National Health and Implications for Health Care Administrators
For a long time, the United States healthcare sector has been reactive than proactive (Siegel, 2010). While efforts have been made to change the system, nothing has changed much since the Surgeon General reported in 1979 there was need to improve American health by focusing on prevention as opposed to reaction. For decades, both the United States government and the healthcare industry have been focusing on the management of healthcare access, costs, and quality. Nevertheless, the facts and statistics show that the American healthcare system is far from achieving improvement in any of these areas.
From a perspective of cost, the healthcare expenses increased by double the inflation rate in the 1990s and again in the 2000s. In the year 2014, the cost of healthcare was 9% of the GDP compared to 12% in the 1990. Additionally, from a perspective of quality, innovations such as EMR (electronic medical record) have aided professionals in the industry to enhance the quality of care provided to the patients through improved diagnosis methods as well as less errors during treatment. EMR was made a reality by the government after the enactment of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010. As a result, by 2013 approximately 59% of healthcare facilities had tried to adopt at least an EHR system which was an increase from 34% recorded in 2012 and five times increase when compared to what was recorded in 2008 (Grant, 2015). Moreover, 93% of the hospitals across the United States have been determined to have EHR technology that can be certified to mean the basic requirement stipulated by the federal government for meaningful use (Grant, 2015). However, EMR as a single tool lacks the ability of solving all problems associated as access, quality or cost.
One of the key objectives of the ACA was opening up access to healthcare services and efficient management of costs through addressing the insurance aspect. Additionally, ACA embraced the concept of Accountable Care Organization that aims to encourage doctors and hospitals to form networks that reduces the incurred costs as well as achieve coordinated care to the patients under Medicare (Olsen, Saunders, & Yong, 2010). By the January of 2015, the ACO program had attracted 405 organizations as well as 7.2 million beneficiaries receiving care from physicians. The vision is to have ACO move the American healthcare system to a value-based model (Grant, 2015).
While the development of various Acts and the implementation of EMRs in addition to the ObamaCare have to a certain degree contributed to the improvement of the healthcare provided by various facilities across the United States are all focused on a single encounter. For instance, an individual could have flu today and go urgently for treatment in any care center; nonetheless, a single visit does not translate to being healthy. The scenario is referred to as “reactive health.” It has been estimated that reactive health in the United States accounts for 75% of the spending. The opposite of “reactive health” is provision of “proactive health (Grant, 2015).” According to many caregivers and consumers, proactive health occurs when an individual takes proactive actions to manage their health. In other words, some believe it is moving from seeking treatment from a doctor when ailing to practicing “self care” activities such as drinking water, exercising, taking prescribed vitamins and medications, eating healthy and watching weight among others. However, for proactive healthcare to become a success, individuals must commit and be compliant to self-care. Additionally, the healthcare giver has the responsibility to proactively manage the health of the patient through detecting the disease early, preventing the disease, and improving the healthcare results (CDCP, 2018). Therefore, a valid definition of proactive healthcare would be a commitment between the patient and the healthcare provider, where both become active in the management of the patient’s health to achieve a healthy body (Grant, 2015).
Having the American healthcare system turned into preventive rather than reactive the more advantageous it will be to the government, healthcare administrators, and the patients. Running a preventive system leads to incurring lower costs (Siegel, 2010). For example, investing a few dollars in ensuring intake of balanced vitamins has the ability of preventing diseases such as heart attack or flu. Majority of the expenditure by the United States government as well as non-government organizations is reactive and considering it is one of the unhealthiest nations, change in the system is required.
Failure to quickly transition to a preventive system from a reactive one as pointed by the Surgeon General three decades ago has and will continue influencing the way healthcare administrators function. One of the persistent problems in the American healthcare system is the shortage of healthcare personnel. The reactive system has largely contributed to the problem and will continue to do so if appropriate measures are not taken fast. The current system overworks healthcare administrators while many resources are incurred. Therefore, the implication of the current phenomenon is that healthcare administrators across the United States will continue struggling with provision of quality care, management of costs and ensuring access to healthcare services for all.

References
Olsen, L., Saunders, R. S., & Yong, P. L. (Eds.). (2010). The healthcare imperative: lowering costs and improving outcomes: workshop series summary. National Academies Press.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). (2018). Preventive Health Care. Retrieved from CDCP on 26th Feb 2018: https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/PreventiveHealth.html
Siegel, A. (2010). Preventive vs Reactive: A dysfunctional society? Retrieved from Daily Kos on 26th Feb 2018: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2010/7/9/883050/-
Grant, R. (May, 2015). From Reactive to Proactive Health. Retrieved from Evariant on 26th Feb 2018: http://www.evariant.com/blog/from-reactive-to-proactive-health