Two Classes of Care: The Ethical Dilemma of Providing Access to Electronic Health Data and Resources

The healthcare consumer is facing multiple variables impacting their behavior, prominent among them is the rising cost of healthcare delivery. The healthcare consumer is now facing a new challenge, the implementation of yearly membership fees assessed to continue or begin a new relationship with a primary care provider. Although these yearly fees come with the promise of expanded services, there is the potential that they will divide the healthcare delivery system into 2 separate entities: those willing to pay the fee and gain access to the expanded services and those who are not, potentially losing out on those services. As physicians face shrinking revenues, they are forced to find ways to recoup costs, thus the implementation of the yearly membership fees. However, could a combined nursing and physician effort help to stave off the impact of the business factors influencing healthcare delivery before they reach the healthcare consumer?