Nowadays, timely access to healthcare services is justly considered as one of the critical prerequisites to a healthier society and future generations’ ability to succeed in life. The provision of high-quality healthcare services requires significant infusions of money and well-thought decisions concerning how to use the equipment, financial resources, human resources, and policies to build effective and modern systems. This essay argues that the knowledge of health economics, which is the study of effectiveness, supply/demand patterns, and service provision in healthcare, can help future professionals to evaluate treatment options and support trust between providers and patients.
Healthcare economics studies focus on specific economic issues peculiar to the field of healthcare. Basically, it is a specific branch of economics that delves into the concepts of value, efficiency, patterns of consumption, and service production as they pertain to the healthcare market (Phelps, 2016). Health economics has gradually become a separate field of study. There are three essential reasons for that; to begin with, health services produce an enormous economic impact on countries. For instance, in the United States, they account for almost one-fifth of the country’s GDP, which is why the study of healthcare expenses is absolutely necessary (Phelps, 2016).
Secondly, the development of healthcare technology never stands still, and health economics is needed to analyze the changing structure of healthcare services and its economic effects (Phelps, 2016). Finally, the branch of economics in question is concerned with making credible predictions related to the expected growth of healthcare spending (Phelps, 2016). Economic studies that place emphasis on healthcare instead of equating the healthcare market with other types of markets can produce effective strategies for optimizing healthcare costs and preventing their skyrocketing growth.
Those willing to work in the healthcare industry should have some knowledge related to health economics to know how effective microeconomic evaluations contribute to the selection of cost-effective treatment and care strategies.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, health economics does not focus solely on large-scale tendencies that immediately affect enormous groups of people. For instance, it gives rise to micro-economic evaluations at the level of treatment (Vieira, 2016). This knowledge enables healthcare professionals to analyze the cost-effectiveness of potential treatment strategies and use the findings in decision-making (Vieira, 2016). Therefore, an understanding of healthcare economics helps care providers to use their institutions’ resources to contribute to healthcare spending optimization.
An understanding of health economics is also significant for those entering the healthcare profession since it supports professionals’ skills in consulting patients and building trust between consumers and providers. Studies in health economics shed light on the origins of global trends in inpatient care, and this knowledge enables a healthcare specialist to respond to patients’ requests in a professional manner.
For instance, as Beecroft (2016) argues, an understanding of the economic aspects of drug development and research funding enables doctors to prevent the popularization of myths and medical conspiracy theories among patients that cannot access specific medications. Thus, by using their health economics knowledge, professionals can support the dissemination of credible information and prevent distrust towards healthcare systems.
To sum up, healthcare economics is concerned with a variety of topics related to healthcare processes at different levels and how to improve them. For future healthcare professionals, it is important to understand this branch of economics since this knowledge helps to make informed and cost-effective care decisions and counsel patients to reduce misconceptions about healthcare systems. Considering the positive outcomes of having such knowledge, it can be of benefit to design strategies to improve the levels of health economic literacy among healthcare professionals and students.
References
Beecroft, C. (2016). Why health economics deserves a place in the medical curriculum. Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, 5(4), 321-323.
Phelps, C. E. (2016). Health economics (5th ed.). Routledge.
Vieira, F. S. (2016). Reflections on the role of health economics units regarding national health care systems. Saúde e Sociedade, 25, 306-319. Web.