Health care

An efficient health care system can contribute to a significant part of a country's economy, development, and industrialization.

[5] An example of this was the worldwide eradication of smallpox in 1980, declared by the WHO, as the first disease in human history to be eliminated by deliberate health care interventions.

[6] The delivery of modern health care depends on groups of trained professionals and paraprofessionals coming together as interdisciplinary teams.

[11] Common chronic illnesses usually treated in primary care may include, for example, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, COPD, depression and anxiety, back pain, arthritis or thyroid dysfunction.

Examples of direct primary care practices include Foundation Health in Colorado and Qliance in Washington.

[citation needed] In the context of global population aging, with increasing numbers of older adults at greater risk of chronic non-communicable diseases, rapidly increasing demand for primary care services is expected in both developed and developing countries.

However, many secondary care providers, such as psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, most dental specialties or physiotherapists, do not necessarily work in hospitals.

[citation needed] In other countries patient self-referral to a medical specialist for secondary care is rare as prior referral from another physician (either a primary care physician or another specialist) is considered necessary, regardless of whether the funding is from private insurance schemes or national health insurance.

[citation needed] Tertiary care is specialized consultative health care, usually for inpatients and on referral from a primary or secondary health professional, in a facility that has personnel and facilities for advanced medical investigation and treatment, such as a tertiary referral hospital.

They include many interventions of public health interest, such as food safety surveillance, distribution of condoms and needle-exchange programs for the prevention of transmissible diseases.

This state of affairs presents a challenge for the design of ICT (information and communication technology) for home care.

[22] Because statistics show that over 80 million Americans have taken time off of their primary employment to care for a loved one,[23] many countries have begun offering programs such as the Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Program to allow family members to take care of their loved ones without giving up their entire income.

[citation needed] With obesity in children rapidly becoming a major concern, health services often set up programs in schools aimed at educating children about nutritional eating habits, making physical education a requirement and teaching young adolescents to have a positive self-image.

This information is translated into report cards that are generated by quality organizations, nonprofit, consumer groups and media.

[citation needed] Health care extends beyond the delivery of services to patients, encompassing many related sectors, and is set within a bigger picture of financing and governance structures.

[citation needed] The healthcare industry incorporates several sectors that are dedicated to providing health care services and products.

[citation needed] For example, pharmaceuticals and other medical devices are the leading high technology exports of Europe and the United States.

Health services research is also aided by initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence for the development of systems of health assessment that are clinically useful, timely, sensitive to change, culturally sensitive, low-burden, low-cost, built into standard procedures, and involve the patient.

[35] Clearly this kind of analysis is flawed in that life expectancy is only one measure of a health system's performance, but equally, the notion that more funding is better is not supported.

[citation needed] In the United States, the healthcare industry accounts for 18% of gross domestic product in 2020 and is one of the largest and most complex parts of the U.S. economy.

[36]In 2011, the health care industry consumed an average of 9.3 percent of the GDP or US$ 3,322 (PPP-adjusted) per capita across the 34 members of OECD countries.

Global concentrations of health care resources, as depicted by the number of physicians per 10,000 individuals, by country. Data is sourced from a World Health Statistics 2010, a WHO report. [ needs update ]
Primary care may be provided in community health centers.
The emergency room is often a frontline venue for the delivery of primary medical care.
Hospital train "Therapist Matvei Mudrov" in Khabarovsk , Russia [ 9 ]
Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami , the primary teaching hospital of the University of Miami 's Miller School of Medicine and the largest hospital in the United States with 1,547 beds [ 15 ]
National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London , United Kingdom is a specialist neurological hospital.
Life expectancy vs healthcare spending of rich OECD countries. US average of $10,447 in 2018 . [ 33 ]
Health spending by country . Percent of GDP ( Gross domestic product ). For example: 11.2% for Canada in 2022. 16.6% for the United States in 2022. [ 40 ]
Total healthcare cost per person . Public and private spending. US dollars PPP . For example: $6,319 for Canada in 2022. $12,555 for the US in 2022. [ 40 ]