Health Care Industry

Introduction

In this paper I will be speaking on the Health Care Industry and how it has changed over the years. There are many aspects of the medical industry that have changed from how medical information is kept to how medication is given. I will be explaining how health care has changed over the last 10 years and what the biggest change is in the next 10 years. I will also speak about what my role will be in the health industry, especially when it comes to adapting my skills into the health care industry. Along with the information mentioned above I will be expressing my perception of how the health care has changed over the course of my program. Lastly, I will speak on the role of technology in healthcare organizations in the decades to come along with the financial and economic issues that will affect the health care industry within the next 10 years.

Health Care Changes over the last 10 years

Over the last 10 years, healthcare has been moving toward a truly integrated concept of how we can help people with chronic disease find a pathway that deals with underlying causes rather than just symptoms. Integrative physicians are shifting out of a peripheral role to a more central one. There is the growing awareness within the broader medical community that what we have been saying for decades is true: that people with chronic illness need an integrated approach that includes nutrition, environmental management and mind-body therapies, and that sustainable health care must be based on lifestyle change, not drugs. The growth of scientific research on nutritional supplements, from vitamins to phytochemicals, now allows them to be used with the same level of precision that has been claimed for pharmaceuticals (Mazza, 2000)

The most significant development in this past decade is the emergence of a more informed consumer aided by high-speed Internet and Google. There has been a dramatic change, I believe, in just the past five years. Patients have become much more assertive about what they want and need. This is key, if we are to ever change the system. The biggest challenges are the power and money of those in power--the pharmaceutical, insurance, and biomedical device companies, and the hospital-clinic industry. They do not want to give up any power or money, so the changes are difficult to implement. But ultimately, we are headed toward a more collaborative system characterized by a new respect for other methods and healers beyond drugs and MDs, and better cooperation among all practitioners and patients. Also, the most noticeable change is the interest people now have in their health care. The Internet has enabled patients to educate themselves about their health much more than in the past. Instead of listening to the doctor's orders, patients are now actively participating in their health care decisions. Also, as cost of care has risen, I see patients taking more responsibility in finding the most economical way of managing their health.

Biggest change in the next 10 years

The major issue today is making healthcare affordable. I hope that in the next ten years we can come up with a way to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to everyone. I absolutely hope we can find a way to make sure everyone is able to get the health care they need regardless of the money they have.

Climate change will definitely affect the health of the population as well as the health of the environment (Confalonier, 2007). The release of certain chemicals into the

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