The relationship between privatization and the quality of patient-centered care in the United States.
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Dr. Stephanie McClure, Dr. Jeff Turner
Abstract
Neoliberal Privatization, like what can be seen in the United States healthcare system, can be defined as not only separating from the government entity, but transforming via commercialization and commodification, or the process of transformation into a standardized, market-like, business mindset. This describes how service delivery is modeled after a business approach and government oversight is pushed out. Emphasis and value are redirected to managerialism and financial performance (Andrews et. al, 2022, Turner et. al, 2022). The rise in privatization has led to a decrease in the quality of patient-centered care in the United States. Approximately 33% of all services provided by our current US healthcare system are either unnecessary, inappropriate, or even harmful. The US maternal mortality rate has doubled in the past two decades, and the life expectancy rate is shorter than all other advanced countries, making the US the only developed country with an increasing rate (Geyman, 2021). A family of four today spends on average 20% more of their income on health care than in 2001 (Milliman Medical Index). This research uses a collection of health reports of hospitals in Georgia (data source Leapfrog) to compare rates of patient-centered care in public and private hospitals. This will include whether or not a hospital is corporatized, as well as a measure of the size of the corporation controlling each hospital. We expect to find that hospitals that are controlled by a corporate entity have lower rates of patient-centered care, and that these rates become lower as the size of the corporation becomes larger. We hope to use these findings to highlight the negative impacts of privatization in an ongoing process of neoliberalization.
Start Date
27-3-2024 3:10 PM
End Date
27-3-2024 3:08 PM
Location
Arts and Sciences 2-51
The relationship between privatization and the quality of patient-centered care in the United States.
Arts and Sciences 2-51
Neoliberal Privatization, like what can be seen in the United States healthcare system, can be defined as not only separating from the government entity, but transforming via commercialization and commodification, or the process of transformation into a standardized, market-like, business mindset. This describes how service delivery is modeled after a business approach and government oversight is pushed out. Emphasis and value are redirected to managerialism and financial performance (Andrews et. al, 2022, Turner et. al, 2022). The rise in privatization has led to a decrease in the quality of patient-centered care in the United States. Approximately 33% of all services provided by our current US healthcare system are either unnecessary, inappropriate, or even harmful. The US maternal mortality rate has doubled in the past two decades, and the life expectancy rate is shorter than all other advanced countries, making the US the only developed country with an increasing rate (Geyman, 2021). A family of four today spends on average 20% more of their income on health care than in 2001 (Milliman Medical Index). This research uses a collection of health reports of hospitals in Georgia (data source Leapfrog) to compare rates of patient-centered care in public and private hospitals. This will include whether or not a hospital is corporatized, as well as a measure of the size of the corporation controlling each hospital. We expect to find that hospitals that are controlled by a corporate entity have lower rates of patient-centered care, and that these rates become lower as the size of the corporation becomes larger. We hope to use these findings to highlight the negative impacts of privatization in an ongoing process of neoliberalization.