Evaluating the Economics of Healthcare Delivery

Running Head: HEALTH ECONOMICSHEALTH CARE ECONOMICS[Document subtitle]

HEALTH ECONOMICS1Defend or Critique the Importance of Considering the Complex Nature of Health and HealthCare when Examining the Economic Principles Related to Health Care DeliveryIntroduction Today, people view health in various distinct ways, mainly when it is very difficult to differentiate that what is unhealthy and healthy. Most of the people do not rejoice the visit to the clinic, but it is significant for the individual's well-being. Further, healthiness can be defined in various distinct ways, but it cannot be explained in those various different ways. Being an individual, I believe that if an individual’s mental, social, spiritual and physical being is not consistent then it is measured unhealthy. Furthermore, using and examining the economic principles will help in understanding the importance and the complicated nature of health care and health to the health care delivery. Moreover, this report will help in understanding the important principles of health economics like scarcity, production, resources and the opportunity cost of the health care along with the markets, demand, and supply for the health care. Also, the principles of the margin will be discussed in the report in order to defend or criticized the importance and the complicated nature of the healthcare and the health. Principles of Health Economics The health economics is one of the various disciplines that might be utilized in order to analyze the various issues of health care and the health. Further, the health economics is one of the various topics through which the principles and the methods of the economy can be used (McPake, B., Normand, C., & Smith, S. 2013). Further, the various principles of health economics are being discussed in order to interpret the context of health care and the health and

HEALTH ECONOMICS2further deciding whether to criticize or defend the importance and the complicated nature of the health care and the health. Further, it has been observed that the health economics tries to apply the analytical tools and the methods which might be used for any service which the economy generates.Production, Scarcity, Resources and the Opportunity Cost of Health Care The production needs the usage of the resources like labor and the raw materials, and further, theproduction process is being used in order to convert the resources to the final services.Furthermore, the inputs of the process of production are the resources like personnel (labor), building and equipment (capital), raw materials and the land. Further, the output of the process ofproduction using the inputs of the health care can be professionals of health care, clinic and the materials of the therapeutic. The conversion of the inputs into outputs impact the factors of mediation, for example, the clinic is publicly or the privately owned.It is being observed that there is the scarcity of the resources and the choices should be made carefully while deciding what goods are going to be produced, how they can be produced and how the services can be availed by the clients. Further, in the economy, there are not adequate resources for the health care in order to meet the needs and the desires of the health which peoplehave and because of this reason the choice is being made between the needs (Drummond et al., 2015). Moreover, the economists allude that the scarcity and the necessity to select are

Running head: HEALTH ECONOMICS
Health economics
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1HEALTH ECONOMICS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Importance of health economics......................................................................................................2
Major principles of healthcare.........................................................................................................3
Economic concepts in healthcare.....................................................................................................4
Theory health economics.................................................................................................................5
Evidences of health economics in healthcare..................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

2HEALTH ECONOMICS
Introduction
Health economics can be described as an explicit branch of economics that is concerned
with the matters related to consumption of the healthcare and health provisions. The subject of
health economics also applies to the wide topics of health care. However, broadly the health
economics include how society allocates the resources among the other alternatives. The scarcity
of the resources also provides a foundation for the economic theory. The health economics
addresses the questions such as how the goods and services will be produced? How it will be
produced and the it will be received? Health economics uses some of the methods and concepts
of the economics to explain how people make decisions regarding the use of health care and
health behaviours. Health economics also provides the framework of how the society will be
allocating the health resources so that the demands of the people can be met with limited amount
of resources. Health economics also can be utilized in meeting the needs of healthcare services
and disease prevention and health promotion (Santerre and Neun 2012). This study will examine
the health care from the economic perspective and it will explain the economic thinking required
in the decision making in healthcare.
Importance of health economics
Even thirty years ago, there used to be very limited option of treatment choices for the
patients and patients mainly used to depend onto the decisions of the doctors. The values the
contributed to the decision making process was entirely implicit and it was determined by the
doctors. Thus, against a background that had very limited amount of the health care resources,
the consumers need to have wide array of intervention options and the consumers must be
empowered as well. This will promote decision making process as a fair and open process
(Phelps 2016).