Thehealth care sector plays a vital role in the development of a country social-economic status among individuals as it addresses challenges such as diseases, poverty, and mortality rates facing a population. The health sector in the 21^st Century is of significance especially in determining the nature and status of individuals in the population more so in their contributions to the economic development in a region. Due to various changes and high expectations among the patients and differences in their need, the health sectors is expected to raise its bar by setting high standards for services delivery and improving the standards of facilities to meet the clients high demands.

                Many countries are experiencing numerous challenges in the health care sector, but in the modern world today, a few developed countries have managed to fight these challenges though this is not reflected in the developing countries.  Developing countries heavily rely on developed countries for technology, scientific research on drugs and vaccine for different diseases particularly chronic diseases. These countries are still faced with multiple challenges that continue to pose a threat to the health care as more qualified staffs are required in health service, funding for research, and need for new technology for emanating new chronic diseases.

Ageing population is also among future expected challenges in the health care due emerging cases of increased life expectancy. According to Bock, A.K. et al., (2003) European countries and the US predicts the rising cost of health care expenditure in the future due to increased diseases such as Alzheimer’s’s and Parkinson’s among the ageing society (Bock, A. K. et al., 2003). As a result, more states demands extra funding for health care facilities in their financial year budget.

Inadequate medical skill is also viewed as a major challenge in the future. Through a survey conducted by World Health Organization, (2007) the world is faced with a shortage  of 2.4 million health care professionals especially doctors and nurses (WHO, 2007). As the population growth rate increases in areas such as developing countries more professional, highly trained will be required to fight emerging chronic diseases and also in research.

The use of new technology is also paramount in the health sector, but due to the emergence of new diseases there is dire need for highly trained professionals to deliver high quality and efficiency in service delivery. Sikorski, (2009) argued that the safety of patients and access to high quality can only be successful if the workplace safety in health facilities is given high priority (Sikorski, 2009). ICT is considered to have contributed to high efficiency in treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer. This, therefore, demands innovation of high-quality treatment machines in the future mainly for emerging chronic diseases.  This is perceived to pose a major challenge in the future as delays for these innovations may lead to more deaths even with the presence of improved health sector.

Poor policies within the health sector may be a major challenge if the current policies are not reviewed. These policies fail to address all the concerned parties in the heath sector mainly providers of services such as the therapist, nurses, physicians and social workers. This is feared that in the new future there might be a lot of inconsistency of service in the health sector. In the current situation, lack of integration of services within the health sector, if not addressed, may continue to threaten future services in the health sector. This may require for joint training in order have standard services that are of high quality to meet the client’s demands.

Lack of preparedness for natural calamities is also seen as a future challenge in the health care. Many countries around the world are faced with natural calamities that require experienced medical attention. In many cases, some countries are unable to deal with such situations due to lack of emergency centers especially in the developing countries. Development of emergency centers would help in dealing with preventable cases of deaths in times of such a disaster. But due to insufficient funds many countries have not successfully managed to set up such centers, and therefore this continue to a poses a threat in the health sector even in the future.

Conclusion

The challenge in the health sector is a global threat to life for human population. It is, therefore, the responsibility of key stakeholder in the health sector to take measures to what can be done to prevent health challenges in the future. The governments must play their roles in preventing some of the majors’ challenges in the health sector that can lead increased mortality rates. The government especially in the most hit regions should establish a center that would deal with cases of emergencies in the health sector as well as improved research centers.

References

Bock, A. K., Ibarreta, D., Rodriguez-Cerezo, E. (2003) ESTO/IPTS Report ‘Human tissue-

engineered products – today’s markets and future prospects’. Seville: IPTS- Institute for

Prospective Technological Studies

WHO (2007) Strengthening Health Systems to Improve Health Outcomes, WHO’s Framework

for Action.

Sikorski, J. (2009). ‘Connecting Worker Safety to Patient Safety: A New Imperative for Health-

Care Leaders’. Leadership, January-February. Available at:

http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/connecting-worker-safety-to-patient- safetya-new-imperative-for-health-care-leaders.

Future Challenges for Health Care Management

[Name of Author]

[Name of University]

Future Challenges for Health Care Management

In a broad perspective, management entities have to deal with the handling of financial transactions, marketing of products and services, incorporation and use of information technology, organization of human resources, strategic design, and the management of institutional operations processes. All these demand outstanding competence and knowledge related to each of the fields. Besides handling these basic processes of management, health care professionals have to deal with emerging factors that affect patients and governing institutions. Some of such encompass the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases as well as inadequacy of facilities (Holtz, 2013). To achieve substantial milestones in the provision of health care services, governments and health care systems must invest in overcoming problematic factors that hinder such success. These challenges include limited accessibility to health care services, overreliance on curative medical interventions for different problems, and the enhancement of technology in health care services.

A large number of Americans and other citizens across the world have limited or no access to health care services. This situation gets occasioned by the fact that world populations are constantly increasing. In developing countries, there are still parts with limited establishments of hospitals and other health care institutions. At the same time, most of such locations do not have developed access roads and communication structures (Brown, 2011). Other limiting factors related to access and provisions of health care services encompass financial inabilities, incomprehensive health insurance coverage, and disparities in systems that facilitate the functionality of multi-sector and institutional coordination. For increased efficiency and successful future health care provisions, governments and other institutions must increase citizen access to health care services (Holtz, 2013).

Another future challenge for health care management concerns the rates at which individuals over-rely on curative medical interventions for different problems. The most mentioned cases of diseases in this perspective include those caused by smoking, lack of exercise, and poor diets. Despite the fact that individuals can choose to live healthy lifestyles, most persons avoid the same intentionally because they believe curative medicines will solve any problem. This is to the extent that some of the individuals avoid affordable preventive care and healthy approaches to life (Pilichowski, 2012). In the future, health care systems may have to deal with these perspectives in order to decrease the influx of individuals seeking curative solutions to preventable problems. Changing such opinionated beliefs will ensure that health institutions achieve better health conditions for citizens through preventive and alternative approaches instead of overdependence on curative medicine (Kuhlmann, 2015).

Perhaps, the most outstanding future challenge for health care management involves the use and enhancement of technology in health care procedures. Most technology systems used in health care institutions were developed in the middle and late twentieth century. These experience various challenges and discrepancies in relation to current situations. At the same time, modern systems developed in the twenty-first century remain incompatible with those of the past (Pilichowski, 2012). To streamline health care technology and enhance the usability of systems, governments, private investors, and other stakeholders must invest in the development of health care systems. This can be achieved through collective approaches in which government funding and support from stakeholders engage in joint investment programs (Kuhlmann, 2015).

In conclusion, health care managers have to handle a number of issues to ensure the success of health care systems. These relate to handling of financial transactions, marketing of products and services, incorporation and use of information technology, organization of human resources, strategic design, and the management of institutional operations processes. The greatest challenges related to these include limited accessibility to health care services, overreliance on curative medical interventions for different problems, and the enhancement of technology in health care services.

References

Brown, M. (2011). Ethical issues and security monitoring trends in global healthcare: Technological advancements. Hershey: Medical Information Publishing.

Holtz, C. (2013). Global health care: Issues and policies. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Kuhlmann, E. (2015). The Palgrave International Handbook of healthcare policy and governance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Publications.

Pilichowski, E. (2012). Ageing and the public service: Human resource challenges. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.