Salud and Healthcare, Coursework Example

One of Cuba’s primary advantages is that it manages to keep health care costs extremely low, due to the low salaries physicians acquire compared to the United States. There is a much higher emphasis on preventative care in Cuba, which also prevents a lot of major problems from occurring that would take a great deal of manpower and resources (Nayeri, 1995). This is almost directly contrasted with the American health care system, which eschews preventative care for waiting until something bad happens; this makes our costs much higher. We also do not have a national health care system, often leaving those who cannot afford health care without many other options. While I feel that the US healthcare system has the resources to support a great many people, our costs are far too high to make it affordable for the average person to receive adequate healthcare.

Given what I have learned in Salud, there are many things I would change in the US healthcare system to bring its quality up to where Cuba is. I would place a greater emphasis on preventative care as the Cubans do; primary care would be the main focus, thus creating more family doctors and general practitioners. This would help to create a more comprehensive health program instead of having far too many specialists to keep the system affordable. By maintaining lower salaries, we could also facilitate lower health care costs, allowing more people to afford needed health care. There would no longer be a shortage of doctors, and more practitioners could take fewer patients, thus increasing their quality of careand removing barriers between referrals (Crossing the Quality Chasm, 2001, p. 51). Cuba’s system of neighborhood doctors’ clinics would facilitate a closer relationship between doctor and patient.

References

Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. (2001). Washington D.C.: National Academy Press.

Field, C. (Director/Producer), & Reed, C. (Producer). (2006). ¡Salud! Decatur, GA: Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba

Nayeri, K. (1995). The Cuban health care system and factors currently undermining it. Journal of Community Health, 20(4), 321-324.