Technology and Healthcare Costs - Essay Sample

Introduction

It is about two decades since the liberalization of the market was first introduced in India. The introduction of liberalization has introduced a period of unparalleled economic growth, and various other merits have reached the common person. In the recent past, the massive growth in the sector of telecommunication has greatly impacted the average Indian in a variety of ways. This has symbolically been seen by everyone having a mobile phone. In about 12-year time, the mobile service charges have greatly dropped, giving the majority of individuals a chance to own a mobile phone. Items like DVD players, laptops, television sets, cameras, and many others are the most common consumer products in digital technology (Kumar, R. Krishna, 84). The producing markets have also invested in price and size reduction to reach large, wider markets.

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The economies of scale permit a considerable profit generation in spite of a relatively lower profit margin for a single item. Focusing on healthcare, in recent days the healthcare is constantly being driven by digital technology. Most of the hospitals and medical equipment are being controlled in a digital space. The clinics, hospitals, and many other health facilities are constantly becoming dependent on hospital information software. Despite these improvements in the healthcare facility, the hospital charges and services have increasingly become more expensive to the common person.

There are various factors that have contributed to this trend. The healthcare digital space has not empowered the common patient but rather encouraged the opposite trend. The digital technology has rendered the average patient helpless and hopeless. An instance of the digital technology that has greatly been seen and which can be of benefit to a common person is the Echocardiography. However, technological improvement has not been channeled in cases that would reach the average person.

The capabilities of the ultrasound technology to treat a number of sicknesses is great. The technology is not only safe but also offers itself to miniaturization. Echocardiography includes the ultrasound technology that can be applied in treating various diseases, especially heart diseases. Variable training is important in the acquisition of expertise in order to obtain and interpret the images. The technology has quickly evolved over the last three and a half decades and exponentially grown in sophistication. This day the echocardiography equipment can display the heart in dimension in real-time and give an enormous array of measurements.

A few multinational companies have dominated the echocardiography space. These companies have sought to integrate advanced technology to improve the quality and accuracy of the images. Also, the competition in the field has resorted to the inclusion of many other features so as to outdo the competition. Despite all these technological advancements, there has been little effort in availing these technological advancements to the larger population. Ultrasound technology can, in a simple way, be miniaturized without incurring an additional cost. Over 95 percent of heart diseases can be accurately be treated by the portable echo equipment ((Standing, Susan, and Craig Standing, 230). While the leading companies that are producing the echo machines have resolved in producing portable machines, they have not resolved in making them less expensive. This is evident since the cost of obtaining an echocardiogram has not been altered. And on the contrary, the cost to the ailing patient has gone up.

Telemedicine is another instance where technological advancement has been increasingly being improved for the last ten years. These days, it is easy to remotely visualize and opine on an electrocardiogram, computed tomography (CT) scans, X-rays, and many other imaging data obtained acquired while one is hundreds of miles away. Despite the fact that this technology has been around for more than a decade, very little effort has been made to make it widely available and inexpensive for the Indian people.

Reasons for High Medical Cost Despite Improved Technology

The reason why the digital revolution has not greatly contributed to the reduction of cost in India and to the most of the developing world is that the technology is used on the patient (the consumer) and not by the consumer. Also, the healthcare facility is greatly disorganized, and only a handful of individuals have access to health care insurance. In addition, the demand has been artificially being created to justify the use of technology and not necessarily created by the patient, which has become exploitative to the patients.

The models that have been adopted do not support the low cost in healthcare, especially in heart diagnosis. A (BOP), which means the bottom of the pyramid, had not been well implemented for numerous medical specialists. In case the "The Aravind eye network" and the "Jaipur foot" be implemented will turn to be successful implementation of the BOP model in the health care setting. Numerous health practitioners have implemented complex systems and infrastructure that are more expensive to challenge the BOP fully implementation. An example where the BOP has failed to be implemented is the pediatric cardiac treatment. A set of new rules and the goodwill from the major shareholders needs to be developed to deliver the heart care to that average and the larger population.

It is also true that most of the leading multinational companies that are leading in the manufacturing of the echo equipment have not adopted the BOP model. Most of the companies have not yet borrowed the success story from the companies that produce mobile phones. The echo manufactures have not been convincing that the economies of scale with considerable low-profit margins for each unit can be used to their products. The echo producers have believed that huge profit margins for each of their items are the ideal strategy.

On the other hand, the doctors and the health administrators have contributed to the high cost of healthcare to the larger population. In a case where the health facility is not organized to provide a quality health care service to the larger population, the ones that provide exceptional outcomes and results are totally out of reach to the common people. In addition, the individuals who are greatly disadvantaged economically suffer the most and are completely left out from the service of this ambit facilities. There is a need to reconsider how advancement will be made in the healthcare sector. There is a dare need to develop mechanisms to weigh the proportions of patients who are excluded from the proper health care access due to the high cost of healthcare services and products.

The Technology and Costs of Pediatric Heart Care.

The specialist in intensive care, pediatric cardiology, and pediatric surgery highly depend on technology. While the technology in this field has become more sophisticated and expensive, only a few organizations can afford the required machines since the equipment require a massive investment. The overhead costs are very high, and it is continually becoming a burden to offer affordable and quality healthcare to an average child who is suffering from a hearth complication, despite a remarkable improvement of the economic state in India and other developing nations. Most of the Indian families will not be able to cater for heart surgery in case a child suffers heart congestion and requires an operation.

What needs to be done is to embrace the technology that comes at a very high cost with a marginal consequence on the entire results without much thinking. For instance, (ECMO) extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation, three-dimensional Echocardiography, and robotic surgery are an instance of high-end equipment that is not indispensable (Bardhan et al. 442). A considerable healthcare outcome can be achieved without them. It is important to learn that it is crucial to avoid the gesture of equating progress and advancement with the acquisition of technology that is sophisticated.

Summary

Most of the hospitals and medical equipment are being controlled in a digital space. Despite these improvements in the healthcare facility, the hospital charges and services have increasingly become more expensive to the common person. Despite all these technological advancements, there has been little effort in availing these technological advancements to the larger population.

The digital technology has rendered the average patient helpless and hopeless; this is evident since the cost of obtaining an echocardiogram have not been altered. And on the contrary, the cost to the ailing patient has gone up. The reason why the digital revolution has not greatly contributed to the reduction of cost in India and to the most of the developing world is that the technology is used on the patient (the consumer) and not by the consumer.

Finally, the models that have been adopted do not support the low cost in healthcare, especially in heart diagnosis. It is also true that most of the leading multinational companies that are leading in the manufacturing of the echo equipment have not adopted the BOP model.

Works Cited

Bardhan, Indranil R., and Mark F. Thouin. "Health information technology and its impact on the quality and cost of healthcare delivery." Decision Support Systems 55.2 (2013): 438-449.

Kumar, R. Krishna. "Technology and healthcare costs." Annals of pediatric cardiology 4.1 (2011): 84.

Standing, Susan, and Craig Standing. "Mobile technology and healthcare: adoption issues and systemic problems." International journal of electronic healthcare 4.3-4 (2008): 221-235.