Leveraging Results to Build a Brand in the Health Sector

Leveraging Results to Build a Brand in the Health Sector

According to the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care 2018 data update, the total reimbursement rate among hospital referral regions in the State of Alabama increased from $9,600 to $11,800 in 2011 to about $10,350 to $13,678 in 2018. Overall, 50% of chronically ill decedents in the state enrolled in hospice in the last six months of life. Furthermore, the state reported inpatient days per chronically ill Medicare enrollee during the last six months of life ranged between 7.6 to 9.2 in 2018, which was lower compared to 2011 (Bronner et al., 2021). It was also noted that 46.7% to 68.3% of these terminally ill patients enrolled with Medicare saw ten or more different physicians during the last six months of life in 2018. The number of patients readmitted within 30 days following discharge of certain conditions in 2018 reduced to between 14.7% and 17.7%. Also, approximately 75.4% to 90.8% of the Medicare enrollees had an ambulatory visit to a primary care physician in the same year. In addition, 60.9% to 69.4% of female Medicare enrollees aged between 67 and 69 have a mammogram every two years across Alabama (Bronner et al., 2021). Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you. Our team of experts is ready to help.

The increase in Medicare reimbursement to hospitals between 2011 and 2018 has had a negative impact on the enrollee because it led to increased premium payments to cover their insurance. On the other hand, increased hospice enrollment has a positive impact as it reduces hospital utilization and creates jobs for caregivers at home. It is also through hospice that hospital stay days have been reduced, and therefore, there are reduced medical expenses to the patients and decreased overhead costs to the hospital. The increase in the number of terminally ill patients seeing more than ten doctors increases the medical expenses of the patients and overloads the physicians. Due to the penalty imposed on readmission of certain conditions, there has been a reduced number of readmission cases, thereby causing reduced medical expenses. The increase in ambulatory visits of Medicare enrollees to hospitals has caused a reduced number of admissions due to prevention interventions. The number of admissions of female patients with breast cancer has reduced due to the increased number of females who have conducted mammograms in two years.

My state’s utilization and cost information can be used strategically in planning how to deliver healthcare services efficiently and at affordable prices (National Academies of Sciences, 2019). Through this information, the authority concerned can use the positive findings to improve the healthcare system and, on the other hand, shun the negative ones. The positive findings that can be emphasized include encouraging hospice management of terminally ill patients, which will help reduce strain in the hospitals. Also, strict regulations and penalties should be put in place to discourage readmission rates which will help reduce medical expenses for the patient. On the other hand, negative trends such as the underutilization of preventive services such as mammograms should be discouraged through promotion and awareness of the benefits of using them. In addition, laws and regulations should be passed to prevent overpricing of medical services that lead to increased reimbursement to hospitals which directly inflates insurance premiums paid by clients.

References

Bronner, K., Eliassen, M. S., King, A., Leggett, C., Punjasthitkul, S., & Skinner, J. (2021). The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.

National Academies of Sciences. (2019). Factors That Affect Health-Care Utilization. In www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. National Academies Press (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK500097/a:link {text-decoration: none;}a:visited {text-decoration: none;
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Competency 1

Apply economic principles within the healthcare industry.

Reflection

The decade since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act went into effect in 2010 has seen fundamental shifts in the cost and practices in health care and insurance. Studying the data from this period of transformation in the United States can help us to understand the movement of health care costs in the years to come.

Leveraging Results to Build a Brand in the Health Sector

Review the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care 2018 Data Update.

 Reflect on the following in a minimum of 500 words:

Identify the results for your area of the United States (state or region).

Analyze the results for your area and create a summary of why you think the trends in utilization and cost are either positive or negative.

Examine and explain whether you think the utilization and cost information for your organization or geography can be used to build a stronger brand for health care.