Rising Healthcare Costs and Solutions

The 21st century has seen a major shift in how medicine has been provided and regulated historically. With that being said, the doctors of today are not equipped to take account of the importance of efficiency in their day to day practice. As medical spending continues to skyrocket throughout America it has become more and more imperative that physicians need to have the skill set to integrate both business skills of management/administration alongside practicing medicine with the main goal of decreasing exuberant medical costs. As a future physician, I have witnessed how unstainable the current practice of medicine is in certain regions of America and believe my coursework as a Masters in Healthcare Administration student will provide me with the toolset to help alleviate the escalating problem. Having graduated with a Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley I’ve gained knowledge in the “hard” sciences of anatomy, physiology, microbiology and many more subjects that will help me along this path of medicine. However, what I find impacted me the most throughout my time in the Rio Grande Valley was not what I learned in the classroom but what I was able to observe first hand. As a freshman interested in public health and epidemiology research, I was able to collect Type II Diabetic patient data and correlate them with answers from a survey that assessed Medical and Social Barriers these patients might face regularly. This study was conducted at a Federally Qualified Health Center known as the Brownsville Community Health Center. Many of the patients here are dependent on Medicare, Medicaid, Migrant Farm Worker insurance, and other federally sponsored health insurances. While there are millions being spent in the RGV barriers continue to exist which raises the question of whether doctors are being efficient. In fact, Medicare Spending here is $15,000 per enrollee which is twice the national average yet patient health seems to not be improving in the long term. I believe the solution to these issues lies in the integration of nanotechnology, digital health, and effective hospital management that will keep patient care at a high level while minimizing the unnecessary costs.