Health Care Technology and Finance

Healthcare Technology and Finance
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Challenges Posed by the Growing Use of Medical Technology in the United States and how American Cultural Beliefs and Values Influence the Use of Medical Technology
The present day United States is known to be a universal leader in medical technology (Wilkowska & Ziefle, 2011). Having a majority of the top world medical equipment companies situated there brings a lot of gain to them, at the same time, it brings up numerous challenges. This paper discusses some of the biggest problems posed by the growing use of medical technology in the U.S. as well as how the American cultural beliefs and values influence the use of this technology.
One of the main issues posed by the increasing use of medical machinery is the undermining of human talent. All around the word, the U.S. included, there has always been a serious competition for major human talent in various professions in the healthcare sector. Increased use of machines makes it less necessary for employers to do massive recruitments of human labor as most of the tasks that initially required innovative human labor are performed by the devices. Educational and research institutions also have to undertake massive investments to ensure that the students that leave their schools are tech-savvy and can compete favorably in the highly mechanized job market (Wilkowska & Ziefle, 2011).
Another challenge that healthcare mechanization causes is an increased regulatory atmosphere consisting of bureaucracies and complicated rules.

These rules are meant to protect the consumers by ensuring that the machines meet all the safety standards and are operated by well-qualified individuals. Such things make manufacturers think really hard concerning how to invest and what new products to invest in. Research has shown that about 9 out of every ten companies, the rules are so inflexible that they prevent innovation and reduce the level of competitiveness of American firms in the global market (Wilkowska & Ziefle, 2011). The review process of these companies takes double the time that it takes other similar organizations worldwide for devices that do not need clinical data and thrice longer for those that do (Wilkowska & Ziefle, 2011).
The third challenge that medical technology brings about is a taxation headache. The lump sum income of companies that employ healthcare technology is subject to a regular tax of at least 2.3% without any considerations on whether the enterprise makes profits or losses within that period. As a result, several companies end up accruing many taxation debts and having to pay fines hence having to find ways of cutting down their operations costs to raise funds to clear the tax debts. Often, the reduction of the cost of operation results in the reduction of the quality of service offered to the clients.
The cultural beliefs and values of the people of America have also played a significant role in influencing how the healthcare sector utilizes medical technology. The cultural values of society often orient people towards particular wants or social and economic desires. America is made up of people who hail from different regions of the world who have diverse cultural backgrounds. This diversity causes a variation on the people’s views about their health and influences their attitudes towards health, diseases, and loss of life. How a person sees a disease, its causes and how it can be treated or cured determines their willingness to use the mode of treatment available. Most of the Americans see disease as resulting from “natural scientific phenomena” (Wilkowska & Ziefle, 2011). They also believe that machines are useful for doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This belief rubs on to those who visit the US and encourage the increased use of medical technology in hospitals.
In conclusion, one can see that as much as medical technology has obvious benefits, it also poses real challenges to the people that manufacture them and those that buy and use them. Some of these challenges even constitute a threat to the quality of health that the technology is supposed to help improve. However, despite all the challenges that they pose, the American values and beliefs provide a very healthy environment for their increased use.
References
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Gelijns, A. C., & Halm, E. A. (Eds.). (1991). The changing economics of medical technology. National Academies Press.
Wilkowska, W., & Ziefle, M. (January 01, 2011). “User Diversity as a Challenge for the Integration of Medical Technology into Future Smart Home Environments.”
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