Economics in Health and Medical Care - Research Paper Example

It comes under the category of social sciences which deals with the costs, profits, efficiency, and other related concepts. Along with their application in business and services sectors, the public sectors of the country such as medical and healthcare services also make use of economics in their management and decision making (Kitty & Mack, 1995).

Significance in Medical and Healthcare

Recent research studies indicate that the ideas of theoretical and practical applications have contributed greatly to the medical and health sector. This great deal of contribution can be initially summed up in three words: heterogeneity, sustainability, and scarcity. To identify and imply the technically best and socially desirable approach, the medical practitioners apply the concepts of providing the patients and need with ‘optimal’ care and benefits. It is the maximum point where the marginal benefits of the service provider are zero and does not care for the opportunity costs involved in it. They view the ‘production’ of health services as a function of medical ‘input’ to attain the maximum clinical care as ‘output’.

The policymakers in the study of the health and medical sector seek to attain a balance between the costs, benefits, efficiency, and profits to maintain the freedom and security amongst the services users. A fair distribution of the medical and health services to the entire population maintains ‘equity, while the ‘scarcity’ of medical resources is managed to grant ‘consumer sovereignty to the users of the service (Arrow & Kennethm, 1991).

Moreover, the economic concepts offer to this sector the cost-benefit analysis to prevent the community from the costs that they might have to pay in the form of medical illnesses in the future. It makes the provision of cure, prevention, and diagnosis services better for the users of the medical services in a country. The application of economics in many countries has helped clinicians and medical consultants to search for cost-effective and practical ways to provide customers with medical services. The economic principles of social costs, social benefits, service optimization, and the three questions regarding the deliverables are kept in mind.  The policymakers design policies which could benefit society more and keep the costs low at the same time.

The role of economics should be altered according to the demographics and needs and wants of the users of medical services to facilitate them with better services. Since people of different ages and genders are faced with different medical needs and require different fitness needs, should be treated in various ways. For instance, those with lesser incomes should be charged lesser medical fees for high-quality services. Thus, there have to be alterations in the service provider according to various facts.