Hca460 Gcu Primary Care

Primary Care Application

 Kristin Knowles Craig

Grand Canyon University: HCA 460

May 26, 2019

Looking back to forty years ago, healthcare in America was nowhere near as advanced as things are today; costs were much lower due to the lack of technological advancements. Technology plays a major role in today’s healthcare environment; robots assist physicians during surgeries, medical records are electronic, and patients are now able to receive care through telemedicine. The health care system of forty years ago lacked the technology that resulted in a whole different version of diagnoses and treatments being done in today’s healthcare field. Since technology didn’t play a large role in health care, costs of health care were much lower. With the addition of technology, it has created a thriving industry that health care providers today are able to treat patients in ways that they never could forty years ago.

        There are several things to consider when looking into how treatments should be performed. It is important to consider the most effective treatments for each specific diagnosis and is beneficial to the patient to use the most effective treatment in-order for the patient to have a healthy speedy recovery. Costs of supplies and services is something else to take into consideration. Specific treatments and or services may be more costly than others and can potentially affect a patient’s ability to pay if they don’t have health care coverage. Another example of something that is critical to consider regarding how treatments are performed for patients is whether the patient’s health insurance plan will cover this treatment. This is a crucial consideration because it can affect the patients whole treatment plan and their treatment options.

        It can easily be predicted that in the next fifteen years there will be several technological advancements within health care. One advancement that would be a great opportunity for a family medical clinic would be technologies that make it possible to perform outpatient surgeries within the office. This would be something similar to going to the pharmacy and sitting down at the blood pressure machine. A patient may soon be able to have stitches on small wounds without even having a physician present. Another advancement in the next fifteen years could be the ability for patients to receive a simple diagnosis and treatment from their homes rather than having to schedule appointments and sit in a waiting room at a doctor’s office. This would be beneficial to a family medical clinic because it would allow for physicians to have more time in-between patient visits, allowing them to spend more time with each patient and could potentially decrease “burnout” with physicians.