The Pennsylvania Health Care Landscape

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Table of Contents

Geography of healthcare in Pennsylvania
Expenditure and acute care hospital resources
Hospital outcomes and capacity
Medicare program
Hospital workforce
Common medical conditions, diagnosis and surgery
Benchmarking
Works Cited

Healthcare provision to the public is one of the most important aspects that dictate people’s ability to participate effectively in development issues. Therefore, articulate provision of healthcare requires careful planning and adequate resources. Due to the emergence of constraints arising from the high cost of providing care services to populations, it is critical to view healthcare as a commodity. Although perceiving healthcare in this context is highly contentious, some medical specialists assert that it is the best way of guaranteeing high-quality healthcare delivery to communities.

Geography of healthcare in Pennsylvania

Healthcare provision in Pennsylvania largely varies depending on the region and community. It also relies on the district or region where treatment or surgical operations are performed. The data indicate a considerable variation in terms of resource allocation, per capita income, a number of physicians, employees in the hospital and hospital beds for healthcare recipients in New Haven and Altoona. The latter has more beds for every a thousand patients when compared to New Haven (“The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care” par. 1). There is an evident variation that determines the nature of care which may be received by an individual. These are based on location, availability of physicians and supply of resources. It is pertinent to investigate the most appropriate resource utilization patterns and correct procedures for delivering effective healthcare services in Pennsylvania.

The above question seeks to determine regions where procedures such as hysterectomy and tonsillectomy can be done at lower rates or where they are actually available. In New Haven, surgical rates differ significantly. The rates are relatively higher in some regions for normal procedures. Patients in certain areas may go without any treatment while others can afford the cost effective treatment in place depending on either region or resource allocation. While it is true that Pennsylvanian hospitals rely on federal government to train doctors and provide care for low income citizens and the elderly, determining the right rate requires thorough understanding of healthcare demand among patients. It also entails empowering patients on how to make healthy choices on a regular basis.

Expenditure and acute care hospital resources

Hospital resource allocation and expenditure vary in each Hospital Referral Region (HRR) within Pennsylvania. Apart from the resident population, race, sex and age, the latter also focuses on facilities in different regions and the number of hospitals and hospital beds in HRRs. Gross impacts may be extended to the whole community. According to findings from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, the current problem in Pennsylvanian department of public health is attributed to the fact that expenditures and acute care hospital resource planning was done based on regions as opposed to factoring patients’ needs. If planning is carried out on the basis of people’s needs, the extent of resultant implication would be central to all the related decisions. Planning based on the needs in the local health market should emphasize an assessment of future implications that may take place if adequate healthcare measures are not put in place.

Hospital outcomes and capacity

The geographical differences and implications in resource allocation within the various HRRs usually determine the outcomes of healthcare provision. The difference in cost of care and utilization of resources affects healthcare outcomes and mortality rates of the Pennsylvanian population. Actually, the different hospital outcomes, utilization and capacity are not determined by the number of ill individuals in a region but by distinctive aspects of implicit assumptions and the ever growing inequity in hospital capacity. Findings reveal that the initial problem of implicit assumption depends on regions because more developed areas offer better treatment. Other dependent factors include hospitalization, diagnosis and intervention.

Medicare program

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care on Pennsylvania provides a detailed report on federal funding in order to restrain rural hospitals from closing down. The funding also supports medical research, elderly care and training new doctors. However, different HRRs show variations in total medical reimbursements. Substantial variations are rampant in home healthcare, physicians’ services, outpatient and inpatient care. This is reflected in Medicare per every person enrolled in the program.

Hospital workforce

Healthcare organizations must assimilate practices that account for the needs of patients as the key element in determining their success health services provision. A healthcare workforce must be carefully mentored as the main tool that offers organizations the correct direction towards greater levels of productivity. Finding from Dartmouth Atlas shows that there is a dramatic increase in training new medical staff and more medical schools are being established. It is imperative to note that the difference is mostly caused by individual specialties mostly common among psychiatrists.

Common medical conditions, diagnosis and surgery

In Pennsylvania, findings indicate that radical variations in per capita rates are experienced in the surgery of coronary artery bypass, treatment of prostate cancer in its earlier stage and radical prostatectomy. The variations are determined by geographical regions and affect the provision of care and health outcomes.

Benchmarking

Lack of a well established relationship between clinical outcomes and meeting patients’ health care needs is clearly evident in Pennsylvania. Since there is inequitable allocation of resources among hospitals, community health care outcomes are significantly affected. This calls for reduction of the capacity of health care systems to levels where different regions can fairly access resources for handling healthcare issues. Highly supplied hospitals can be streamlined. Such an approach can save costs and ensure that per capita physician workforce is balanced.

Works Cited

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care 2015. Web.

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