Assess The Value Of Healthcare Professionals And Decision

The marginal analysis in relation to health care economics is a way of thinking about the optimal allocation of resources and making decisions at “the margin” (Henderson, 2015). Self-interest relates to economic decision makers’ personal interest that affects the decisions they make (Henderson, 2015). The markets and pricing concept is used to efficiently allocate the resources that are considered scarce (Henderson, 2015). The supply and demand concept is used as a tool in performing economic analysis (Henderson, 2015). Competition creates an environment where resource owners are forced to use their resources to promote the highest possible satisfaction of society (Henderson, 2015). Efficiency is used to measure how well resources are being used to promote social welfare (Henderson, 2015). Market failure is when the free market fails to promote the efficient use of resources (Henderson, 2015). Comparative advantage explores people benefit from the voluntary exchange when production decisions are based on opportunity cost (Henderson,

In a world of increasing competition for health resources economic evaluations are essential to provide evidence to decision makers that allows them to make appropriate decisions regarding the best use of those resources (Cohen and Reynolds, 2008; Williams et al., 2008). Critical appraisal is the means by which the validity of this research is assessed and is essential for true evidence based practice, and decision-making (Burls, 2009; Ciliska, Thomas and Buffett, 2008).

The United States has a unique system of healthcare delivery, it is complex and massive. Twenty-five years ago; American citizens had guaranteed insurance, meaning the patient could see any physician and the insurance companies and patients would share the cost. But today, 187.4 million Americans have private health insurance coverage (Medicaid, 2014). The subsystems of American health care delivery are Managed care, military, vulnerable populations and integrated delivery

According to jhsph.edu, “health economics is an applied field of study that allows for the systemic and rigorous examination of the problems faced in promoting health for all. And health economics aims to understand the behavior of individuals, health care providers, public and private organizations, and governments in decision making” (Howard, n.d.). Overall, health care economics are important to patient care in the aspect of becoming a completely satisfaction based institution. For example, some hospitals receive additional funding from Medicate if the hospital has a high patient satisfaction rating. It also blows my mind that of most countries, the U.S. spends the most money on healthcare, and still has a very high rate of infant mortality

This is true for insured, uninsured, and under-insured Americans. These problems are exacerbated by a lack of coordination of care for patients with chronic diseases. The underlying

When contemplating health care policy changes, several economic issues in health care must be considered. These include the financial issues affecting the health sector and have an impact on health policies. Policy makers face unending challenges due to the health sector revenues that are always rising. Another challenge is decreased funding and failure of the health insurance services.

Economists use certain concepts to help better understand health care services and the determining factor in health care funding.

Patients with long-term, chronic illnesses like Mr. Davis’s, care can be very costly, especially when the patient is unable to maintain routine medical care or visits and medications. Without routine medical care and maintenance medications, patients like Mr. Davis tend to have more frequent emergency room visits and hospitalizations; increasing costs for state and local government as well as tax payers. Though Mr. Davis is able to receive care during an emergency room visit, the providers are not fully aware of his health history and are only able to provide a temporary fix of his symptoms and not address his health care needs.

An efficient health care system is one that treats illnesses in the most cost-effective way. When a patient is given a choice between therapies, an efficient system will use the less costly of the two, other things being equal. But, as of right now the U.S. health care system, meaning, patients and their doctors do not always choose less costly therapies because they face distorted incentives. On the average, every time a patient spends a dollar on medical care, only 21 cents comes out of

have the ability to evaluate the cost effectiveness of care and use principles of economics and

The current health care sector is too costly and too fragmented with a lot of variation in care even with established evidence based guidelines. Providers lack the tools, support and information they need to offer the coordinated health management that can reduce cost and improve outcomes. Primary Care Physicians are constrained in their abilities to perform any proactive care that involves avoiding Hospital or ER visits, and influencing healthy lifestyles.

Cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses are forms of economic evaluation which are useful in health economics for comparing costs and allocating resources. Health economics is widely relevant to governments and the health sector in implementation of new policy, as it concerns the allocation of resources in the context of a limited budget, or 'scarcity'. Economic evaluation is a potential tool for setting priorities in health, though it is only one of many potential criteria, including overall budget and public attitudes and wants. Economic evaluation is already in use in some settings, such as in pharmaceutical company proposals for government subsidisation, but there is room for expansion across the field of

The answers to these questions allow for making explicit comparisons between relevant intervention alternatives, the assumptions underlying different qualitative effects on mortality and morbidity, and the viewpoints or perspectives adopted by the evaluators (e.g., payer/budgetary, societal, community, etc.; Slade, 2016). In addition, economic evaluation can help researchers, programmers, and policy-makers to determine how future costs or benefits should be valued at the present time (Slade, 2016).

The healthcare system plays a key role in the economic stability of our country, as every year trillions are spent in attempt to combat disease and health issues that plaque humanity. As it makes up a significant amount of the expenditures in the economy, so the costs associated with health care of those in pain from illness and injury, including lost productivity, increased need of assistance in living and also the cost of death in some cases, is important to the economic stability and over all standard of living in our country. The key to economic prosperity is balancing the need for care with the costs of illness to keep as many people healthy and well without breaking the bank of collective society. The costs of healthcare have been increasingly problematic in recent years with so many issues surrounding the current system. With the “total health care spending in the United States expected to reach $4.8 trillion in 2021, up from $2.6 trillion in 2010 and $75 billion in 1970, meaning that health care spending will account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2021” (Aetna). With this in mind it is apparent that as we look at the trillion-dollar industry of the medical community it seems that it needs to be a major focus of our nation as a whole and with the many issues come many creative solutions. First let us analyze the reasons behind the current cost and the major problems facing this industry and than discus what

The current research programs in the Centre for Health Economic at Monash University took my interest as the university is providing a wide range of research areas in the field of Health Economics. Furthermore, the researches are mainly centred on economic evaluation, health outcomes and performance in the health care system which help me to get a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of micro econometrics and other statistical methods, while focusing on Health Economics. In addition to my postgraduate experience, during my volunteer work at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Western Australia, I have acquired experience in designing questionnaires in relation to ongoing health programs and analysed the surveys’ data focusing on pre-and post-health outcomes. All these academic and extracurricular activities enhance my interest in Health Economics and therefore I am willing to go for further studies to have a sound knowledge of in this specific field.