Hospital and Healthcare Transformation over Last Few Decades

Abstract

As demonstrated throughout this book, hospitals have undergone massive and significant transformation, which if viewed by the previous generations of physicians, they would have difficulty recognizing the current hospitals’ transformed state. Traditionally, physicians expended enormous political capital to avoid being captured by the hospital in order to maintain both professional autonomy and control over their income without managerial interference. However, during the Clinton administration, the physician independence diminished significantly and has continued since. The current healthcare model in the United States is focused on an antagonistic environment between health systems, hospitals, and physicians versus the health insurance companies’ reimbursement paradigms. Yet, the modern hospitals survive despite many challenges and continue to provide the best possible care that humans ever received.