INTRODUCTION
In a debate regarding the most important asset of a country, one country might say its greatest assets are its financial assets. Another might say its oil and gas, and still to another that might be its gold reserves. While some only focus on physical assets that can be easily bought and sold, It is Winston Churchill who expressed that “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have”. All these assets contribute in some way or the other to the country’s economic position. Churchill’s position is reiterated by Director of National Institutes of Health, USA Francis S. Collins who states “There’s a well-understood correlation that as the economy of a country improves, so the health of its citizens improves. What may …show more content…
Economic factors affecting health care industry mainly refer to financial constraints in the industry that directly or indirectly influence hospital revenues. These include but are not limited to inflation rate, taxes, interest rates, exchange rates, trading regulations, and excise duties, unemployment, skills levels, availability of expertise, wage patterns, working practices, and labor cost trends.
Economic Influence on the Health Sector
The main influence of the economy on Health can be seen in funding and investments. When the economy is not doing well, health funding is reduced. As a result the quantity and quality of health care is reduced.
Additionally, during an economic downturn, there is usually the loss of jobs resulting less household income and increased poverty. There is usually an increase in cost of living as well. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, “The lower the economic position of a population or community, the more common are unhealthy behaviors and the more difficult it is to practice healthy ones”. (Long, Senterfitt, Shih, &Teutsch, 2013) This results in increased demand for health services whose supply is now limited. This puts added pressure on the health sector to provide for the increasing medical …show more content…
On one hand, technology in the health sector has positive effects with the availability of new treatments available, better research practices, new machines and equipment as well as new medicines. According to Kreuger (2010) “Breakthroughs in information gathering, research, treatments, and communications have given medical providers new tools to work with and fresh ways to practice medicine”. This improves health care by making it easier for both doctors and patients. For instance with the innovation of blood sugar testing machines, patients can get their results almost immediately with just the prick of a finger compared to past times where blood had to be drawn and they had to wait for the results to return from the lab. Additionally, this helps in improving accuracy and is less time consuming as there are automated systems where instead of pulling a physical file a patient’s entire medical history can be glanced with just the push of a
In a debate regarding the most important asset of a country, one country might say its greatest assets are its financial assets. Another might say its oil and gas, and still to another that might be its gold reserves. While some only focus on physical assets that can be easily bought and sold, It is Winston Churchill who expressed that “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have”. All these assets contribute in some way or the other to the country’s economic position. Churchill’s position is reiterated by Director of National Institutes of Health, USA Francis S. Collins who states “There’s a well-understood correlation that as the economy of a country improves, so the health of its citizens improves. What may …show more content…
Economic factors affecting health care industry mainly refer to financial constraints in the industry that directly or indirectly influence hospital revenues. These include but are not limited to inflation rate, taxes, interest rates, exchange rates, trading regulations, and excise duties, unemployment, skills levels, availability of expertise, wage patterns, working practices, and labor cost trends.
Economic Influence on the Health Sector
The main influence of the economy on Health can be seen in funding and investments. When the economy is not doing well, health funding is reduced. As a result the quantity and quality of health care is reduced.
Additionally, during an economic downturn, there is usually the loss of jobs resulting less household income and increased poverty. There is usually an increase in cost of living as well. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, “The lower the economic position of a population or community, the more common are unhealthy behaviors and the more difficult it is to practice healthy ones”. (Long, Senterfitt, Shih, &Teutsch, 2013) This results in increased demand for health services whose supply is now limited. This puts added pressure on the health sector to provide for the increasing medical …show more content…
On one hand, technology in the health sector has positive effects with the availability of new treatments available, better research practices, new machines and equipment as well as new medicines. According to Kreuger (2010) “Breakthroughs in information gathering, research, treatments, and communications have given medical providers new tools to work with and fresh ways to practice medicine”. This improves health care by making it easier for both doctors and patients. For instance with the innovation of blood sugar testing machines, patients can get their results almost immediately with just the prick of a finger compared to past times where blood had to be drawn and they had to wait for the results to return from the lab. Additionally, this helps in improving accuracy and is less time consuming as there are automated systems where instead of pulling a physical file a patient’s entire medical history can be glanced with just the push of a