NRS 433V Introduction to Nursing Research: Health Economics

Answers:

1.

Health economics is a branch of economics that is concerned with efficiency, effectiveness, value creation, and consumption in the health care sector. The economists are interested in the study of functions in the health care sector and how they relate to economics and finance. The major issues in this practice include allocation of resource, costs, resource use and efficiency. These aspects include mobilization of funds for health care, allocation of these funds to specific health sectors and regions across the country. Another important issue in health care financing is the means that citizens use to pay for health care. The practice is also involved in distributing resources to ensure health care affordability by citizens of different social class. The issue of medical insurance has been a thorny issue in the country over the last few years because there are many people who are not able to afford the insurance covers and may end up not assessing essential medical care.

2.

The current health care system in the country is a failure because of a variety of reasons as listed above. A successful health care system has outright characteristics such as being efficient, proper allocation of resources and cost effective (Culyer, 2014). A look at the health care system as it is reveals that the system has failed to meet the threshold of a successful health care system and therefore it is a failure. The cost of the current health care system is too high and not affordable to many. The utilization of the resources that are allocated for health care is also questionable with many of the funds being used for the wrong purpose.

3.

APN`s play a very important role in health care and precisely in management of finances in the health care department. The current state of affairs affects APN`s greatly because they are expected to provide medical care to all patients despite the harsh conditions in the sector. Without proper allocation of resources in the health care sector, the delivery of services to patients becomes impossible since there may be shortage of equipment and even drugs in the hospitals. It is important for APN`s to have knowledge of health economics since they can help to improve the system through efficient use of resources (Rosenthal, 2017).

4.

Economics discipline has a huge impact on the health care practice because of various reasons. Health care requires a substantial amount of budgetary allocation because resources are required to provide health care services to citizens. Therefore the allocation, management and optimal utilization of these resources is very important to ensure health care goals and objectives are achieved (Feldstein, 2012). The write up discusses how health economics impacts on the practice of health care professional. It also demonstrates the importance of having medical insurance and how it improves health care delivery.

5.

In health care, financing and economics is very important. It helps in proper allocation of resources. This helps in catering for all the sectors of health that needs attention by the government. The resources need to be allocated equitably depending on health care needs of specific regions. Economics is important in health care also since it is important to estimate cost of offering the services. Once costs are determined, the resources are then deployed. In order for these resources to be used efficiently, it is important for the people in charge to be familiar with health economics. The procurement of health care material and equipment also justifies the significance of economics in health care.

6.

An opinion on the posting is given and it indicates that the health care system has not succeeded in making capital. A detailed reasoning for the same is well given with good references to quoted text. The funding of health care is also not effective since there are very many people without insurance cover and therefore they find it difficult to cover their medical expenses. The Affordable Health Care Act needs to be reviewed in order to improve health care delivery in the country.

References

In Culyer, A. J. (2014). Encyclopedia of health economics. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Feldstein, P. J. (2012). Health care economics. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

Mervio, M. M. (2013). Healthcare management and economics: Perspectives on public and private administration. Hershey, Pa: IGI Global (701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 17033, USA.

Rosenthal, E. (2017). An American sickness: How healthcare became big business and how you can take it back.