A healthcare system is the organization by which an individual's healt protection is provided.
Whilst from an economic perspective, healthcare may be viewed as just another product or service to be purchased by an individual, healthcare has many special characteristics that encourage government intervention to a greater or lesser extent:
- The provision of critical medical treatment is regarded as a basic human right, regardless of whether the individual has the means to pay - and some forms of medical treatment cost more than a typical family's life savings.
- Doctors are obligated by their oaths of service to provide lifesaving medical treatment.
- Consumers, generally, lack the information to be able to rationally choose between alternative healthcare providers when they need treatment, particularly when treatment is urgent.
Models of healthcare systems
- Purely Private Enterprise health systems are comparatively rare. Where they exist, it is usually for a comparatively well-off subpopulation in a poorer country with a poorer standard of healthcare - for instance, private clinics for a small expatriate population in an otherwise poor country. But there is countries with a majority private healthcare system (liberal model) and residual public service (medicare, medicaid).
- Another systems with majoritary Public Insurance System are:
- Social security healthcare system, where the workers are insuranced.
- National health service, where are the resident people is insuranced.
See also
- DRGs.
stuff to do:
- socialized medicine
- HMO
- National health schems (National Health Service, Medicare (Australia) etc)
- Religious-based health systems (the Catholic system etc)
- Health insurance
- workplace insurance
- philanthrophy in health systems
- accident compensation
- international aid (eg WHO schemes etc).
- Caregivers, aides, and emergency services (see also Lifeline)