When many people think of social change in the healthcare field, they may think of the Peace Corps or doctors traveling to underprivileged countries to care for those that are not receiving the level of healthcare available in the United States. With this in mind, health care professionals can sometime lose touch of the industry they are a part of in the United States. We have to help our own patients receive the care that they may not be able to afford or are turned away because of social status and economic background. It is easy for healthcare professionals to become comfortable in the industry they are a part of and forget the reasons they even became a part of it in the first place. Running a successful business is very important, but when it comes to healthcare it is important to sometimes go against the norm and trend of making a lot of money to make sure that someone is getting the highest form of care they can.

Lesson Outline:

-          Evolution of Healthcare

• Discussing the events that have changed the way healthcare has changed

-          Activity about understanding where patients are coming from

• Learning why they may not be insured or why their insurance is not covering a certain service
• The goal is to stress the importance of understanding why the patient may not be able to get the complete care that they need
• Working out steps to make their care as efficient and successful for them as possible
• Encouraging using preventive methods instead of only coming to a doctor’s office when there is a problem

-          Discussion about how involved insurance companies have become in                  determining patient’s care.

• Aiming to have healthcare professionals realize how patients can feel pressured into coming to doctors that they did not even choose