Postindustrial Era In Health Care

The preindustrial period represents a very primitive one for health care, when there was little science, little education of health professionals, few institutions, and a general lack of sophistication.

The postindustrial era is defined by numerous significant changes in health care delivery, utilization, and financing. Of particular note are the extensive advances in science and technology, a total revamping of the processes and institutions that educate health care professionals, the rise of powerful professional associations that represent health professionals, changes in the types and incidence of disease from primarily acute and infectious diseases to chronic health care problems, the development of a complex health insurance system, a significant increase in the role of government in providing health care coverage, and the increasing sophistication and complexity of the system.
What we can think of as the current era of health care is one in which economic and financial considerations will dominate the delivery system, complementary and alternative medical practices will continue to rise, an aging population will present many dilemmas, efforts will be made to keep patients out of institutions, patient safety and health quality will become of increasing concern for hospitals and other health care providers, managed care has been shown to not be effective and will be supplanted by other types of products, and the use of electronic and digital media will play an increasingly important role in health