Healthcare 2021

If you are an upper or middle class white male you should feel fairly comfortable in and happy with America's healthcare system. That's not to say there aren't exceptions to that, but over all the system works to help you - as it should. Alternatively, people of color, most specifically black Americans, and women face certain challenges or barriers in getting the care they need. At the cross section of that more vulnerable population are black women who are often failed by healthcare providers. The most obvious place to see it is when looking at the rates of pregnancy-related death. When compared to other developed countries, America has the highest rate of pregnancy-related death and non-hispanic black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die than white women.  The fact that America seems to be so far behind in caring for women after childbirth is already appalling but when you factor in the obvious disparity based solely off race it becomes even more concerning. There ha...

     One of the first things we learn in patient counseling is instilling trust with your patient during an interaction. Building trust has many benefits in a one-on-one interaction: your patient will be more comfortable sharing useful information, following the advice you provide, and returning in the future with other issues. However, population trust can be harder to establish. How do we reach patients who never trust us in the first place, and therefore never seek our help? This is where the public image of healthcare as a whole matters.      A major issue in American healthcare that our class discussion has circled is the financial burden. Financial stress is damaging both internally and externally of healthcare systems, precipitating various outcomes that harm population confidence in healthcare. The capitalistic side of the healthcare industry has been a large strain on public trust. Health systems are large and expensive to run considering all ...

  I think our country is amongst a very pivotal time where conversations about race and ethnicity permeate every facet of our lives. I would like to assume that American health systems are created equal and that everyone who seeks care will be afforded the same treatment and passion they deserve for being human, however, as a Black man in America I know that is not true. As with most major American institutions, healthcare needs to undergo drastic reform before it can truly attest to equality for everyone. There is a very blatant lack of representation of Black health professionals in the United States and it is reflected in the mortality rates of Black Americans across multiple health statistics. The effects can be seen in the overwhelming rate of Blacks who died from COVID as compared to other races or even the alarming high mortality rate of Black mothers who die during pregnancy or while giving birth. According an analysis conducted by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygien...

 From 2012-2015, I had the privilege of working alongside my mother at an urgent care clinic she owned and established on the south side of Lansing, MI. Her clinic was located within a predominantly low-income, high crime African American community where more than 90% of the patients were either on Medicaid, Medicare, or did not have any insurance at all. Although I was not medically certified to treat any of the patients, the various observations I made while working the front desk exposed me to the overwhelming health disparities and disadvantages that this patient population were forced to make their reality.     With a population of about 71,000 and approximately 30% of the entire city being on Medicaid, the south side of Lansing has only three physician's offices: Lansing Urgent Care, South Side Medical Center, and my mother's urgent care clinic. Lansing Urgent Care does not take patients with Medicaid meaning they don't treat "poor people." This apparent dis...

 One of the frequently overlooked dimensions of the United States healthcare system is the externalization of the costs associated with poor quality and high-stress working conditions those working in private corporate entities face daily.  It has become generally accepted that the lower the wage a job pays in the US, the worse the working conditions. In substance, this includes exposure to carcinogens, routine immersion in toxic environments,  long work hours and draconian policies that places stress on mind, and use of manual labor over automation, placing stress on the body. Individuals working these jobs often are provided meager health benefits, often far less than the long term damage being done to them, and often do not have enough money to live a basic life much less save for the future. This leaves them in a position where they are unable to care for themselves. To whit, the most common cause of bankruptcy in the United states is the occurence of a healthcare eme...

  The definition of healthcare is defined as the maintenance and/or improvement of health with the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of a disease state. Healthcare is not only about a physician delivering a treatment and a diagnosis to a patient. Healthcare is a well-rounded system that is influenced by social and economic conditions. According to the World Health Organization, a healthcare system requires a financing mechanism, trained and professional workforce, reliable policies, and well-maintained health facilities to deliver medicine and technology. A good healthcare system can contribute to a country’s economy, it’s development and its industrialization.             According to worldometers.info Hong Kong and Japan have the highest life expectancy with around 85 years and Macao, Switzerland, Singapore, Italy and Spain are close with a life expectancy average of 84. For comparison, the United States ranked 46 (ye...

     After working for a couple years in a retail pharmacy, one of the most common issues I see that creates a barrier to care is insurance changes. Anyone who has worked in a retail pharmacy can easily identify the beginning of the year as being the most challenging when it comes to getting prescriptions covered for patients. This barrier can be seen in many different forms. For example, at the beginning of the year many people get new insurance plans, but don’t always have the processing numbers needed in order to bill the insurance for a prescription. In other cases, they might keep the same insurance or switch to a new one but a drug they consistently take is no longer covered. Even if a patient has the correct numbers and their medication is on the formulary, sometimes the deductible at the beginning of the year is so high that they are unable to afford their medications. This is further complicated in young adults who may still be on their parent’s insurance plan bu...