When looking towards the future of healthcare, sometimes it helps to look at our past. With all the controversy and concerns surrounding the American health care system, including a decline in the number of health care providers and an increase in the need for high-quality medical care, the future can feel daunting. But it is important to see where we came from in order to get a better idea of where we are going.
It is no surprise that recent healthcare practices are in need of innovation. With the strain placed on the healthcare system today, we need to look for a major change to help guarantee the highest quality of care for every patient. In looking to our past, we can see what things have changed over the years, and in looking to the present and the future we can see what needs a bit of a boost.
Past and Present
Since a full discussion of the various advancements that led to healthcare as we know it could fill an entire novel, we’ll stick to some of the highlights. One of the most important innovations in the world of American healthcare came at the hands of a French woman. In 1854, Florence Nightingale single-handedly raised the standards of patient care on the battlefield. Things like bed spacing increased ventilation, and regular sanitary practices helped reduce the medical mortality rate of the patients she tended from 42.7% to only 2.2%. She also created the pie chart, a useful organization tool used by everyone from businessmen to scientists today. Her dedication to cleanliness and organization helped propel the advancement of healthcare as we know it.
Another major historical player on the healthcare stage was Louis Pasteur. In 1862, he was responsible for establishing the Germ Theory, which allowed us to understand illnesses and how they spread. Along with the study of germs, in 1918 during an Influenza Epidemic, Dr. Rupert Blue helped establish protocols that dictate how we control and contain potential epidemics to this day.
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