What is the state of one's health?
Before determining health status, it is necessary to define the term health. The word "health" refers to a state of complete physical, mental, and emotional well-being, not just the absence of disease. The health status of a person or community as determined by an assessment is referred to as health status. Consequently, health status is a qualitative indicator of a person's health (Samsa, Edelman, Rothman, Williams, Lipscomb, & Matchar, 2017).
How is health status assessed?
Health status, as previously said, is a qualitative indicator of health. So, how do we assess an individual's or an organization's health status? Medical and pathological examinations are widely used to determine one's health status (Home, Ethics, Resources, Bioethics, & Item, 2017). Clinical officers using various instruments measure this.
The impact of the US government on health status
One way in which the US government is involved in impacting the health status of her residents is by the provision of health care to its citizens (Samsa et al., 2017). The US federal government each year allocates part of its annual budget to health. This aims at improving the healthcare facilities, purchase of medicines and other resources and payment of the workers. Besides, the government also supports the acquisition of new knowledge regarding health.
The state allocates funds to disease research. Here the researchers research on the causes of various diseases and how to eradicate them. The government through its various agencies also monitors the quality of health services rendered (Home et al., 2017). It uses its quality assurance officers who continuously access health setups to ensure they meet the overall required levels. All this the government does help in improving the health status of its citizens.
Improving health status through healthcare facilities
Since health status of a patient involves delivery of healthcare services. Healthcare facilities have come up with some ways through which they can improve the services rendered to the patient thereby improving their health status (Home et al., 2017). Notable tactics are the Lean method and the six sigma method.
The lean way is majorly concerned with the efficiency of services rendered to the patient. It also prides itself in increasing the value of services offered and reducing wastage (Samsa et al., 2017). As such the patient gets enough consultation time with the medical officer and reduced time on the queue. Group health in Seattle Washington used this tactic to improve the service delivery to their patient and thereby to improve the health status of the patients.
Six Sigma, which traces its root to a manufacturing firm in the US, seeks to improve the health status of the patients by collecting data from the patient and working on it. Just like Lean, it is concerned with enlightening efficiency and reducing on total time wasted (Samsa et al., 2017). Six sigma care method was used to improve the health status of diabetic patients by improving coordination between primary physicians and diabetic specialists. The above two strategies are related to the government stand on enhanced healthcare, provision of quality healthcare services as well as getting value for your money with regards to healthcare services (Home et al., 2017). Quality healthcare services lead to the quality health status of the citizen.
Government's role in improving health status
To improve the health status of our country, more money ought to be pumped in into the healthcare network in our country (Home et al., 2017). More money should be budgeted to cater for the healthcare of vulnerable members of our population. The government has a role to play in this since the health status of its citizens is its responsibility (Samsa et al., 2017).
References
Home, D., Ethics, B., Resources, B., Bioethics, E., & Item, V. (2017). Health Status and Health Policy: Quality of Life in Health Care Evaluation and Resource Allocation. Repository.library.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 18 October 2017, from https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/860706
Samsa, G., Edelman, D., Rothman, M., Williams, G., Lipscomb, J., & Matchar, D. (2017). Determining Clinically Important Differences in Health Status Measures. Retrieved 18 October 2017, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00019053-199915020-00003
