University Report: Health Economic and Finance Analysis

This report analyzes the issue of over-prescription of medicine in healthcare, drawing on economic theory and research. The report examines the incentives for physicians to prescribe excessive medication, often driven by factors such as supplier-induced demand and economic benefits, even when it may not be in the patient's best interest. It highlights the lack of adherence to evidence-based practices and the potential harm to patients. The report discusses the role of healthcare leadership and management in addressing these issues, emphasizing the need for efficient resource allocation, clear responsibilities, and the promotion of evidence-based practices. It also addresses the importance of effective communication between physicians and patients and the need for healthcare leaders to educate staff and monitor treatment practices to ensure optimal patient outcomes. The report identifies gaps in the existing literature, such as the limited focus on non-economic causes of over-prescription and the lack of primary data collection methods. The report underscores the significance of healthcare management in promoting patient well-being and the responsible use of healthcare resources, which is crucial for improving patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Running head: HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
Question 1:
In the literature review conducted by the Hensher, Tisdell and Zimitat, (2017), the
complication which can be caused due to the consumption of too much of medicine is discussed.
The article aims to provide the reason behind the prescription of excessive medication to the
patient and its adverse effect of consumption of excessive medicine on the patient. In the article
it is evident that the physician usually do not follow the evidence based practice in the treatment
which leads to further Detroit of the health of the patient. The central arguments of the article
revolves around the use of too much of medicine to the patient which is not required and can also
harm the patient. instead of having several negative aspects of the overuse of medicine for the
patient, general practitioner usually prescribes it to the patient as it leads them to incentives and
recognition. However in order to gain recognition into their professional life they play with the
life of the patient. hence by considering all these factors, it is stated in the article that general
practitioner is note the best agent for the treatment of the patient. The reason behind the
prescription of way too unnecessary medicine to the patient is explained in the article which is
done with the help of literature review.
The central arguments of the article which is the use of too much medicine in the patient
which might harm the health of the individual is clearly stated in the article.
The conclusion of the article is not clearly stated. Conclusion is included in the
discussion of the article which provides with the possible reason for which the general
practitioner suggests excess medicine to the patient even after knowing that it might harm the
patient. Though, the discussion part is stated in the article in detail which includes the cause of
prescribing unnecessary medicine to the patient such as, supplier induce demand, economic

2HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
benefits, moral hazard, but the paragraph which should conclude the whole discussion. Hence it
can be sated that the conclusion of the article is not clearly stated.
In order to increase the quality of the article, the discussion should include evidence
collected from different per reviewed article (Fink, 2019). In this article, the discussion is
provided with evidence. To collect the evidence, the database of the web of science which is an
online database and the PubMed are used which can be considers as one of the most reliable
resources for the data collection (Okoli & Schabram, 2010). In addition to that, data from the
data from the peer reviewed articles, books and the hand research for the follow on is also
conducted for more quality research and to acknowledge the diversity of the issue.
Question 2:
The article revolves around the consumption of excess of medicine in the patient which
harms the patient. Though, the central arguments of the essay is clearly stated in the article,
however the article only focusses on economic cause and others. Apart from the economic
benefits that the general practitioner gets by prescribing excess medicine or the benefits of the
medicine supplier, lack of medical knowledge among the general practitioner can also be one of
the leading cause of this issue (Schön, 2017).
Due to the lack of medical knowledge among the general practitioner they tend to provide
more medicine to the patient as compared to the quality general practitioner which is not
necessary to the patient of might have negative impact of the patient (Merriam & Grenier, 2019).
It is also due to the lack of training among the general practitioner.
Apart from that, poor communication among the patient and the general practitioner is
also considered as a cause for the over prescription of the drugs (Ofori-Asenso & Agyeman,

3HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
2016). In some cases, it is observed that the patient might not able to share their pains and
worries to the doctors which leads to miscommunication among the patient and the doctors and
as a result they tend to provide excess medicine to the patient.
It is frequently observed that doctors usually prescribes opioid to the patient in excess
quantity. The over prescription of such drugs is due to the several reason which includes,
pressure from the patient, little or no time to assess the patient, lack of knowledge regarding
other antibiotics (Winter, 2019).
In the article only the economic benefits of the over prescription is detailed. However
these reason can also be one of the major cause for over prescription which is not mentioned in
the article.
In the article, only the reason of the over prescription is stated, but the impact of over
prescription on the health of the individual is not mentioned in detail which should be included in
the article.
Another gap which is identified in the article is the lack of primary data collection
method. The data is collected only through different database and articles.
Question 3:
According to WHO (2019), quality leadership and the healthcare management aims to
provide direction and also helps in gaining commitment from the patient and the other healthcare
staff. It aims to facilitate the changes and helps in achieving better health outcomes of the patient
by enhancing the healthcare facilities of the organization by the help of responsible and accretive
deployment of the heath care staff and other healthcare resources. In order to promote the patient
outcomes as well as to increase the healthcare satisfaction, the professional leaders is required.

4HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
Lack of the efficient leaders and the adequate management opportunities and competencies
which can be used for the further learning, decreases the health outcomes of the patient as well as
their satisfaction. To manage the healthcare resources, health leaders should manage and control
the overuse of the resources, which if not followed can lead can to harm of the patient as well as
the healthcare resources. The good healthcare leadership and management can only be achieved
if each and every employee working in an organization have clear responsibilities.
According to the study conducted by Tisdell and Zimitat (2017), it is frequently observed
that instead of having the knowledge regarding the harmful effects of the overuse of medicine,
physician usually suggests them to the patient. It is usually observed in healthcare organization.
The medicine or the costly treatment which are not at also required for the patient is
recommended by the general practitioner only to increase the expenses of the healthcare of the
patient.
In the study, the author has concluded that the physician cannot be considered as the
perfect agent for the treatment of the patient. In the study, it is clearly identified that physician
usually do not follow the evidence based practice to treat the patient. They usually suggests
costly treatment to the patient. This help them to earn more incentives but cause harm to the
patient in terms of health and economics both. In the study, the behavioral properties of the
health professional is conducted which shows that, most of the health professional suggests
expensive treatment to the patient as their foremost rational choice instead of knowing that it
might cause harm to the patient or Detroit their health in future in order to get more incentives.
Apart from these, the other potential cause that is responsible for prescribing too much medicine
to the patient which is not needed, is the positional and status completion. In the study, it is quite
evident that the management of the healthcare creates a gap in the distribution of the medicine.

5HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
To reduce such adverse effect of too much medicine and unnecessary treatment on the
patient, an effective management of the healthcare resources and staff are required which can be
achieved by the help of efficient leader (Spurgeon, Clark & Ham, 2017). An effective leader
should educate the other healthcare staff regarding the adverse effect of the overuse of medicine
on the patient. They should be acknowledged that, it might provide them with status and
recognition, but it can hamper the health of the patient and might lead to nay severe illness. It is
the responsibilities of the healthcare leader, to educate the patient that the health of the patient
should be their primary aim while treating a patient (Vaismoradi et al., 2016). The healthcare
leader should manage and monitor regularly that none of the physician or the healthcare staff is
prescribing excess medicine to the patient which is not required or might further Detroit the
health of the patient.
It can be achieved by efficient management of the healthcare leader. If the management
team of the healthcare organization is effective, it will have positive impact on the health of the
patient (Ginter, Duncan & Swayne, 2018). It is the responsibility of the healthcare management
team to monitor the treatment of the patient. The healthcare management and the healthcare
leadership should encourage the general physician and the other healthcare staff to incorporate
evidence based practice treatment of the patient (Straus et al., 2018). With the help of these, the
issues which is focused on the article can be avoided and the health outcome of the patient.

6HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
Reference:
Fink, A. (2019). Conducting research literature reviews: From the internet to paper. Sage
publications.
Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). The strategic management of health care
organizations. John Wiley & Sons.
Hensher, M., Tisdell, J., & Zimitat, C. (2017). “Too much medicine”: Insights and explanations
from economic theory and research. Social Science & Medicine, 176, 77-84.
Merriam, S. B., & Grenier, R. S. (Eds.). (2019). Qualitative research in practice: Examples for
discussion and analysis. John Wiley & Sons.
Ofori-Asenso, R., & Agyeman, A. (2016). Irrational use of medicines—a summary of key
concepts. Pharmacy, 4(4), 35.
Okoli, C., & Schabram, K. (2010). A guide to conducting a systematic literature review of
information systems research.
Schön, D. A. (2017). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Routledge.
Spurgeon, P., Clark, J., & Ham, C. (2017). Medical leadership: from the dark side to centre
stage. CRC Press.
Straus, S. E., Glasziou, P., Richardson, W. S., & Haynes, R. B. (2018). Evidence-Based
Medicine E-Book: How to Practice and Teach EBM. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Vaismoradi, M., Griffiths, P., Turunen, H., & Jordan, S. (2016). Transformational leadership in
nursing and medication safety education: a discussion paper. Journal of nursing
management, 24(7), 970-980.

7HEALTH ECONOMIC AND FINANCE
WHO. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/hiv/pub/imai/om_10_leadership_management.pdf
Winter, G. (2019). Overprescribing antibiotics. Journal of Prescribing Practice, 1(5), 218-219.