Doctor's offices continue to be the most popular source of routine pediatric treatment. Private rooms, private clinics, health maintenance organizations, and prepaid groups are all part of the fount.
Clinics are another frequent source of treatment, where children can get medical services at the facilities of a firm or school. The source also includes numerous types of primary care clinics, including rural, city, community, and county clinics. Migrant clinics, public hospitals, and private hospitals are also options for delivery.
Pediatrics can receive medical attention at hospital emergency rooms as well as departments, thus emergency rooms will continue to be a source of care.
Homes are another modern source of medical care. Healthcare organizations are empowering parents and guardians to play an expanded role in the delivery of care through home-based care, especially in the management of diseases associated with flare-ups such as asthma.
Other sources include military and psychiatric facilities as well as organized medical camps. The delivery points are considered non-regular, as they are not designed to offer fulltime pediatric services.
Are these sources sufficient for providing health care services to the pediatric population?
Except for non-regular installations, clinics, doctor’s offices, and emergency rooms are reliable sources of pediatric care. The sufficiency is evidenced by the availability of trained providers and convenience in accessing the facilities (Kuo et al., 2012).
Are there certain pediatric populations that lack access to health-care services?
Uninsured children and non-resident pediatric population struggle to access convenient care. However, unmet needs and delayed medical care is a cyclic problem, where critical services such as surgery, specialized services, prescriptions drugs, and mental health care may not be available throughout because of varying demand curve and budgetary allocations.
What are the barriers to children accessing health care services in the U.S?
Socioeconomic status is the primary barrier in accessing prioritized health care services, where children from low cadre households are more likely to have unmet health needs than their counterparts from well up families (Embrett & Randall, 2014). The language barrier is also a significant concern in serving immigrant population. Similarly, migrant clinics remain underfunded, as the facilities are not considered a regular source of care.
Why do these barriers exist?
An essential element in the perpetuity of barriers is inequities, where factors such as the parental education status and income differentials remain critical determinants of pediatric health care (Kuo et al., 2012). The political elites have not expressed commitment to lower the prevalence of the social problems, making affordability and access a perennial challenge. Cultural incompetency among health providers is also a concern, where disrespecting elements attached to heritage such as cultural values, norms, and notions of visiting patients make them avoid conventional clinics (Kuo et al., 2012).
References
Embrett, M. G., & Randall, G. E. (2014). Social determinants of health and health equity policy research: exploring the use, misuse, and nonuse of policy analysis theory. Social Science & Medicine, 108, 147-155.
Kuo, A. A., Etzel, R. A., Chilton, L. A., Watson, C., & Gorski, P. A. (2012). Primary care pediatrics and public health: meeting the needs of today’s children. American journal of public health, 102(12), e17-e23.
