Components of Healthcare

As the healthcare system has grown and evolved to the entity we know today, it has been developed into a multifaceted being indeed. Though what appears to be our national healthcare system, a unified and aligned system, it really is not. Americans enter and are cared for by various spokes of the wheel that is truly our healthcare system. These Americans hail from all walks of life, Middle-Income America, the unemployed and uninsured, military men and women, as well as, those who have already served, Veterans (Torrens & Williams, 2002). How their healthcare is provided ranges from privately funded, insurance driven care, to care provided for the impoverished by local government, and healthcare provided to the current and retired military from the federal government. Though there variations of how all of the Americans are cared for, there are common components that make each version of the healthcare system a whole. The following will describe the basic service components and why they are necessary to make a healthcare system complete.

The first of these basic components is Primary Care. Primary Care is defined as a basic level of health care provided by the physician from whom an individual has an ongoing relationship and who knows the patient's medical history. Primary care services emphasize a patient's general health needs such as preventive services, treatment of minor illnesses and injuries, or identification of problems that require referral to specialists (Larsson, 2005). As health care evolved and the scientific method mastered, prevention of disease and injury became paramount. Protection of our communities and population became a mainstay in fighting and eradicating illness. Though the majority of primary care is provided in the private sector, the local and federal government provide the same opportunity for primary care, though choices and access may be limited (Torrens & Williams, 2002).

The next necessary component of a healthcare system is Secondary Care. Secondary care encompasses emergency and inpatient services. Those who utilize this facet of care suffer from acute injury or illness. The emergency room serves as an important point of entry to healthcare for those who are poor, have no insurance, or governmental coverage as provided to the military and veteran population (Torrens & Williams, 2002). Obviously an important component, it is one that treats the acutely ill and if necessary, acts as a ferry into inpatient treatment that is often needed.

Once a patient enters the world of healthcare and their condition at times requires more specialized or intensive care. The component of healthcare is known as tertiary care. Tertiary care includes services provided by highly specialized providers (e.g., neurologists, neuro-surgeons, thoracic surgeons, intensive care units). These services frequently require highly sophisticated equipment and support facilities. The development of these services has stemmed from diagnostic and therapeutic advances attained through basic and clinical biomedical research (Academy Health, 2004). This area of healthcare is necessary to treat illness that may lead to chronic conditions or death. Unfortunately these services are more easily accessed by the insured Middle-America sector.

The last two components that only since the end of World War II have been necessary in completing the healthcare circle: Restorative and Continuing care. Restorative care includes home