Resource Allocation In Health Care

Allocating of scare resources has been an important part in decision making in the health care system, leading to ethical issue been raised. Ethical issue involved is often conflicting. Resource allocation can be particularly challenging in rural setting, where resources are not enough to meet all needs. Resource allocation involves distribution of resources amongst people or programs. Health care usually deals with this issue in the macro level or micro level. The macro level “deals with distribution of resources not on individual level but communal level” (Loewy, 1989, p.31). While the micro level “determines the use of specific resources for specific patients…deals with problems of abortion, feeding the vegetative, or using ventilators in a brain dead” (Loewy, 1989, p.31). Resource allocation should satisfy two main ethical criteria, which are “should be cost-effective. Limited resources for health should be allocated to maximize the health benefits for the population served… and should be equitable or just; equity is concerned with the distribution of benefits and costs to distinct individuals or groups” (Wilker & Brock, 2006, Chapter 14). However, efficiency and equity can sometimes collide.
In the H1N1 scare case, the first step is to identify and analyze the nature of conflict that surrounds the allocation of scare resource. The focus of value may arise amongst any combination of personal, professional, organizational, and community values. Personal values are individual beliefs and ideologies. For example, a utilitarian …show more content…
In creating a sustainable health care system, the level at which health care is rationale has to be transparent. This is not only important to individuals, but also shows what values are most important to the society. We live in a world were resources are scare compared to needs and the health system is also affected by this