2-2 Journal: Healthcare Research Priorities

Priority Health Trends
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Institution

Priority Health Trends
Population-focused health specializes on assessing the health characteristics of a specific population with the objective of ascertaining the interventions that befit it as a whole. To adequately address health problems, it is essential for the concerned healthcare bodies to monitor the health trends in regional populations. This paper points out some of the current health-related issues that population-focused health should dwell on.
There have been reported increments in the instances of overweight and obesity. These increments are associated with poor dieting and changes in lifestyle (Yang & Colditz, 2015). It would, therefore, be useful for healthcare administrators to consider strategies that would be effective in curbing obesity amongst the most affected populations, including children. Another trending health problem is the increasing rate of chronic diseases such as cancer, hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. The CDC reports a substantial increase in each of the chronic diseases in its list (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). Such increments should be alarming of underlying problems that affect the entire population, which probably contribute to the rising reports. Opioid abuse and overdosage make another trending concern in the healthcare sector as increasing deaths result from opioid overdosage (Dart et al., 2015). The US Department of Health and Human Services (2018) reports an alarming number of over than 42000 deaths linked with opioid overdosage in the year 2016, and the numbers have increased in the subsequent years.

The advancement of technology has of recently extended to the health industry, whereby technology is used in diagnosing and keeping patient health records. Health administrators should focus on ways of enhancing the adoption of technology and meaningful use, especially the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) amongst all health care providers (Vila & Pfeffer, 2014). Such use would serve to allow cohesive stakeholder interoperability and cross-sectorial collaboration, which is highly called for in the current times. Likewise, healthcare attendants should be receptive to evolving technological gadgets for disease management, such as wearable devices.
Additionally, it is significant for all healthcare institutions to consider extending the services or ailments covered by insurance, especially Medicare. Broadening their Medicare coverage would be an efficient way of increasing access to healthcare since a good percentage of the American population are and continue to seek coverage under Medicare.

References
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Using Surveillance Systems to Prevent and Control Chronic Diseases | Infographics | Multimedia | Communications Center | Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion | CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/surveillance-systems.htmDart, R. C., Surratt, H. L., Cicero, T. J., Parrino, M. W., Severtson, S. G., Bucher-Bartelson, B., & Green, J. L. (2015). Trends in opioid analgesic abuse and mortality in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(3), 241-248.
US Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Opioid Crisis Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/opioid-crisis-statistics/index.htmlVila, P., & Pfeffer, M. (2014). Finding meaning in the electronic health records (EHR) meaningful use incentive program. Proc UCLA Health Network, 18.
Yang, L., & Colditz, G. A. (2015). Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 2007-2012. JAMA internal medicine, 175(8), 1412-1413.