Vaccination: Disease Prevention

Health Care Museum
Erin Brabson
HCS/235
January 19, 2015
Marc Schnitzer
Health Care Museum

Vaccination – Disease Prevention
Although primitive forms of vaccination date back to the ancient Chinese, the creation of the small pox vaccine by Jenner in 1796 put vaccination into the mainstream of our healthcare system. In 1954, Saulk created the polio vaccine and in 1955 it was approved by the FDA for disbursement in the U.S. eventually eradicating the disease in this country.
Vaccinations save our health care system over 14 billion dollars every year. Childhood immunizations prevent more than 42,000 deaths and lower risks of epidemics. Controlled by the FDA, vaccinations are implemented by the U.S. Immunization Policy to lower infection
rates, prevent unnecessary deaths and save health care costs.

NIH – National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health was created in 1887 in the Marine Hospital Service in New Jersey. In 1938, the NIH moved to donated land in Bethesda, MD. Since its creation, the NIH has won more than eighty Nobel prizes for catapulting our country into the future.
The National Institutes of Health have given us a better understanding of genetic disease, leading to more effective medications and treatments for those affected.
They have cured some cancers and lowered heart disease in this country. The NIH continues to make monumental discoveries and improvements for our health care system through evidence based research.

CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was established in Atlanta, GA on July 1, 1946. Its original goal was to stop the spread of Malaria in this country. The CDC’s responsibilities include doing extensive research and investigations to improve daily health and monitors outbreaks in more than twenty-five countries. The CDC works diligently to decrease leading causes of death with evidence based research through surveillance and edipemology. It is an innovator in health transparency and health care ethics. The CDC is a leader in laboratory and clinical safety procedures. Today, they credit themselves as being our country’s health protection agency.

John Rawls - The Theory of
Justice The philosopher John Rawls wrote The Theory of Justice in 1971. His theory is a combination of the theories of social justice, Kantian theory and rights theories to develop three main principals to follow. These principals are equal rights, equal benefits, and unpredictability. His theory is the baseline for health, education and economic policies still today. John Rawls believed that health care should be provided in a way that does comply with the first two principals.
Rawls theory makes it possible to have a health care system where despite differences in demographics or classifications, what’s available to one should be available to all. Rawls theory is the main influence on the market model of health care distribution in the country.

EHR – Electronic Health Records
With the creation of computer technology, plans began to start implementing electronic health records in the early 1980s. By the 1990s, 14% of the country had the technology in place. EHR includes; past medical history, immunizations, radiology, medications, labs, procedures and physicians notes. EHR improves communications between patients and staff allowing for better patient care. It also cuts costs by implementing reengineering system tools.
Electronic health records should be taking the main stage across the nation within the next five years. It allows physicians to access pertinent patient information without infringing on patient privacy laws. It is an innovative cost trimming tool that will save tax payers billions of dollars while bettering outcomes of patient care.
Overview
Vaccinations and disease prevention became more prevalent in the 1700s making a greater need for evidence based research. This lead in part to the creation of the NIH in 1887. The success of the NIH made the U.S. realize there was a need to deal with targeted disease on a state and local level so they established the CDC in 1946. As innovations in health care continued, a demand for equal treatment and better patient care lead Rawls to write The Theory of Justice in 1971, in which principals for equality were quickly implemented into our systems and policies. All of this new information combined with computer technology brought the creation of EHR in the early 1980s. An electronic system to manage information, cut costs and improve patient care. EHR should be implemented nationwide in the next five years.