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Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Name

Institution

Course

Date
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Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

The quadruple goal seeks to raise the prominence of healthcare by pursuing distinct

objectives. Patients at different health facilities face several pertinent challenges. Notably, the

issue associated with the accessibility of healthcare services is dominant. Healthcare is critical in

the lives of people in society, and yet several individuals face significant barriers while

attempting to access it. As a result, it might be difficult for healthcare leadership and

management groups to respond negatively to these issues, which negatively influence the

healthcare institution. Despite significant success in the healthcare industry's pursuit of the triple

goal initiative's aims, several fundamental problems continue to harm the sector (Thomas, Bantz

& McIntosh, 2019).

According to Ferreira et al. (2020), the national healthcare issue/stressor of accessibility

of healthcare services has had a tremendous impact on organizations. The number of uninsured

individuals has risen to nearly 30 million in recent years, leaving many unable to afford quality

healthcare services. For instance, this issue has resulted in increased uncompensated care to our

organization, as we now must provide services to uninsured and underinsured patients. Our

uncompensated care costs have increased by nearly 10% compared to the previous year, with

millions in care costs not covered by patient reimbursement. This has caused a strain on our

organization's financial resources and put pressure on our ability to provide quality care to our

patients. Additionally, the lack of access to healthcare services has caused an increase in

emergency room visits, with a rise of 8% from the previous year. This has decreased patient

satisfaction and care quality, as emergency rooms must be designed to provide comprehensive

and long-term care.

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A Summary of the Articles

According to research conducted by Willingham (2018), there is a significant need to

increase the number of faculty registered nurses responsible for educating enough

comprehensive clinical nurses to replace and compensate for the existing deficit. Based on his

research, Willingham (2018) argues that a severe shortage of nurse educators contributes to a

lack of nurses. Because of this, researchers now have a starting point for formulating solutions to

the nurse shortage. Training facilities find it challenging to accept more nursing students to meet

the increased service demand since more nursing instructors are retiring than carrying the tasks.

Willingham (2018) explored how the health sector, social services, education providers, and U.S.

healthcare professionals should work together to promote R.N. graduates and APRNs better to

take on faculty nursing roles. In addition, some U.S. healthcare facilities have built parallel nurse

training units that educate, sustain, and retain their personnel to fulfill their goals.

Wolfe et al. (2020) examine the problem of transportation barriers to healthcare in the

U.S., finding that 5.8 million people (1.8%) delayed medical care due to a lack of available

transportation in 2017. It further reveals that Hispanic people, those living below the poverty

threshold, Medicaid recipients, and people with functional limitations had greater odds of

reporting a transportation barrier. Wolfe et al. (2020) note that introducing affordable insurance

services will uphold the potential of the patients to access healthcare services. Through cheap

insurance, patients will attain adequate care for their illnesses and thus improving the general

well-being of people in the community. Wolfe et al. (2020) suggest that transportation barriers

disproportionately impact individuals who are poor and have chronic conditions. The authors

suggest several strategies for addressing this issue, including increasing public transportation
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access, expanding ride-sharing services, and providing incentives for medical transportation

programs. Wolfe et al. (2020) advocate the potential of new technologies, such as telemedicine

and remote monitoring, to improve health access for those in rural or underserved areas.

Approaches Used To Combat the Issue Associated With the Accessibility of

Healthcare Services

There are a variety of approaches for efficiently addressing difficulties that face the issue

associated with the accessibility of healthcare services. Willingham (2018) believes the federal

government should consider educating additional clinical nurse practitioners to address the

shortfall. This might be done by establishing and educating an increased number of faculty nurse

trainers accountable for guaranteeing the training of all clinical nurses. In addition, hospitals and

other medical centers will likely apply for permission to build similar nursing education facilities

to prepare nursing staff better and advance patient care (Poghosyan et al., 2018). My

organization could benefit from this plan by investing in the education of additional clinical

nurses to keep up with demand. But, it will incur extra costs to build a parallel nurse training

institution due to its high price.

The improved Accessibility and Affordability of Healthcare Services strategy is practical

as it makes healthcare services more accessible and affordable. This could include implementing

policies that increase coverage for uninsured populations or expanding Medicaid eligibility (Cyr

et al., 2019). It could also include expanding the availability of services, such as increasing the

number of healthcare providers or expanding the services offered by existing providers. The

positive impact would be increased access to healthcare services, leading to improved health

outcomes. The negative impact could be an increase in costs for providers and insurers.
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Notably, the issues associated with the accessibility of healthcare services comprise a

significant challenge in the healthcare work setting. Adequate measures have to be integrated

into the process of addressing the issues correlated with the accessibility of healthcare to advance

the general well-being of society. By addressing the problems such as transportation and the

affordability of insurance services, policymakers will manage to transform the healthcare

outcomes of people in rural areas. On the positive side, implementing the strategies can help

improve access to care, reduce wait times, and improve patient outcomes. Additionally,

increasing collaboration among healthcare providers can reduce costs and improve care delivery

efficiency. On the negative side, implementing the strategies can require significant investments

of time and resources. Additionally, there can be risks associated with using technology, such as

data security and privacy concerns.

References

Cyr, M. E., Etchin, A. G., Guthrie, B. J., & Benneyan, J. C. (2019). Access to specialty

healthcare in urban versus rural US populations: a systematic literature review. BMC

health services research, 19(1), 1-17.

https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-019-4815-5.
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Ferreira, V. B., Amestoy, S. C., Silva, G. T. R. D., Trindade, L. D. L., Santos, I. A. R. D., &

Varanda, P. A. G. (2020). Transformational leadership in nursing practice: challenges and

strategies. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 73. DOI: 10.1590/0034-7167-2019-0364

Poghosyan, L., Norful, A. A., & Laugesen, M. J. (2018). Removing restrictions on nurse

practitioners' scope of practice in New York State: Physicians' and nurse practitioners'

perspectives. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 30(6), 354-

360.

Thomas, C. M., Bantz, D. L., & McIntosh, C. E. (2019). Nurse faculty burnout and strategies to

avoid it. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 14(2), 111-116.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2018.12.005

Willingham, C. D. (2018). A Crisis in Healthcare: A Qualitative Survey Study of the United

States Nursing Faculty Shortage (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University)

Wolfe, M. K., McDonald, N. C., & Holmes, G. M. (2020). Transportation barriers to health

care in the United States: findings from the national health interview survey, 1997–

2017. American journal of public health, 110(6), 815-822.

https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305579 .