Over the last year, the members of my family had to use the services of health care organizations on several occasions. I would like to describe my visit to a dentist that took place several months ago. I needed to fill a cavity in a tooth and for this reason I went to Lenox Hill Dental Clinic. The practitioner, Dr. Carlberg examined me and referred me to a radiologist, as he wanted to X-ray the tooth in order to determine whether it was still possible fill a cavity or it was necessary to extract the tooth. Honestly speaking it was not the most pleasant experience in my life, even despite the fact that Dr. Carlberg did everything right.
He used both dental drill and laser ablation in order to remove vestiges of food from the tooth cavity. Afterwards, he prescribed me an analgesic or a pain reliever, if I am not mistaken, it was aspirin. In order to purchase it, I needed to go the pharmacy, located within the premises of the hospital. During the following two week, I made several follow-up visits, as Dr. Carlberg needed to assess the fill and evaluate my sensations. Overall, I cannot say that I was dissatisfied with the level of expertise and service. Provided that I look at this experience from a consumer point of view, I may argue that the functioning of Lenox Hill Hospital was well-organized as there were no queues or delays.
It should be noted that Lenox Hill Dental Clinic can be regarded as a direct care organization as the patients have to pay a fee directly to the physician, not a third-party (Kovner et al, 2008). More importantly, the physician serves only a limited number of patients and he/she can better address their needs. One should bear in mind that direct-care organization are not numerous as even in private hospital the patient does not pay directly to the physician, but to an insurance company (Buchbinder & Thompson, 2009).
The most distinguishing feature of such institutions is that they do rely on the work of case managers. Again, if we discuss the work of such organizations from consumer standpoint, we can argue that they provide a higher quality of services. In contrast, indirect-care organizations closely cooperate with third parties, in particular with insurance agencies. Moreover, the number of patients, attended by a physician throughout the year is not limited.
We should also take it into consideration that the scope of direct-and-indirect care organizations differs. Direct-care organizations are much more focused. They may specialize in the treatment of one particular illness or a limited group of illnesses. The most common examples are dental or gynecological clinics. In turn, the scope and range of indirect-care organizations is broader. They provide treatment for a wider range of illnesses. When speaking to indirect-care organizations, we can draw such an example as community hospitals.
There are several opportunities and challenges, which consumers face due to the lack of integrated health care system. On the one hand, they are able to choose those service providers which suit them best, especially, if they attach primary importance to the quality of medication. As it has been noted before, direct-care organizations ensure a high quality of services. Nonetheless, this lack of cohesion also presents them with great difficulties. For example, a person may have insurance, but he/she may still be required to pay a retainer fee to a physician. This additional reimbursement can be unaffordable for many patients even if they are well-to-do.
Reference List
Buchbinder. S. & Thompson J. 2009 Career Opportunities in Health Care Management: Perspectives from the Field. NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Kovner A. Knickman J. Jonas. S. Jonas and Kovner’s health care delivery in the United States. NY: Springer Publishing Company.