Major Forces in Health Care Industry

Major Forces in the Health Care Industry

• Technological Advancements: the healthcare industry has seen rapid progress in the past 100 years, particularly in medical technology, diagnostics and treatment methods.
• Specialization of Healthcare Workers: physicians and practitioners are concentrating on specific areas of expertise, leading to improved diagnoses and treatment.
• Aging Population: the number of years a person can expect to live has increased dramatically, resulting in a heavier reliance on healthcare services.
• Increasing Costs of Health Care: due to technological advancements, increasing number of elderly, rising pharmaceutical costs and increased diagnostic tests, the cost of healthcare has continued to rise.

Challenges in Health Care Today

• Providing Affordable Care: socioeconomic factors such as poverty and homelessness contribute to the difficulty in providing affordable healthcare.
• Providing Long-Term Care: increasing needs and high costs pose a challenge for healthcare providers.
• Maintaining Quality of Care: high costs often encourage cutting expenses, which can decrease the amount of care a patient receives. Insurance companies' decisions may influence care over healthcare providers themselves.
• Public Health Concerns: pandemics such as COVID-19, influenza and Ebola pose major challenges for healthcare systems.
• Medication Adherence: lack of compliance with medication can lead to costly preventable health conditions, particularly due to high costs of medication and side effects.
• Prescription Drug Overuse: over-prescription of pain killers since 1999 resulted in an increase in opioid abuse and overdose deaths.
• Antibiotic Resistance: overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance.
• Personal Responsibility for Health: lifestyle choices heavily influence the development of certain diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Trends in Health Care Today

• New Approaches: focus on less invasive and less costly treatments, natural product remedies and a connection between mind and body.
• Emphasis on Prevention: focus is shifting from curing diseases to preventing them.
• Patient Responsibility: the focus now includes patients taking more responsibility for their healthcare, advocating for preventative and self-care practices.

Wellness

• Promotion of Health: focus on promoting health through preventive measures and positive lifestyle habits.
• Wellness is More Than Absence of Disease: overall well-being is more than just the absence of illness or disability.
• Seven Components of Wellness: these components overlap and impact each other. They include environmental, social, emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual and occupational wellness.
• Holistic Medicine: emphasizes disease prevention and emphasizes a focus on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

Explore the key forces shaping the healthcare industry, including technological advancements, specialization of healthcare workers, and the challenges posed by an aging population. Understand the increasing costs of care and the difficulties in providing affordable and long-term healthcare services.