Running Head: ePortfolio 1

ePortfolio

Health Science Knowledge and Skills

Impact on Population Health

Submitted to:

Dr. Tony Rosales

Prepared by:

Amrit Virdee

HCIN-546-02-SU18 - Capstone
ePortfolio: Health Science Knowledge and Skills 2

Impact on Population Health

In order to view the impact of population health in the US, it is important to consider both

the current and historical economic environment. Health care expenditure in the US has been

increasing over the years for example in 1950, health expenditures accounted for only 4.6% of

the gross domestic product (GDP) (Fuchs., 2012). In 2015 the health expenditure accounted for

17.8% of the GDP or $9,990 per person (CMS., 2017). There is also a shift in the trend in who is

responsible for paying health care expenditures, for example in 1960, 77% of health care

expenditures were paid for by businesses, households and other private sponsors whilst

governments sponsored the remaining 23% (Caitlin & Cowan., 2015). This amount changed by

2013 where the government was sponsoring 43% of health care expenditure. The rising costs are

predominantly due to increases in hospital costs, physician wages and drug prices. It is

important to consider the implications of these rising costs as we can expect that with increased

costs there is a potential that less people will be motivated to seek medical help when needed, a

scenario that can potentially add up to additional costs as it is far cheaper to keep someone

healthy for example keep them adherent to their cholesterol medication when compared to how

much it would cost to pay for an emergency room visit for a heart attack.

As well as increasing healthcare costs there has also been a rise in prescription opioid

medication abuse. According to the National Safety Council (2016), “the United States is

confronting the deadliest prescription abuse drug crisis on record” (p .2). The facts are

astounding. In 2015 approximately 97.5 million people aged 12 or older stated they used a

prescription opioid pain reliever which represents more than a third of the US population aged 12

or older (Manubay, Muchow & Sullivan, 2011).

ePortfolio: Health Science Knowledge and Skills 3

Understanding the current broader healthcare landscape is vital in trying to understand

what can be done to resolve these opportunities. There is also the shift of changing people from

being patients to consumers. This is an important distinction because people view themselves as

patients when they are waiting in line for surgery and at times they view themselves as

consumers when they are looking at costs and benefits of different health plans. The bulk of the

American population have been shielded from the rising costs of healthcare because a bulk of

Americans predominantly get their health insurance through their employer.

The bulk of the American population get their health insurance through their employer

and have been shielded from the rising healthcare costs which have predominantly been

absorbed by their employer until recently where the increasing costs is being shifted towards the

“patient/consumer (PC)’. The rising costs and increased information available have made the PC

more knowledgeable in making healthcare decisions related to their situation. These rising costs

are now trickling to the patient or consumer and they are asking more questions about what

options are available for them, no longer do they just follow what the doctor said. Patients want

to be in control and tools and resources have to be provided that allow them to do that.
ePortfolio: Health Science Knowledge and Skills 4

References

Caitlin, A. C., & Cowan, C. A. (2015, November 19). History of Health Spending in the United

States, 1960-2013. From https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-

Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-

Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/Downloads/HistoricalNHEPaper.pdf

Fuchs, V. (2012, March 15). Major Trends in the U.S. Health Economy since 1950. The New

England journal of medicine. 366. 973-7. 10.1056/NEJMp1200478.

Manubay, J. M., Muchow, C., Sullivan, M. A. (2011, March). Prescription Drug Abuse:

Epidemiology, Regulatory Issues, Chronic Pain Management with Narcotic Analgesics.

Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3328297/.