The term health care is used to describe a wide range of actions and treatments that are designed to improve or maintain the health of individuals. It is a system that encompasses many different types of facilities, doctors, and treatments. Its complexity results from advances in technology, cultural values, medical studies and the field of genetics. The most common source of health care today is a primary care physician who refers patients to a variety of specialists on an as needed basis.
In the United States, the term health care also relates to a broad array of social and political issues. Our society values individual choice, rests its economy on capitalistic principles of competition and supports a health care delivery system that is decentralized, pluralistic, fragmented, and regulated by a host of methods that include regulatory controls that are more extensive and complex than those of other countries. Furthermore, we have a legal system that provides recourse to private legal action, mainly by way of malpractice suits, when a patient believes that the quality of their health care has fallen below acceptable levels.
Despite these constraints, our nation still spends considerably more than other nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on its health care. The health care industry accounts for approximately 11.1 percent of our country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
As a result, the U.S. ranks much lower than other nations in some categories of overall health care performance, including access to care and the quality of care delivered. It is also an outlier in terms of the amount of money that it spends on health care per capita, spending more than twice as much as the second lowest-ranked country.
Some researchers suggest that we must recognize that our current health care system is no longer working well. The goal of our society is improved health outcomes and health-related quality of life, and we must begin to examine ways of achieving these goals in a more effective manner.
The current system relies on an uneasy synthesis of several different systems. Most individuals have some form of health insurance coverage through employers, which pays for some or all of their medical expenditures. Governments provide health insurance for populations that the private market may not serve effectively, such as children and the elderly.
Health care has become a major component of the American economy and has had a tremendous impact on our culture. It is a vital part of our national identity and a core value.
While health care cannot eliminate all diseases, it does have the ability to substantially reduce them. The benefits of preventive healthcare are evident, with regions that have higher ratios of primary care physicians to population showing lower rates of smoking and obesity as well as higher rates of breast exams, pap smears and bowel cancer screening. The challenge is to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality health care.