live healthy lives with some situations becoming fatal immediately or later in life if adequate response is not provided, irrespective of their capability to pay. In preparation for the imminent threat, the facility has the obligation of monitoring and/or assessing the health of the populations coupled with communities that are likely to experience the imminent risk of terrorist attack. Secondly, it must formulate policies that aim to guarantee sufficient resolution of the identified attack. One such policy will be the acceptance of health insurance for people who experience the disastrous situation not to be secluded from access to health care with the objective of ensuring their prolonged life. Thirdly, we need to assure that all people will have access to cost-effective and appropriate care during the disaster. Such assurance will be impractical without the acceptance of their health insurance as a possible way of promoting income flow for the health facility during the disaster.
Effect of the Emergency on the Quality of Care provided to the Patients and the Unimpeded Operation of the Organization
Currently, the facility has the capacity of admitting 600 patients. However, we can still provide emergency gazebos from where patients can be treated, especially those who will not experience any life-threatening injuries. Nevertheless, resource supply, especially the medical staff, is fixed. Consequently, the quality of care may be impaired by the imminent threat in case the facility receives casualties beyond the capacity of the medical personnel. Where such situations occur, a possibility of burnout among the staff may be hard to eliminate. The influx of patients alongside their loved ones may also create congestion within the facility. This situation may lower the quality of air circulation, thus creating the possibility of new infections within the facility.
Conclusion
Following the threat of terrorist assault in America, as the VP of quality and safety at the 600-bed capacity government healthcare facility, which may be directly affected by the attack, I look forward to ensuring full preparedness when it comes to responding to the disaster. Such preparedness calls for strategies that will ensure continuity of care even where the facilitys capacity to provide quality services may be compromised. To this extent, strategies such as ensuring the safety of patients electronic health records are inevitable. The utilization of health insurance as a possible mechanism for enhancing income flow is also important in the effort to ensure that all the affected communities access quality medical care.
References
Center for Disease Control. (2014). The 10 essential public health services: An overview. New York, NY: CDC.
Muhammad, H., Telang, R., & Marella, W. (2015). Electronic health records and patient safety. Communications of the ACM, 58(11), 30-32.
Subject: Supporting Child Maltreatment Prevention Efforts in Community Health Centers Act of 2011. S.54.IS
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you regarding a legislative proposal that calls for the implementation of demonstration projects at community health centers. Its main goal is to facilitate universal access to evidence-based healthcare. In particular, it is aimed at ensuring that children can receive timely medical assistance and prevent them from being maltreated. This bill is going to be sponsored through the use of grant funds.
On the whole, this legislative act can be justified; the problem is that at least 5,800,000 children can be maltreated every year (The Library of Congress, 2011). In many cases, they come from low-income families who cannot afford proper healthcare services. Furthermore, this initiative can be supported from a Biblical viewpoint, because Christianity emphasizes the idea of empathy and willingness to help those people who experience hardships. This is why this recommendation can be accepted. Nevertheless, this initiative has a certain implication. In particular, this program will put an extra strain on medical institutions that are often understaffed. It is possible to say that these demonstration projects described in this bill can prevent medical workers from other important duties. It should be noted that Christian principles oblige a person to think about the benefits and drawbacks of certain actions.
This legal action can have significant implications for nurses because they will be responsible for the implementation of these demonstration projects. They will raise peoples awareness about the dangers of maltreatment, especially if one is speaking about children. The success of these initiatives will strongly depend on the skills and commitment of these professionals.
In my opinion, this bill should be supported because it can avert a great number of threats to the health or even the life of children. The prevention of maltreatment should be one of the major priorities for healthcare professionals, especially nurses.
Sincerely Yours.
Reference List
The Library of Congress. (2011) Supporting Child Maltreatment Prevention Efforts in Community Health Centers Act of 2011. Web.
Id love to point suggest some changes the institution has to make regarding patient-centered treatment, evidence-based care, and the theory of preference-sensitive care. I understand that the code of medical ethics requires practitioners to exactingly respect the principle of informed consent. Practitioners must explain to the patients the medical facts accurately and then give professional opinions or make recommendations that can be used to address a certain medical condition as per the good medical practice doctrine. The principle of shared decision making (SDM) has its basis on this premise. At this institution, we need to create an atmosphere that will allow patients to have a chance to assess options and make decisions according to personal values, and preferences.
SDM process has a chance of improving patient-centered care that can greatly improve the quality and efficacy of the healthcare delivery system. Patients will be better contented and will be comfortable with their choice. Furthermore, the increased involvement of patients in decision making, allowing them to take responsibility for their health in developing the healthcare delivery regimes will increase adherence and long-term results cut down extravagant expenditure. When patients engage in SDM, they tend to develop more realistic expectations of the health outcomes and the implications of the treatment.
The SDM strategy will also reduce patient-doctor tensions thus reduce the feeling by patients that the physician may have made a wrong treatment option particularly when the outcome is unsatisfactory or unanticipated. There will be reduced conflict when it comes to making critical decisions, the patients will have a greater knowledge of treatment alternatives, more patients will be decisive rather than undecided and there will be conformity between patient values and the available option.
Changes
The facility should give decision aids which will help patients to be able to clarify their preferences, attitudes, and values then can choose which one is important about the perceived benefits or damage. This institution must give patients evidence-based medical information regarding certain health conditions, the alternative, and the benefits related to them, the harms, and the probabilities of every alternative. We institution will need to develop decision guidance in the steps of a decision-making process, by sequential questions that profile the preferences of the patients. Physicians should give the patients truthful advice as per the best healthcare options available.
Barriers
Many obstacles will come in the way as we try to implement SDM policy. I highlighted just a few. Patients can easily opt for alternative treatments that are not evidence-based for various personal reasons. For instance, the cost, family decisions, the quality of life, uncertainty, and lifestyle.
Considering that physicians are usually held responsible for health-related issues from quality of care, patient adherence, to patient preference for non-standard treatment, physicians often fear lower reimbursements or low-quality ratings.
Competent adult patients often claim their right of choice even when they are making a decision that does not meet healthcare guidelines or and demand the physician to incorporate such choices in their treatment plans.
Recommendations
The process of SDM has to comply with the following aspects;
Offer explicit information about medical conditions, treatment alternative, and the expected outcomes
Provide the decision aid of tools to assist patients in identifying and articulating their values and priorities when making medical decisions and alternatives
There has to be structured guidance to assist patients to integrate the clinical aspects and personal values to settle on informed treatment decision
The management of the institution should support the development of projects that increase knowledge and understanding of the SDM process. Even though the needs of the patients and the quality or the standard of healthcare delivery can conflict, physicians should take responsibility for giving sound advice based on the best available treatment options regardless of the consequences.
The topic I chose for this essay is vaccination among children. It is a controversial topic in a sense that plenty of parents and even some doctors are suspicious towards vaccination, due to the very nature of vaccination it introduces weakened microorganisms into a childs bloodstream in order to help develop immunity to a particular disease. Vaccination was first developed to counteract certain deadly disease like the Pox, which caused numerous deaths in the past, especially when brought to the areas of the world where the local population had no immunity to the disease. My position towards vaccination is that it should be mandatory and that the benefits of vaccination heavily outweigh the possible drawbacks both on individual and on a group level.
Although there are plenty of premises to support my point of view, the three most prominent premises that I was able to identify are ( Should any vaccines be required for children? n.d.):
Vaccines can save childrens lives by making them immune or resistant to diseases that would otherwise cause great damage to their health if contracted unprepared.
Vaccines are stated to be safe by the vast majority of medical and scientific organizations. These statements are backed by numerous randomized control trials and scientific observations.
Adverse reactions to vaccines are extremely rare. A person is more likely to get hit by a car than having an allergy towards vaccines. Some vaccines have been known to have no adverse reactions and were deemed safe to use since the 1940s.
The opposing view to my position is that vaccines are bad and dangerous for children. This point of view is typically supported by representatives of alternative medicine, leaders of certain religious movements, and, in rare cases, medical research. The three premises often brought up to support this view are ( Should any vaccines be required for children? n.d.):
Vaccines can cause various and sometimes fatal side-effects. Some studies accept the possibility of chicken pox vaccines having an adverse effect on the health of newborn and young chicken, and development of some rare conditions.
Vaccines contain harmful ingredients, like aluminum, thimerosal, and formaldehyde.
Mandatory vaccination infringes upon religious freedom, as some religions forbid the use of vaccinations. This is true for Catholicism, Islam, and certain derivatives from each group.
Whats interesting about the opposing premises is that they focus mostly on side-effects of vaccinations, which can be quite grave, even if the chances of them happening are extremely low. If I were to believe the opposing premises that I mentioned above, Id notice that the majority of the scientific community does not support my beliefs and that my opposition to vaccination lies mostly on the fact that there is a chance of adverse reactions, however slight. All three premises supporting the opposite view are true vaccines are not infallible and can cause adverse reactions, vaccines do contain dangerous elements in small doses, and using vaccinations does come in conflict with various religious beliefs.
There are several biases that I can identify when evaluating the pro and contra arguments for this topic. First, I found the premises against vaccines to be weak, as they focused on rare singular cases rather than the larger picture. Second, I found the religious argument to be flawed at the core since I believe that parents have no right to enforce their religious beliefs on children who are too young to decide on their own. Lastly, I instinctively trusted the position supported by mainstream medical authorities due to the fact that their opposition seemed to be deeply enrooted in unscientific practices and beliefs.
My biases towards these premises largely stem from the fact that I was raised in a family that trusts and values medical science, and equates anything that is not supported by the official medical authorities either as ignorance or wilful deceit aimed at gaining profit from peoples doubts and fears.
After playing the Believing Game, I had to shift my position on the subject, somewhat. While the end conclusion that vaccines are good for children remained the same, the justifications for it had to change. Instead of giving the official medical research an unconditional credit of trust, I had to research the subject and see the reasons why the majority of medical specialists believed vaccines to be effective.
That position is backed by numerous incidents of success and cases of complete eradication of certain diseases like the Pox, through the use of vaccines. My validation of the position is now based on facts. In contrast, my skepticism towards the opposing point of view is now based on research done on the subject rather than distrust of the supernatural and ignorance about the possible drawbacks of vaccination. I am aware both of the drawbacks and of the fact that imposing mandatory vaccination violates certain religious rights. However, I remain convinced that the pros of child vaccination still heavily outweigh the cons.
The article written by Romero-Aroca et al. (2017) dwelled at the occurrence of diabetic retinopathy and numerous risk factors that were associated with this disease and some other diseases such as diabetic macular edema and sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy. So as to evaluate these risks, the researchers developed a specific screening program and conducted an extensive study on the subjects. In order to conduct an efficient investigation, Romero-Aroca et al. (2017) considered several risk factors that were the most prevalent (cholesterol fraction, age, serum creatinine, and the respondents sex).
The results of the study showed that the yearly occurrence of diabetic retinopathy did not exceed 48%. On the other hand, the level of occurrence of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy did not exceed 19%, and the yearly percentage was way lower than in the patients with diabetic retinopathy. The lowest yearly occurrence was found in patients with diabetic macular edema 9%. The analysis of the results of the study helped the researchers to expose the finding that age was one of the most insignificant factors that contributed to the incidence of diabetic retinopathy.
Also, Romero-Aroca et al. (2017) identified that patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus were more inclined to have diabetic retinopathy and sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy. The researchers also found that an inadequate metabolic control of diabetes mellitus unfavorably impacted the manifestation of diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients. Romero-Aroca et al. (2017) claimed that further research in the area is necessary in order to mitigate the occurrence of the reviewed ailments and treat numerous complications associated with diabetic retinopathy.
Based on the reviewed articles, it is safe to say that the importance of patient-based care is a rather relevant topic nowadays. If we understand disorders and diseases, we will be able to maintain the quality of health care. It can be told that the peculiarities of different diseases can be assessed as a possibility to research different subjects way more than before and concentrate on patient-centered care so as to help healthcare providers expand their knowledge base and improve their medical practice.
Therefore, if we address the question of recognizing disorders, we will positively influence the provision of patient-centered care and increase the possibility of treating the ailments successfully. The factors that were mentioned above are expected to impact insurance expenditures as well because the notion of patient-centered care is inextricably linked to understanding what, how, and when to treat. This area of health care is revolutionary, and it is critically important to take it into consideration when discussing the issues related to health care and health care providers. Nonetheless, one should understand that the work of any given health care provider is full of different moral implications and it cannot exist without mutual respect and sacrifice-based care.
The understanding of an illness or a disorder depends on the ideas that are characteristic of health care providers when it comes to treating patients as exceptional living beings. Also, it is safe to say that the existing principles and guidelines relatively force health care providers to fulfill their obligations and perform an in-depth analysis of the patients diseases and backgrounds before starting the treatment process. As it can also be seen from the article written by Lorvan, Agah, Mousavi, Hosseini, and Shidfar (2016), one of the key factors that contribute to the differentiation between diseases and ailments and the provision of high-quality patient-based care is the involvedness of the customers in both research and care processes. The social and personal contexts of health care have to be taken into consideration when there is a need for high-quality services. Evidently, the notion of health care should not be a simple wish-gratifying journey for each and every patient, but the individual focus of patient-centered care is one of the factors that positively affect the development of evidence-based treatments and cover major populations.
If we understand diseases and disorders, we will be able to realize the meaning of putting the patients (and not only research) at the forefront of health care. Benli et al. (2017) implicitly addressed this issue and discussed the generalization of research results as one of the ways of promoting patient-centered care that is supported by relevant evidence. Numerous health care providers agree that the act of recognizing disorders is also heavily influenced by social changes that cannot be ignored by the health care industry.
Also, it is repeatedly stated that the extent to which the patients are involved in the process of their treatment also significantly influences the provision of care and understanding of diseases. By making the patients more willing to participate in research, we will be able to get to the next level of health care where patients are an irreplaceable part of the treatment process, and the ultimate understanding of the disease will partly depend on the patients and not only physicians. The current state of health care is seriously contingent on research and feedback from the patients so understanding the details of diseases and disorders cannot be overlooked within the framework of the current health care environment.
References
Benli, A. R., Erturhan, S., Oruc, M. A., Kalpakci, P., Sunay, D., & Demirel, Y. (2017). A comparison of the efficacy of varenicline and bupropion and an evaluation of the effect of the medications in the context of the smoking cessation programme. Tobacco Induced Diseases, 15(1), 1-13. doi:10.1186/s12971-017-0116-0.
Lorvan, A., Agah, S., Mousavi, S., Hosseini, A., & Shidfar, F. (2016). Regression of non-alcoholic fatty liver by vitamin D supplement: A double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. Arch Iran Med, 19(9), 631-638. doi:0161909/AIM.006.
Romero-Aroca, P., Navarro-Gil, R., Valls-Mateu, A., Sagarra-Alamo, R., Moreno-Ribas, A., & Soler, N. (2017). Differences in incidence of diabetic retinopathy between type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus: A nine-year follow-up study. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 1-7. doi:10.1136/bjophthalmol-2016-310063.
Health Law is expected to boost Medicaid enrollees in managed care
Tonya Bauserman, who was insured by HealthCare USA, a health care plan managed by Medicaid, got a knee injury and sought medical assistance from Columbia. HealthCare USA failed to cater to her medical bills. Bauserman was annoyed with the incident. However, it is common because the number of physicians in the care units managed by Medicaid is not enough to adequately serve a large number of patients. HealthCare USA is owned by Coventry Health care. Mathew Eyles, the spokesman, stated that the company had good networks but assist patients but failed to give comments in the case of Bauserman. Medicaid federal program is established in the USA to deal with health matters of the poor and the disabled. HealthCare USA is a privately managed sector providing health care services to more than 50 million patients. The number keeps on increasing, and by 2014, it is approximated that the number will have increased by 16 million people.
The question of whether care managed by Medicaid is good for patients to remain a debatable issue because the enrolled people are only supposed to seek assistance within the plans network. In the traditional Medicaid, in which payment was offered for services provided, patients have the freedom of seeking medical assistance from any willing doctor. Some experts like James Verdier prefer traditional Medicaid because of the freedom to choose doctors, improved quality, and it is cost-effective. Managed care units are trying to expand their strategies to accommodate large numbers of patients because they have the opportunity.
Insurers Clash with Health Providers as States Expand Medicaid Managed Care
The number of Medicaid recipients in Florida is about 3 million. Activists of HMO and home nursing industries are working out bills generated by the large numbers of recipients. The nursing home representative wants to ensure efficient inclusion of all facilities in HMO long-term contracts. HMO representative has no problem with the nursing representatives demands but is mainly concerned with the hospital. Hospitals in Florida are aiming at establishing hospitals to help in the management of Medicaid patients at low costs. The main challenge is competition for money and control of the institutions in the country. Half of the patients under Medicaid programs are in the private sector, where chances of choosing hospitals and doctors are limited. The rest have freedom of choice on where to go for medical help. Programs managed by Medicaid are growing. United Health Care has the largest number of patients. Nursing homes, hospitals, and doctors are highly opposed to the expansion plans. At the same time, patients are complaining about the quality of services they are getting.
Doctors in Louisiana and Maine require patients to register with managed care plans like HMO for fear of losing control over the program. Hospitals are also afraid of losing money funded by federal organizations to help in the treatment of poor people. Some of the countries making efforts to expand Medicaid programs include Mississippi, Texas, Michigan, South Carolina, and Illinois. Medicaid programs come second after public education in the Budget of Florida. The association of health plans in Florida is discouraged with the idea that hospitals are suggesting the creation of plans, yet they will suffer financial risks and requirements enforced by HMOs. Consumer supporters in Florida are concerned with the impacts that compulsory managed care will have.
In order to study the digestive system of the human body thoroughly, it is necessary to understand where each part of the system is located. To begin with, the organs that participate in the process of digestion can be divided into two large groups. The first group unites body parts that form the alimentary tract that is a long canal.
Speaking about the parts of the given tract, it is necessary to list the mouth that is regarded as the beginning of the track, the throat (which is located in the front part of the neck), the esophagus that can be also called a food pipe (which is located between the throat and the stomach), the stomach (which is located in the abdominal region and below the diaphragm). Apart from that, the alimentary tract includes the small intestine or intestinum tenue that is located in the lower central part of the abdominal region and the large intestine located in the lower part of the abdominal cavity. In the end, there are the rectum and the anus at the end of the alimentary tract that is located in the lesser pelvis.
The second group of organs that allow the human body to process alimentary products and maintain the appropriate level of energy unites so-called accessory organs ( Accessory organs, n.d.). These organs are supposed to fulfil important functions that make it possible for the human body to digest the food but they differ from the organs belonging to the first group as the food being digested does not pass through them. Thus, accessory organs include the teeth (there are two rows located in upper and lower jawbones), the tongue (in the lower part of the mouth). Apart from that, these organs include the parotid salivary glands (it is the organ that is located below the concha of the auricle) which is the largest out of three types of glands, the submandibular glands (the organ located below the lower jaw), and the Rivinus glands (the smallest out of three glands) located in the floor of the mouth cavity (Husney & Thompson, 2015).
Also, speaking about the organs whose activity is strictly interconnected with the process of food digestion, it is necessary to mention liver that is located in the right part of the abdominal region near the stomach. The next part of the digestive system of the human body is the cholecystis or the gall bladder this term is used in order to denote the organ which is located in the right lower part of the abdominal region, it is a little bit lower than the liver. In the end, this group of organs related to the process of digestion includes pancreas that can be also called the pancreatic gland; the latter is the organ that is located in the left part of the abdominal region and it is very close to the stomach.
There is no doubt that the construction of the digestive system of the human body remains an extremely significant topic when it comes to different subjects. Digestion belongs to the number of processes of vital importance, and it is critical to understand the way that the digestive system works, the particular functions that digestive organs fulfil, and their location relative to each other.
Considering the importance of a clear understanding of food digestion in the human body, it may be necessary to develop an effective technique that would allow anyone to memorize the location of the parts mentioned. In order to retain the information of where each body part related to the process of food digestion is located, I will apply the combination of a few techniques as I believe that those studying methods that encourage the human brain to work with different kinds of information simultaneously can be called the most effective due to the fact that they help a person to see the aggregate picture of certain phenomenon or process.
To begin with, nowadays, it is widely accepted that there are different learning styles and it can be regarded as an extremely important practice if a person tries to pay increased attention to his or her distinctive features while processing and memorizing certain information. In order to better understand the work of the digestive system of the human body and memorize the location of the organs responsible for processing alimentary products, I decided to utilize my knowledge in the sphere of learning techniques as well.
First, I suppose that learning the information presented with the help of visual means can be regarded as the best way for me to memorize something. To fulfil this task using eidetic memory, I can perform the following actions: have a look at every single organ presented in the picture (one by one), have a look at the whole picture, close my eyes, and then try to process the information and see everything as a system ( The visual (spatial) learning style, 2017). What is more, it needs to be mentioned that this method of memorizing information can be used in succession many times and it can improve the result and make it easier to memorize the organs and their location. In general, I suppose that my skills related to visual memory are quite strong, and this is why I am going to rely on this method most of the time.
Apart from those who put an increased focus on visual information while learning, there are people who cannot memorize a great volume of information if they do not see the logical connection between the particular facts or objects. Consequently, those people who feel that they need to see the links between objects or concepts and the ways that they can influence each other can easily restore the information using this knowledge. In fact, I suppose that it is extremely important for me to use the elements related to the analytic learning style because I seem to demonstrate very good results when I try to see into a matter while learning new information.
In order to be able to memorize the location of those organs responsible for food digestion, I would apply the method allowing me to synthesize the information. To apply it, I will need to have a look at the picture where the digestive system of the human body is presented and consider each element that needs to be memorized. As for the first technique that I decided to use, it requires me to memorize the location of every single element of the digestive system. Applying the second one, I will have to pay the acute attention to the links that exist between the organs located in the same anatomical regions. For instance, in order to memorize the location of salivary glands, I will have to explain to myself that they are responsible for producing saliva that allows mammals to process a food bolus with the help of jaws, and it means that the glands are located near the mouth cavity.
Therefore, using this method, I will have to draw the links between each part of the digestive system and other parts located nearby. In fact, it is necessary to assume that the implementation of this approach may involve certain time expenditures. At the same time, this way to process the information on the digestive system is much better when there is a need to understand the process instead of memorizing separate facts.
The mouth cavity remains an extremely important part of the digestive system as there are many important processes that the organs located in this area are involved in. These processes include propulsion (the teeth and the tongue help to move the food bolus along) and mechanical digestion (the teeth are used to reduce the food to fragments). Apart from that, the organs located in the mouth such as salivary glands also initiate chemical digestion as the parotid fluid makes the food softer and, therefore, prepares it for further processing.
As for the esophagus and digestive processes associated with this part of the digestive apparatus, it is necessary to mention propulsion. With the help of the esophagus, the food bolus can be delivered to the stomach where it will be processed.
The stomach is the organ that is responsible for the process of chemical digestion (the food is mixed with gastric juice). Also, there are the processes of mechanical digestion and propulsion. Plain muscles located in the stomach process the food and prevent it from returning back to the esophagus instead, they allow the food bolus to reach the small intestines. Importantly, when the food bolus is in the stomach, the nutrients are absorbed and one has a sense of fullness.
The next part of the digestive tract represented by the small intestines fulfils the following functions: propulsion (the myenteron propels the food to the large intestines), absorption (water, vitamins, and other nutrients are absorbed there), and chemical digestion.
In reference to the large intestines, this part of the digestive tract participates in such processes as propulsion (the body has to make away with the food that has already lost all its nutrients), chemical digestion (the breakage of dietary fibre), and mechanical digestion (represented by peristalsis).
Propulsion is the process that involves propelling the food bolus from one part of the digestive tract to another ( Peristalsis creates propulsion, n.d.). Due to it, the food can reach the organs where it will be processed.
Absorption is the mechanism that takes place when the nutrients extracted from the food enter the blood. This process remains extremely important as it is strictly interconnected with the final goal of the digestion process.
Chemical digestion is the mechanism involving processing the food bolus with the help of different substances produced by the human body such as saliva or digestive juices (Martinez, 2014). Due to chemical digestion, the organism manages to extract the nutrients that need to be absorbed.
Mechanical digestion is the process that involves breaking the food into small pieces in order to make it easier to extract useful substances ( Mechanical and chemical digestion, n.d.). Apart from that, it is easier for the muscle coat to propel the food that has been mechanically processed.
In the recent past, the field of behavioral therapy has attracted much attention from researchers who seek to unravel its effectiveness in meeting the needs of the disadvantaged groups. Consequently, most hospitals today are offering behavioral care to persons suffering from mental disorders, chronic illnesses, and those struggling with drug and substance abuse (Kelly, 2012). In the past few decades, the cost of health has increased tremendously, prompting the US government to adopt measures to contain the overheads. However, the reduction of cost must not compromise the quality of the services offered in different hospitals across the country. The adoption o behavioral therapy is in line with the managed care, which stresses the need to offer quality services at a reduced cost. Initially, behavioral treatment was not popular among the healthcare providers. The available insurance plans did not fund such treatment activities. However, following the findings by several researchers that behavioral care results in a better patient outcome and/or reduces the cost of health, more insurance companies are embracing it.
Purpose
This research paper explores the topic of behavioral therapy with reference to its operation in the United States. The paper commences by examining the perception of the US people about the professionalism of the behavioral therapy field of medicine. Next, the paper explores the difference between behavioral care and the traditional care. The differences between the duo systems are used to explain the reasons why the Medicare and Medicaid may reimburse the two systems differently. Lastly, the paper explores the challenges that behavioral healthcare providers face in the context of managed care. Based on the challenges, the paper gives several recommendations to remedy the situation.
Peoples Perception of Behavioral Health Services
In the recent past, the behavioral medical care has evolved as a preventative and curative strategy for most of the deadliest chronic illnesses. Behavioral care has been linked not only to better patient outcome but also to the reduced cost of health (Covall, 2005). Consequently, most hospitals are embracing behavioral treatments to improve the health of their patients. However, in most hospitals, doctors also assume the role of counseling when treating patients. Therefore, the Behavioral Health Services (BHS) is yet to be recognized as a profession on its own. However, following the emphasis placed on the effectiveness of the behavioral therapy in increasing patients outcomes, most medical institutions around the globe have embraced behavioral care courses in their respective institutions. In turn, this move has contributed to the recognition of the Behavioral Health Services as a profession on its own. Additionally, it has led to the emergence of professionals in the field who specialize in the administration of behavioral care in hospital settings.
BHS differs from other healthcare services in several aspects. One of the differences between the two revolves around the kind of treatment afforded to the patient. Under the traditional care, professional physicians treat patients using medicines (Kongstvedt, 2012). However, behavioral care targets changing patients behavior to improve their health. Consequently, no medicinal treatment is availed to the patients. In most cases, behavioral therapy is administered orally. It is meant to avert the negative behaviors exhibited by a patient. The other difference between the two types of care is that traditional care provides short-term solutions to a sickness while behavioral care seeks to achieve long-term health. By altering the behavior of a person, the behavioral care promotes self-care, which is crucial to the achievement of long-term health.
Reimbursement of Behavioral Healthcare Relative to other Services
One of the reasons why behavioral healthcare may be reimbursed differently is that the costs involved in this form of care cannot be directly quantified. The behavioral care does not involve medical treatment, a situation that complicates the process of quantifying the costs involved in the provision of the service (Velasco-Mondragon, Jimenez, Palladino-Davis, Davis, & Escamilla-Cejudo, 2016). In the traditional system of care, medicinal treatment is involved. Hence, all direct costs may be traced. This situation makes it possible to quantify the costs and/or present the exact figures to Medicare for reimbursement. The other possible reason for the difference in reimbursement for the duo systems is that behavioral care is a continuous process, as opposed to the traditional one-time administration of the relevant treatment. The continuous nature of the behavior therapies may necessitate partial reimbursements as opposed to one-time reimbursement.
One of the issues that need to be addressed to streamline the provision of behavioral care is the nature of patients. Patients who require behavioral interventions are those who struggle with drug addiction and mental disorders (James et al., 2015). Also in need of the behavioral therapies are the people suffering from chronic illnesses. The three groups of people require different types of therapies based on their special needs. For example, for the mentally challenged, the treatment should focus on eradicating the negative behaviors that they exhibit. On the contrary, patients suffering from chronic illnesses need therapies that promote self-care.
Behavioral Healthcare Providers in a Managed Care Environment
One of the challenges facing behavioral healthcare providers in a managed care environment is the lack of adequate financing by the available insurance companies. As opposed to the primary care, which is fully funded by the government, behavioral care is an emerging field in medicine that is yet to gain the attention of the government (Oss, 2005). Although the government is slowly recognizing this field of treatment, it is yet to fully finance it. As it currently stands, the behavioral therapy is integrated into the primary care, as opposed to establishing new facilities for behavioral treatments. The other challenge that the behavioral therapists face is the high number of patients who require behavioral therapies. The US population is aging at a fast rate, a situation that is increasing the number of people who are in need of the behavioral treatment to mitigate chronic illnesses. Drug addiction, which is also on the rise, adds to the number of patients who require behavioral therapy. Under a managed care environment, medical practitioners are required to provide quality services at a reduced cost. The high number of patients creates gaps in the provision of quality behavioral therapies.
In terms of the areas of conflict between behavioral healthcare providers and managed care, medical ethics requires a healthcare provider to retain data pertaining to the patients as confidential as possible. Additionally, the practitioner must involve the patient in major decision-making (Oss, 2005). Patients undergoing behavioral therapies are usually drug addicts and the mentally challenged. Such groups are not competent enough to make sound decisions. The physician must consult family members or close relatives. This move compromises the autonomy and confidentiality of the patients data. Additionally, such patients may not offer reliable information regarding their health. This situation may limit the ability of the therapists to intervene. Other than the ethical issues, mentally challenged people and drug addicts are reluctant to seek medical services due to stigmatization. Such dishonor limits the ability of the behavioral therapists to understand the clients problems. The situation may lead to the wrong diagnosis. Based on the conflicts analyzed above, the ethical conflicts may be said to be the most challenging and crucial. The view is informed by the fact that the requirement that therapists maintain patient autonomy compromises the role of providing quality services at a reduced cost. Quality cannot be achieved without the right information from the client.
Managed Care and Residential Behavioral Treatment
In the recent past, the government has realized the effectiveness of behavioral treatment in fighting the symptoms of drug abuse, mental disorders, and the reduction of the severity of chronic illnesses. Consequently, the government has enacted various legislations to increase the funding for both inpatient and outpatient behavioral therapies. Hence, managed care environment will stand a better chance to support the services that are needed to avail efficient residential treatment. For example, Medicaid is currently reimbursing all costs if they are incurred in one of the following areas (Kelly, 2012):
Personal and group therapies with doctors or other authorized individuals
Annual depression screening, provided it is done by an authorized healthcare professional, a primary care doctors office, or primary care clinic that can provide follow-up treatment and referrals
Family psychoanalysis if the primary goal is to assist in patient treatment
Regular tests to establish if a patient is getting the right treatment
Psychiatric evaluation
Medication management
Diagnostic tests
An annual wellness visit to a doctor
In my opinion, based on the analysis of the above reimbursement requirements, residential treatment centers need to adopt several measures to benefit from medical insurance funds. One of the measures is that the facilities need to register with the relevant government authorities to be recognized as licensed behavioral medical centers. The facilities must always hire qualified psychotherapists to qualify for reimbursement by Medicaid. Adherence to the highlighted measures will ensure that the facilities obtain the necessary finances from the available healthcare insurance plans.
Conclusion
One of the changes that managed care has brought in the contemporary healthcare system is the introduction of behavioral care. Behavioral care in the US involves providing behavioral therapy to drug addicts, the mentally challenged, and patients suffering from chronic illnesses. The integration of the behavioral therapy into the traditional healthcare system has caused a decrease in the healthcare expenditures. Such therapies reduce the symptoms of addiction and mental illnesses, not to mention that it improves self-care among patients suffering from chronic illnesses. This strategy reduces the number of emergency cases, hence lowering the overall cost of health. However, although behavioral care is at the heart of reducing the cost of health, practitioners face numerous hurdles that limit their primary objective of offering quality services at reduced costs. Such challenges include poor financing and ethical issues among others.
One of the changes that I would implement if I were a manager in a behavioral health organization is that I would initiate group therapies for different classes of patients. Group therapies are more effective relative to individual therapies since they bring together people in different recuperation levels. Each group member contributes to the welfare of others. The already healed persons have the ability to pass the coping skills to starters, hence making the therapy effective. As indicated previously in this paper, Medicaid reimburses costs incurred during the administration of individual and group therapies. Additionally, I would encourage annual assessment of depression and outpatient/inpatient behavioral care.
References
Covall, M. (2005). Medicare prospective payment comes to psychiatric hospitals. Behavioral Health Management, 25(1), 54-56.
James, S., Freeman, K., Mayo, D., Riggs, M., Morgan, J., Schaepper, M., & Montgomery, S. (2015). Does insurance matter? Implementing dialectical behavior therapy with two groups of youth engaged in deliberate self-harm. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(4), 449-461.
Kelly, A. (2012). The cost conundrum: Financing the business of health care insurance. Journal of Health Care Finance, 39(4), 15-27.
Kongstvedt, P. (2012). Essentials of managed health care. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Oss, M. (2005). Whats next for managed behavior health? Behavioral Health Management, 25(6), 11-14.
Velasco-Mondragon, E., Jimenez, A., Palladino-Davis, A. G., Davis, D., & Escamilla-Cejudo, J. (2016). Hispanic health in the USA: A scoping review of the literature. Public Health Reviews, 37(1), 31-32.
Behavioral health has become an important field that addresses the emotional and mental health needs of many people. The field targets patients struggling with a personality disorder, depression, substance abuse, and mental illness (Clifton & Thorley, 2014). The recruitment and retention of health professionals in behavioral health have remained a major challenge for many years.
Recruitment Challenges
Behavioral health organizations rely on the efforts of different professionals in order to meet the needs of their patients. Unfortunately, the recruitment process for behavioral health professionals has been characterized by numerous challenges. The first challenge arises from the misunderstanding of mental health and psychological practices. The misconception discourages more professionals from joining the field (Davis, 2005). The workloads associated with the profession dishearten behavioral health workers from applying for every available job. The absence of work-life balance makes it hard for more people to join the profession.
High staff turnover in the behavioral health field remains a major challenge facing human resource departments. The turnover is caused by the working environment, lack of motivation, and ineffective training procedures (Davis, 2005). The professionals eventually decide to focus on other career paths. The structural issues and paperwork needed during recruitment affect the hiring process.
The profession has been characterized by low salaries and remunerations (Clifton & Thorley, 2014). These inadequate packages have continued to deter more people from joining the profession. The other problem is that the field does not attract many qualified job seekers or applications. The majority of the applicants lack the expected skills or qualifications. Competition has, therefore, remained extremely high for individuals who meet the minimum requirements (Davis, 2005). With these challenges in place, the behavioral health sector has continued to face the problem of staff shortage. Experts believe strongly that the shortage will impact the health outcomes of many people in need of behavioral services or support negatively.
Challenges in the Recruitment and Retention of Management
Leadership in healthcare is a practice that dictates the quality of services available to the targeted clients. The success of many behavioral health organizations is something that depends on the nature of management. Such organizations should hire competent professionals who are aware of the unique health needs of every behavioral health patient. Many behavioral health organizations face similar challenges whenever recruiting new managers (Oss, 2004). This is the case because many professionals do not embrace the profession. The recruitment of healthcare managers has forced many behavioral health institutions to identify potential candidates from other health subsectors.
The reduced number of people with the required skills and competencies has contributed to this problem. Lack of appropriate incentives, working environments, and salaries are associated with the challenges in the recruitment and retention of management (Davis, 2005). This happens to be the case because every targeted manager or leader must have a behavioral health background.
The problem in the retention of management is worsened further by the countrys demographics. The baby-boomers are now retiring despite the fact that they occupy critical managerial positions in the sector. This means that more institutions will find it hard to retain their behavioral health managers. The positive indicators of the economy explain why more people are no longer retaining their jobs (Oss, 2004). This challenge continues to pose new challenges to the behavioral health sector (Clifton & Thorley, 2014). That being the case, the incentives identified to deal with the retention and recruitment of health professionals in the sector should also focus on management.
References
Clifton, J., & Thorley, G. (2014). Think ahead: Meeting the workforce challenges in mental health social work. IPPR, 1(1), 1-67.
Davis, J. (2005). Changes at the top: Are you ready? Behavioral Health Management, 25(2), 47.
Oss, M. (2004). Changing times require a new workforce strategy. Behavioral Health Management, 24(2), 6.