Cost of healthcare in the United States

 Cost of healthcare in the United States

The US has one of the best healthcare systems among many developed nations. However, the cost of healthcare in the US is equally quite high. Dieleman et al. (2020) argue that healthcare spending in the US is continually increasing over the years. Today, such expenses constitute up to 18% of the US economy. The United States spends significantly more money per person on healthcare compared to similar industrialized nations. These expenses are both in terms of surgery costs and hospital operations costs. As a result, such payments translate into an overall costly healthcare system.

Research Method and Design Appropriateness

Observations, interviews, experiments, and archival studies are among the common examples of research methods. Each of these is used in different instances, depending on the nature and purpose of research (Jacobsen, 2020). For example, qualitative research deals with non-numeric data. This type of research is useful in understanding concepts and gathering in-depth insights. Quantitative methods explore numerical and statistical data. It is helpful in testing or confirming theories and establishing facts about given topics.

For this study, I have used bits of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Quantitative research methods are appropriate since this project entails costs, percentages, and numerical trends. Similarly, the qualitative research aspect comes into play in conducting interviews and studying focus groups (Aspers, & Corte, 2019).

For this study, the descriptive research approach is useful for studying and collecting data from existing literature.

Population

The study population encompasses residents of Los Angeles, the city of California. More specifically, we are looking at LA residents that have, in the past five years, received healthcare services at major hospitals in California. I am interested in people who have been hospitalized, been directly related to patients, and major stakeholders in the California healthcare system.

By using this population, I believe I will have narrowed down my cohort to a more accessible group of individuals. As a result, I will be able to capture substantial and useful data for this research.

Sampling Frame

My sample frame will consist of individuals dealing with severe and high maintenance illnesses. My data collection will get aided by patients with oncological, neural, renal health issues. I intend to have a sample of 10 individuals; 6 patients, two patient’s relatives, and two senior healthcare practitioners. The health practitioners will include the hospital’s manager and a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Data Collection

The collection of the above data will be mostly quantitative, but also qualitative on certain aspects. Charges for different medical services and rates for keeping medical facilities afloat will form the basis of my data collection. As is highlighted earlier, these factors are responsible for the ever-increasing cost of medical care in the United States. This type of numerical elements will get captured through quantitative data collection methods. In the same breath, qualitative data collection approaches are viable for interviews and questionnaires. For instance, close relatives will narrate their experience of financing patients, as mentioned above. Also, medical practitioners will give their account of what contributes to the high costs of healthcare in the US.

Upholding data integrity is also an essential feature in data collection and the overall research project. Data integrity ensures that the collected data is safe, secure, and accessible only by authorized persons. To uphold this procedure, I intend to obtain data from official US medical sites for authenticity. Also, the use of open-ended interviews and questionnaires eliminates the probability of interviewer-bias. Therefore, respondents can give their answers without feeling as if they got led to respond in a certain way. According to Corti et al., (2019), data integrity will also allow the research to be reliable and traceable due to the authenticity of the origin of data.

Data Analysis

My data will be analyzed depending on its nature. Quantitative analysis entails an in-depth study of figures accessed from literary sources. A thorough review allows one to notice patterns and trends of such data. To have a better visualization of such trends, I will plot bar and line graphs through the years of study. Discourse and narrative analyses will be useful for qualitative data.

References

Aspers, P., & Corte, U. (2019). What is qualitative in qualitative research. Qualitative Sociology, 42(2), 139-160.

Corti, L., Van den Eynden, V., Bishop, L., & Woollard, M. (2019). Managing and sharing research data: a guide to good practice. SAGE Publications Limited.

Dieleman, J. L., Cao, J., Chapin, A., Chen, C., Li, Z., Liu, A., … & Bui, A. L. (2020). US Health Care Spending by Payer and Health Condition, 1996-2016. Jama, 323(9), 863-884.

Jacobsen, K. H. (2020). Introduction to health research methods: A practical guide. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.