DrT Stem Cell Research
Effects of global competition on the U.S. healthcare policy
According to Uwe Reinhardt, a health economist from Princeton University, there is high global competition as far as American healthcare is concerned. This has brought about both positive and negative effects to the U.S. The effects on the US healthcare system in the US are both positive and negative (Herrick, 2007).
To start with, the global competition has impacted the U.S. healthcare policy in a positive way. Information technology has led to the provision of medical services to remote places or countries through outsourcing. This is often achieved through telemedicine, which is treating or monitoring patients in remote areas by use of video feed, web cam or the telephone. American hospitals have found the outsourcing technology very efficient. The hospitals have used radiologists in other countries like India to read X-rays. A good example is the Nighthawk Radiology Services which has a contract with American physicians who live in Australia so that they can be responsible for interpretations of scans and X-rays on overnight basis (Herrick, 2007).
Secondly, global competition has given American healthcare providers a good opportunity to collaborate with those from other countries. Medical providers collaborate so as to improve medical treatment through insistent management. Access Baja Blue Shield Medical Providers in California has catered for the interests of those who access healthcare from Mexico. This was as a result of a legislation passed by California which allowed the reimbursement of providers in Mexico. The advantages of this collaboration to the Americans are that Mexican healthcare costs less, and the Mexican nationals who speak French can access a doctor who has fluent Spanish language (Herrick, 2007).
Networking with foreign hospitals is the third positive effect of global competition on the US healthcare policy. These networks have led to the rise of health plans which allow the Americans enrolled to travel abroad so as to get lower-cost treatments. A good example is The South Carolina Blue Cross hospital which has added Bumrungrad International Hospital located in Thailand to its network. Therefore, patients in South Carolina would not be required to travel abroad so as to access low healthcare (Herrick, 2007).
Global competition has also impacted the U.S. healthcare policy in a positive way. This is because it has led to the rise of labor costs in America, which has been caused by the rising of the workers wages. The wages rise is caused by the fact that some medical nurses and physicians choose to work abroad leading to shortages of workers. This shortage is especially rampant in the medicine specialties where there exists no outsourcing (Herrick, 2007).
There has been a great shortage of primary health care physicians in America. This has been worsened by the global medical competition. This is because, a quarter of the practicing physicians in America studied in a foreign medical school. A quarter of the U.S. medical residency programs are occupied by foreigners. Also, there are better opportunities in their countries which lead to the reduction of the practicing physicians in the U.S. A good example of this shortage is that of nurses in America, where labor costs have been raised as a result of few foreign nurses willing to work in America (Herrick, 2007).
Stem cell research in Europe Effects to the U.S. economy and healthcare options
Stem cell is defined as an undifferentiated cell that can produce other cells that eventually make up specialized tissues and organs. Stem cells are classified into the Adult and embryonic cells (Answers, 2010).
In 2003, the European parliament allowed medical research on all the human cells that had been cloned using stem cell technique (Coghlan, 2003).However by the year 2008, only Belgium, Sweden and the United Kingdom allowed embryonic cell studies. Austria, Poland, Lithuania and Ireland were against all researches on the stem cell. Great criticism arose from Germany and Italy on the issue of extracting stem cells from human embryos. However, scientists were given the permission to conduct research on the stem cells which had their creation from other sources and not embryos. Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Finland and Denmark banned scientist from extracting stem cells from the embryos that were to be destroyed by fertility clinics (Vestal, 2008).
According to the European scientists, the research on the embryonic stem cells has instilled hope for the cures of debilitating and chronic conditions such as Alzheimers disease, Spinal cord injuries, blindness and Parkinsons disease. To the scientists, it is a revolutionary path for a discovery of other cures of human diseases (Vestal, 2008).Also, adult stem cells have successfully be used in the replacement of cells responsible for blood formation. The cells are normally killed during chemotherapy for the bone marrow transplant patients (Phillips, 2010)
Even though the debate on the stem cell research exists in Europe, laboratories have proceeded with their work operating under the regulations they have been given by their home countries. As a result, young researchers have opted for Europe as it is best suited for their aspirations in regard to career. The liberal policies in Europe towards human stem cell research have made it an attractive place for world experts. The international networks made possible by Euro Stem Cell Company have rendered Europe the best place for the stem cell research. The European government is active in funding the stem cell research. Elene Cattaneo, a University of Milan Head of Biology and Pharmacologist states that If you want to work on human embryonic stem cell lines, the only hope is to get an EU grant (European Commission, 2007).
For a long time, there has been a great controversy on the stem cell research issue by Europe and America. In the year 2001, President Bush stated that the American government would only fund the stem cell stocks which were maintained in the laboratories (Ross, 2001). In 2006, he voted out a bill which was passed by the American Senate on funding the embryonic stem cell research. He strongly advocated for funding of only the stem cells which existed as a result of destroyed embryos. He was against the action of scientists cloning embryos for research, and insisted that they had to use the embryos that had been discarded by couples and not any others (Philipps, 2010).
The research on stem cells from human embryos has been opposed by religious groups in America. According to them, this controversy is a war over abortion as embryo is life (Reaves, 2008).
The Europe stem cell research has affected the U.S. at a very high degree. Since the American government has not supported the research, most medical practitioners have opted for countries which support the research as there are better grounds for knowledge expansion. As a result, America has been left with inadequate staff in the medical field. Consequently, there has been a great rise in the U.S. labor costs as it tries to import medical knowledge from abroad by employing foreign practitioners. The U.S. citizens have resulted to being medical tourists, where they seek medical help from other countries. This is a global competition which has made the American government to make immediate changes like those of outsourcing and collaborating with the foreign hospitals in a bid to reduce the global competition (Schwartz, 2006). In 2009, President Obama overturned the ruling of President Bush and allowed the funding of the embryonic stem cell research. This was as a result of pressure from several American scientists to allow competition and participation with Europe (Philipps, 2010)
License and liability issues of telemedicine clinicians
The diversity of the services provided by telemedicine has grown in several parts in the U.S. and there is no consideration of the geopolitical boundaries. There are various ways in which the U.S. can deal with licensure issues in the states brought forth by telemedicine through the use of different models. The Federal government can form national licensure standards to clinicians practicing telemedicine across states or national borders in the U.S (Legal documents, 1997).
The first one is the National licensure system which involves the issuance of licenses based on a homogenous set of criteria for healthcare practice throughout the U.S. The administration of this type of system at the national level is left to the national professional organization. All the disciplinary actions are carried out at the state level in accordance to the national standards. The states are required to agree on common standards in relation to discipline and qualifications (Legal documents, 1997).
Another system that could be adopted is that of Federal licensure. In this system, health professionals are issued with a single license by the federal government. This is in accordance to the federally established standards. A federal licensure system can be administered through the states, national and local federal agencies. The administrative burden on the clinicians is eased by the formation of uniform standard at the federal level (Legal documents, 1997).
Lastly, the U.S. can adopt the mutual recognition system which involves an agreement by the licensing authorities to accept processes and policies of the clinicians home state. This is the approach used in Australia and the European community so as to allow the cross-border practice of medicine. This kind of licensure consists of a home state, a standard harmonization in relation to professional conduct and a host state. Once the clinician acquires the license from his or her home state, he or she is not required to get another one from the other states, but can use the same license during the cross-border medicine practice (Legal documents, 1997).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the U.S. should heed to the pleas of the American Scientists and allow them to research on the human stem cell so as to improve its medical field. This will also ensure that the effects of global competition on the U.S. are positive.
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