How does access to healthcare contribute to social disparity?

Unequal Health Outcomes: People with lower socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to experience poorer health outcomes. This is because they often have limited access to preventive care, screenings, and treatment for chronic conditions. They may delay seeking care due to cost concerns, leading to later diagnoses and potentially more complex and expensive treatment needs. Financial Burden: Medical bills are a leading cause of financial hardship in the United States. Even with insurance, low-income individuals may struggle with high deductibles, copays, and out-of-pocket expenses. This can lead to medical debt, difficult financial choices, and even bankruptcy.

Il y a aujourd’hui de véritables déserts médicaux qui rendent l’accès aux soins très difficile. Quand le médecin le plus proche est à plus d’une heure de route, que le premier rendez-vous disponible est dans 6 mois, l’inégalité devient flagrante. La télé médecine apporte une réponse mais elle ne convient pas à toutes les situations. La délégation de tâches est une autre approche qui n’est pas encore suffisamment exploitée.

We as Siemens Healthineers understood that at least 50% of the world’s population having no access to safe, affordable, and timely healthcare services. As a leading medical technology company, it is our responsibility to make quality and affordable healthcare accessible and available to all. Therefore, we are providing end-to-end solutions, from screening and diagnosis to therapy and follow-up, for better management of infectious and like cancer, stroke, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, among others. Our solutions help countries healthcare providers increase access for patients and address challenges around affordability, availability, and acceptability.

Il y a aujourd’hui de véritables déserts médicaux qui rendent l’accès aux soins très difficile. Quand le médecin le plus proche est à plus d’une heure de route, que le premier rendez-vous disponible est dans 6 mois, l’inégalité devient flagrante. La télé médecine apporte une réponse mais elle ne convient pas à toutes les situations. La délégation de tâches est une autre approche qui n’est pas encore suffisamment exploitée.

Access to healthcare is a function of coverage, which means the population has care services within reach. Coverage is not just about on-site facilities or equipment; the physicians, nurses, and technicians ultimately deliver care. When this human factor might be insufficient or lacking specific skills to serve that population, we have barriers to access. Technology can help upskill or amplify the available staff. Education and telemedicine come to mind. However, this can only go so far if interest in joining the profession is lacking. The current healthcare workforce crisis is partially driven by a lack of incentives or high costs for joining the profession where it is required. This is an area where policy can help.

A colaboração entre governos e sociedade civil é fundamental para garantir o acesso à saúde para todos, especialmente para as populações carentes que frequentemente enfrentam barreiras insuperáveis no sistema de saúde. A atenção a esses indivíduos é crucial não só para o bem-estar deles, mas também para o equilíbrio e o desenvolvimento socioeconômico da sociedade como um todo. É essencial que políticas públicas eficazes e compassivas sejam implementadas em todos os níveis de governo, visando não apenas reduzir custos e otimizar processos, mas também promover a empatia e a inclusão dos mais vulneráveis. Esse enfoque integral fortalece o tecido social e promove uma sociedade mais justa e equitativa.

A educação é o pilar fundamental de uma sociedade mais justa e saudável. Não se trata apenas da capacidade de ler e escrever, mas sim de desenvolver o senso crítico e a capacidade de análise. Uma população bem-educada é capaz de tomar decisões informadas e conscientes, impactando positivamente a saúde coletiva. Ao compreender e questionar o mundo ao seu redor, as pessoas se tornam agentes de mudança, promovendo práticas mais saudáveis e eficazes para todos. A educação e a saúde caminham de mãos dadas. Em sociedades onde a educação é valorizada e disseminada, observa-se uma melhor qualidade de vida e uma população mais saudável. A consciência e o conhecimento sobre doenças, prevenções e tratamentos são mais acessíveis.

Awareness, and also actual adoption of the knowledge of prevention is needed to facilitate better healthcare access. Instead of only seeking healthcare services when one is symptomatically ill, community level prevention of ill-health needs strong education and funding for people to access preventive care

An emerging Access issue, even in the presence of facilities, equipment, and personnel, is Communication: many adults report poor patient-provider communication (i.e., listening, explanations, disrespect, and time). Strategies to improve communication between healthcare providers and patients can lead to better prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and self-management of diseases. While the burden of solving this problem could be taken from the provider side, much can be done from the patient side by bringing relevant information to the consultation, asking questions, and, in general, becoming an active participant in the healing process. Technology can help empower patients. Policy should help remove barriers to accessing data.

Policy can go a long way toward resolving the barriers to access to healthcare. It can reduce the costs of joining healthcare professions and strengthen the mandate towards universally sustaining personal health records (PHR). Current areas of improvement include security, privacy, data accuracy, interoperability, and patient and provider literacy. Improved PHR would allow patients and legitimate service providers to curate patient data and add relevant information from sources outside the clinic, such as wearables. Appropriate AI technology, would enable insights at the point of access/care, rendering the Access problem obsolete due to a lack of facilities, equipment, or staff.

Uma saúde equilibrada em uma comunidade começa pela união e participação ativa de seus membros. A colaboração entre a população e os agentes de saúde é essencial para promover e manter a saúde primária, prevenindo problemas e evitando custos elevados no futuro. Quando todos se engajam e reconhecem a importância de cuidar uns dos outros, cria-se um ambiente de solidariedade e apoio mútuo. Em uma comunidade onde há harmonia e cooperação, os benefícios se multiplicam. A saúde coletiva se fortalece, e cada pessoa contribui para o bem-estar geral. É essa união que faz a diferença, permitindo que medidas preventivas sejam mais eficazes e que todos tenham acesso a informações e cuidados necessários.

'It takes a village to ...' says a proverb, meaning that an entire community must provide for and interact positively to bring about a solution to a problem. In the case of Healthcare, the internet already harbors many communities where specific diseases and health conditions are discussed, most valuably, by those afflicted. However, the applicability of such 'tribal knowledge' to one's case is not usually straightforward. How do we discern signal from noise? Here lies a paradoxical Access problem when there's too much information available. HCPs also deal with the rapid increase in knowledge. Technology must help tailor information so recipients can understand and adhere to its recommendations.

We engage the local communities we serve in a fun and sustained manner. Through community activities which we fund, we proactively approach the community and bridge the gap in access to healthcare. Having innovative ideas and plans, plus executing on them with an open and sincere approach has helped our First location improve access in both patient load and financial standing

A introdução de novas tecnologias na saúde promete transformar nosso acesso ao bem-estar, especialmente para as classes média, média-baixa e pobre. A Visão de um sistema de saúde mais acessível e eficiente seja inspiradora, é crucial reconhecer que essa transformação não acontece de um dia para o outro. Inicialmente, as inovações tecnológicas vêm com um preço alto, pois alguém precisa arcar com os custos de desenvolvimento e implementação À medida que essas tecnologias amadurecem e se tornam mais difundidas, seus custos tendem a diminuir, permitindo que um público mais amplo se beneficie. Para que essa democratização aconteça, é necessário um esforço consciente e contínuo. A realidade atual nos lembra outra coisa, bem longe desses avanços.

La technologie apporte de nombreuses réponses en matière de suivi des maladies chroniques par exemple m. Or cela est un véritable enjeu pour les années à venir.