Health care or healthcare is the treatment and prevention of illness Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered a synonym for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist. Some have described illness as the subjective perception by a patient of an objectively defined disease. Health care is delivered by professionals in medicine Medicine is the science and art of healing humans. It includes a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness. Before scientific medicine, healing arts were practiced along with alchemical and ritual practices that developed out of religious and cultural traditions. The term &, dentistry Dentistry, which is a part of stomatology, is the branch of medicine that is involved in the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and surgical or non-surgical treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely, nursing Nursing is a healthcare [compassionate] profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from birth to death, pharmacy Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs. The word derives from the Greek φάρμακον , "drug, medicine" (the earliest form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek pa-ma-ko, attested in Linear B syllabic and allied health Allied health professions are clinical and administrative health care professions distinct from medicine, dentistry, and nursing. Allied health professionals make up 60 percent of the total health workforce. They work in health care teams to make the healthcare system function by providing a range of diagnostic, technical, therapeutic and direct.
The social and political issues surrounding access to healthcare in the US 62% of all personal bankruptcies in the United States were medical. Medical impoverishment is almost unheard of in wealthy countries other than the US. The United States spends a greater portion of total yearly income in the nation on health care than any United Nations member state except for East Timor , although the actual use of health care have led to vigorous public debate and the almost colloquial use of terms such as health care (medical management of illness), health insurance Health insurance, like other forms of insurance, is a form of collectivism by means of which people collectively pool their risk, in this case the risk of incurring medical expenses. The collective is usually publicly owned or else is organized on a non-profit basis for the members of the pool, though in some countries health insurance pools may (reimbursement of health care costs), and public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. The (the collective state and range of health in a population).
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Health care industry
Main article: Health care industry The health care industry or health profession treats patients who are injured, sick, disabled, or infirm. The delivery of modern health care depends on an expanding interdisciplinary team of trained professionalsThe delivery of modern health care depends on an expanding group of trained professionals The word professional traditionally means a person who has obtained a degree in a professional field. The term professional is used more generally to denote a white collar working person, or a person who performs commercially in a field typically reserved for hobbyists or amateurs coming together as an interdisciplinary team An interdisciplinary field is a field of study that crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged.[1][2]
The health-care industry Industry refers to the production of an economic good within an economy. There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction, and manufacturing; the tertiary sector, which deals with services (such as law incorporates several sectors that are dedicated to providing health care services and products. According to industry and market classifications, such as the Global Industry Classification Standard The Global Industry Classification Standard is an industry taxonomy developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), and Standard & Poor's (S&P) for use by the global financial community. The GICS structure consists of 10 sectors, 24 industry groups, 68 industries and 154 sub-industries into which S&P has categorized all major and the Industry Classification Benchmark The Industry Classification Benchmark is a company classification system developed by Dow Jones and FTSE. It is used to segregate markets into sectors within the macroeconomy. The ICB uses a system of 10 industries, partitioned into 19 supersectors, which are further divided into 41 sectors, which then contain 114 subsectors, the health-care industry includes health care equipment and services as well as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Modern use similar term includes genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies. The concept encompasses a wide range of procedures for modifying and life sciences. The particular sectors associated with these groups are: biotechnology, diagnostic substances, drug delivery, drug manufacturers, hospitals, medical equipment and instruments, diagnostic laboratories, nursing homes, providers of health care plans and home health care.[3]
According to government industry classifications, which are mostly based on the United Nations system, the International Standard Industrial Classification The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities is a United Nations system for classifying economic data. The United Nations Statistics Division describes it in the following terms:, health care generally consists of hospital activities, medical and dental practice activities, and other human health activities. The last class consists of all activities for human health not performed by hospitals, physicians or dentists. This involves activities of, or under the supervision of, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, scientific or diagnostic laboratiories, pathology clinics, home, or other para-medical practitioners in the field of optometry, hydrotherapy, medical massage, music therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, chiropody, homeopathy, chiropractics, acupuncture, etc.[4]
Research
See also: List of health care journals Categories: Lists of medical journals | Healthcare journals, List of medical journals A variety of medical journals exist for each specialty. The list of journals can also be organized by specialty, and further into "leading" journals, and "other" journals here. Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, List of pharmaceutical sciences journals A representative list of scientific journals that publishing articles in pharmaceutical sciences, List of bioinformatics journals These are alphabetical lists of scientific journals that regularly publish papers on bioinformatics. Besides the main list, two other lists are included because several journals that are not specific to bioinformatics also publish work in that area, and Medical literature Contemporary and historic views regarding diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of medical conditions have been documented for thousands of years. The Edwin Smith papyrus is the first known medical treatise. Initially most described inflictions related to warfare. This was because war was the most important part of society and it was the most commonTop impact factor The impact factor, often abbreviated IF, is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to articles published in science and social science journals. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field, with journals with higher impact factors deemed to be more important than those with lower ones academic journals An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research. Content typically takes the form of articles presenting original research, in the health care field include Health Affairs Health Affairs is a peer-reviewed health care policy academic journal founded in 1981. The journal has 10,000 domestic and international subscribers and is highly influential in the field; the Washington Post has described it as "the bible of health policy". According to the journal's homepage, it "is consulted by 55% of staff and Milbank Quarterly The Milbank Quarterly is a peer-reviewed journal for the health care sector published since 1923. It it has either led, or been in the top three, for impact factor of 49 journals in Health Policy & Services, and of 69 journals in Health Care Sciences & Services since 2003. The New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world, and is the most widely read, cited, and influential general medical periodical in the world, British Medical Journal BMJ is a partially open access medical journal. It is among the most influential and widely read peer-reviewed general scientific journals in the field of medicine in the world, and the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world are more general journals.
Biomedical research Biomedical research , in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research, applied research, or translational research conducted to aid and support the body of knowledge in the field of medicine. Medical research can be divided into two general categories: the evaluation of new treatments for both safety and efficacy in what are (or experimental medicine Biomedical research , in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research, applied research, or translational research conducted to aid and support the body of knowledge in the field of medicine. Medical research can be divided into two general categories: the evaluation of new treatments for both safety and efficacy in what are), in general simply known as medical research Biomedical research , in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research, applied research, or translational research conducted to aid and support the body of knowledge in the field of medicine. Medical research can be divided into two general categories: the evaluation of new treatments for both safety and efficacy in what are, is the basic research Basic research or fundamental research is research carried out to increase understanding of fundamental principles. Many times the end results have no direct or immediate commercial benefits: basic research can be thought of as arising out of curiosity. However, in the long term it is the basis for many commercial products and applied research, applied research Applied research is research that is applied, accessing and using some part of the research communities' accumulated theories, knowledge, methods, and techniques, for a specific, often state, commercial, or client driven purpose. Applied research is often opposed to pure research in debates about research ideals, programs, and projects, or translational research Translational research is another term for translative research and translational science, although it fails to disambiguate itself from forms of research that are not scientific , which are currently considered outside its scope. Translational research is a way of thinking about and conducting scientific research to make the results of research conducted to aid the body of knowledge in the field of medicine Medicine is the science and art of healing humans. It includes a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness. Before scientific medicine, healing arts were practiced along with alchemical and ritual practices that developed out of religious and cultural traditions. The term &. Medical research can be divided into two general categories: the evaluation of new treatments for both safety and efficacy in what are termed clinical trials Clinical Trials are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions . These trials can take place only after satisfactory information has been gathered on the quality of the non-clinical safety, and Health Authority/Ethics Committee approval is granted in the country where the trial is taking place, and all other research that contributes to the development of new treatments. The latter is termed preclinical research Pre-clinical development is a stage of research that begins before clinical trials can begin, and during which important feasibility, iterative testing and safety (also known as Good Laboratory Practice or "GLP") data is collected if its goal is specifically to elaborate knowledge for the development of new therapeutic strategies. A new paradigm to biomedical research is being termed translational research Translational research is another term for translative research and translational science, although it fails to disambiguate itself from forms of research that are not scientific , which are currently considered outside its scope. Translational research is a way of thinking about and conducting scientific research to make the results of research, which focuses on iterative feedback loops between the basic and clinical research domains to accelerate knowledge translation from the bedside to the bench, and back again.
In terms of pharmaceutical R&D spending, Europe Europe is one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and spends a little less that the United States (€22.50bn compared to €27.05bn in 2006) and there is less growth in European R&D spending.[5][6] Pharmaceuticals and other medical devices are the leading high technology exports of Europe and the United States.[6][7] However, the United States dominates the biopharmaceutical Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They are proteins (including antibodies), nucleic acids (DNA, RNA or antisense oligonucleotides) used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic purposes, and are produced by means other than direct extraction from a native (non-engineered) biological source field, accounting for the three quarters of the world’s biotechnology revenues and 80% of world R&D spending in biotechnology.[5][6]
World Health Organization
Main article: World Health Organization The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the See also: Global health Global health is the health of populations in a global context and transcends the perspectives and concerns of individual nations. Health problems that transcend national borders or have a global political and economic impact, are often emphasized. It has been defined as 'the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improvingThe World Health Organization The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the (WHO) is a specialized United Nations The United Nations Organization or simply United Nations (UN) (Arabic: الأمم المتحدة, French: Organisation des Nations Unies, Chinese: 联合国 / 聯合國, Spanish: Organización de las Naciones Unidas, Russian: Организация Объединённых Наций) Filipino: Organisasyon ng Nagkakaisang mga Bansa is an agency which acts as a coordinator and researcher for public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. The around the world. Established on 7 April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva Geneva (Arpitan: Genèva, IPA: [ˈd͡zənɛva]; French: Genève, IPA: [ʒənɛv]; German: Genf, IPA: [ˈɡɛnf] ; Italian: Ginevra; Romansh: Genevra) is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandie (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). Situated where the Rhône River exits Lake Geneva (, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization, which had been an agency of the League of Nations The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920, and the precursor to the United Nations. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members. The League's primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing war through collective. The WHO's constitution states that its mission "is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health." Its major task is to combat disease, especially key infectious diseases, and to promote the general health of the peoples of the world. Examples of its work include years of fighting smallpox Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple". The term "smallpox" was first used in Europe. In 1979 the WHO declared that the disease had been eradicated - the first disease in history to be completely eliminated by deliberate human design. The WHO is nearing success in developing vaccines against malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas , Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people, the majority of whom and schistosomiasis and aims to eradicate polio within the next few years. The organization has already endorsed the world's first official HIV/AIDS Toolkit for Zimbabwe from October 3, 2006, making it an international standard.[8]
The WHO is financed by contributions from member states and from donors. In recent years the WHO's work has involved more collaboration, currently around 80 such partnerships, with NGOs and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as with foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Voluntary contributions to the WHO from national and local governments, foundations and NGOs, other UN organizations, and the private sector (including pharmaceutical companies), now exceed that of assessed contributions (dues) from its 193 member nations.[9]
Economics
Main article: Health economicsHealth economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to scarcity in the allocation of health and health care. Broadly, health economists study the functioning of the health care system and the private and social causes of health-affecting behaviors such as smoking.
A seminal 1963 article by Kenneth Arrow, often credited with giving rise to the health economics as a discipline, drew conceptual distinctions between health and other goals.[10] Factors that distinguish health economics from other areas include extensive government intervention, intractable uncertainty in several dimensions, asymmetric information, and externalities.[11] Governments tend to regulate the health care industry heavily and also tend to be the largest payer within the market. Uncertainty is intrinsic to health, both in patient outcomes and financial concerns. The knowledge gap that exists between a physician and a patient can prevent the patient from accurately describing his symptoms or enable the physician to prescribe unnecessary but profitable services; these imbalances lead to market failures resulting from asymmetric information. Externalities arise frequently when considering health and health care, notably in the context of infectious disease. For example, making an effort to avoid catching a cold, or practicing safer sex, affects people other than the decision maker.
The scope of health economics is neatly encapsulated by Alan William's "plumbing diagram"[12] dividing the discipline into eight distinct topics:
- What influences health? (other than health care)
- What is health and what is its value
- The demand for health care
- The supply of health care
- Micro-economic evaluation at treatment level
- Market equilibrium
- Evaluation at whole system level; and,
- Planning, budgeting and monitoring mechanisms.
Consuming just under 10 percent of gross domestic product of most developed nations, health care can form an enormous part of a country's economy. In 2008, health care consumed an average of 9.0 percent of GDP across the OECD countries[13] with the United States (16.0%), France (11.2%), and Switzerland (10.7%)being the top three spenders.
The United States and Canada account for 48% of world pharmaceutical sales, while Europe, Japan, and all other nations account for 30%, 9%, and 13%, respectively.[6] United States accounts for the three quarters of the world’s biotechnology revenues.
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Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:11:29 GMT+00:00
IT company BBC News Livingston-based healthcare IT firm, Craneware, has announced a 24% rise in full year pre-tax profits to more than 4.5m. The company said it had been a ... More growth at Craneware GrowthBusiness.co.uk
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Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:25:18 PDT
Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., wants to bring down costs before voting yes on bill.. abcnews.go.com.
Jane Hamsher
ue, 31 Aug 2010 18:30:22 GM
As Jay Cost of Real Clear Politics notes, it's pretty obvious that the Democrats' electoral woes are directly tied to the passage of the . health care. bill. But somehow horserace analysts like Jonathan Alter, Jim Vanderhei and Mike Allen ...
