Health Care Delivery Systems

Challenges Facing Nursing

• Four challenges facing nursing: aging baby boomer generation, shortage and uneven distribution of physicians, rate of nurses' retirements, and uncertainty of health care reform

Traditional Levels of Health Care

• Preventative care: focuses on preventing disease and promoting health
• Primary care: provides basic health care services to individuals and families
• Secondary care: provides specialized care to patients referred from primary care
• Tertiary care: provides highly specialized care to patients referred from secondary care
• Restorative care: focuses on restoring optimal health and function to individuals
• Continuing health care: provides ongoing care and support to individuals with chronic conditions

Integrated Health Care Delivery

• Primary and preventive health care services: focuses on improving health outcomes for entire populations
• Primary health care: requires collaboration among health professionals, health care leaders, and community members
• Health promotion programs: designed to reduce the incidence of disease
• Preventive care: focused on reducing and controlling risk factors for disease
• Secondary and tertiary care: includes hospitals, intensive care, mental health facilities, and rural hospitals
• Restorative care: includes home care, rehabilitation, and extended care facilities
• Continuing care: includes nursing centers, assisted living, respite care, adult day care centers, and palliative and hospice care

Issues in Health Care Delivery for Nurses

• Health care costs and quality: affects patient satisfaction and nursing shortages
• Patient-centered care: respects patient values, preferences, and expressed needs
• Nursing shortage: affects health care delivery and quality of care
• Competency: essential for quality care and patient safety
• Patient-centered care: includes coordination and integration of care, information and education, physical comfort, emotional support, and involvement of family and friends

The Future of Health Care

• Current system is in a constant state of change
• Predictions: health care system will be consumer-centered, use of telehealth and digital care will increase, office visits will decrease, and artificial intelligence will be increasingly used to assist in early detection and better understanding of disease progression