Mary is a healthcare manager responsible for overseeing the utilization of services at Norwood Health System’s hospital location. The overflow of emergency room patients has caused issues with wait times, patient care, and patient satisfaction. Many of the patients use the emergency room as a primary source of care because they are uninsured or do not have a primary care doctor to treat non-urgent issues.
John, your supervisor, asks if you can research socialized healthcare. Although socialized healthcare is not in the United States, he suggests a hospital-based model that simulates a socialized healthcare environment could provide some insight into resolving the ER problem. Socialized healthcare essentially provides healthcare access to care for all, regardless of ability to pay or cost of care. John believes that being able to provide care to all patients will decrease the “demand” for ER services. Furthermore, impact performance measures for the hospital, such as wait times and patient satisfaction.
Discuss if you support or refute John’s recommendation? Support your response based on the role of the healthcare manager, your research on socialized in the U.S., and potential impact on performance measures.