Health care system, good or not

Team#2880Page1of22Healthcaresystem,goodornot?IntroductionNowadays,thehealthcaresystemswhichareprovidedbynationshaveimprovedtheirresidents’healthremarkably.TaketheUSAforexample,thelifeexpectancyatbirthhasraisedto80yearsold,whiletheinfantmortalityhasdeclinedto7‰.Inothercountriesoftheworld,thesimilarsituationalsoexistswidely.Sincethehealthcaresystemsareplayingmoreandmoreimportantrolesinnationalhealth,peopleoftenpaymuchattentiontowhichsystemsarebetterandwhetherthecurrentsystemscanbeimproved.However,theaspectsofthesesystemsthatvarywidelybetweennations(suchashowtheyarefunded,themodewhichservicesaredelivered,percentageofGDPspentonhealthcare,thepersonallivinghabitsandsoon)aresomanythatitishardforustodeterminewhichsystemisbetter.Actually,itisimpossibleandnotnecessaryforustousethedataaboutalltheaspects,thusourtasksaretochooseandcombinesomemetricstoevaluateahealthcaresystemwithsufficientreasons.ThentheevaluationmethodisusedbetweentheUSAandanothercountrytocheckupwhetheritisavailable.Usingtheevaluationmethod,wecangainthattheeffectivenessbetweendifferenthealthcaresystemsisdifferent,whichmeansthereisstillalongwayfornationstoimprovetheirhealthcaresystems.Basedonthefactthatanymeasuresthatanationtakescanaffecttheeffectivenessofthehealthcaresystemsevidently,ifwewanttogetmuchbettereffectivehealthcaresystems,someusefulmeasuresareabsolutelynecessary.PartI:Choosingandcombiningmetrics1.1ChoosingmetricsAsweallknow,aspectsofhealthcaresystemsvarywidelybetweennations,allofwhichcanreflecttheeffectivenessofhealthcaresystemstoacertainextent.However,accordingtotheWorldHealthStatisticsgivenbytheWHO,thenumberofmetricsismorethan70,itisnearlyimpossibleforustoevaluateahealthcaresystemusingallofthemetrics.Tosimplifytheevaluation,wehavechosensomeimportantmetrics,whichcanaffecttheeffectivenessofhealthcaresystemsmoreremarkably.Generally,ahealthcaresystemcanbeevaluatedfromthefollowingsixaspects:1)Mortality2)Morbidity3)Coverage4)Healthsystemsresource5)Healthsystemsexpenditure6)InequityInallusiontoeachaspect,therearesomerepresentativemetrics.1.1.1ThereasonforthechoiceofmortalityRefertotheworldhealthstatisticsgivenbytheWHO,mortalityshouldincludelifeexpectancy,healthylifeexpectancy,infantmortalityrate,neonatalmortalityrate,maternalmortalityratio,cause-specificmortalityrateandsoon.Outofquestion,thelifeexpectancyshouldbethemostimportantmetrics,forallthehealthcaresystemsaimtoextenditaslongaspossible.Besides,generallyspeaking,infantsandpregnantwomenoftenhavetheweakestvitality,thusinfantTeam#2880Page2of22mortalityrate;neonatalmortalityrateandmaternalmortalityratecanbechosentoinfecttheeffectivenessofacertainsystem.However,anotherimportantfunctionofahealthcaresystemisthecureforsometypicalepidemicdiseases,hencethemortalityrateoftypicalepidemicsufferershouldalsobeinourconsideration.Inconclusion,thechosenmetricsofmortalityare:1)Lifeexpectancy2)Infantmortalityrate3)Neonatalmortalityrate4)Maternalmortalityrate5)Mortalityrateoftypicalepidemicsufferer1.1.2ThereasonforthechoiceofmorbidityForahealthcaresystem,itsfunctionisnotonlythecurefordiseasesbutalsopreventingthem.Concretely,theeffectivenessofpreventioncanberepresentedbymorbidityoftypicalepidemicdiseases.1.1.3ThereasonforthechoiceofcoverageItisatruththateachpersonshouldhastheequalrighttoenjoythehealthcaresystem,whichistheaimpursuedbyacountryatthesametime.Butinfact,it’sreallyalongwaytogotogainthisendsforthereareallkindsofimpeditivefactors.Consequently,weneedtodeterminethecoverageofsomemedicaltreatmentssuchas:1)Immunizationcoverage2)Antenatalcarecoverage3)Contraceptiveprevalencerate4)Proportionofthepopulationwithouthospitalizationinsurance.1.1.4ThereasonforthechoiceofhealthsystemsresourceInouropinions,themoreresourceahealthcaresystemhas,thebettereffectivenessitwillbe,whichmeansthehealthcaresystems’resourceisanotherimportantevaluateaspect.However,sincepopulationsofeachcountrywidelyvarybetweennations,thepercapitashareofresourcesmayrepresentthehealthsystemresourcemorereasonably.Thecorrespondingmetricsare:1)Humanresourceofhealthsystemsas%oftotalpopulation2)Percapitamaterialresourcesofhealthsystems1.1.5ThereasonforthechoiceofhealthsystemsexpenditurePeopletypicallycomeintodirectcontactwithahealthsystemaspatients,attendedbyproviders,onlyonceortwiceayear.Moreoftentheircontactisasconsumersofnonprescriptionmedicationsandasrecipientsofhealth-relatedinformationandadvice.Theymeetthesystemascontributorstopayingforit,knowinglyeverytimetheybuycareoutofpocketorpayinsurancepremiumsorsocialsecuritycontributions,andknowinglywhenevertheypaytaxesthatareusedinpartoffinancehealth.Basedonthefactthatthehealthcaresystemsexpenditureismadeupoftwoparts,whereonepartisexpendedbyindividualsandtheotherisexpendedbygovernments.However,bothofthemcanberepresentedastotalexpenditureonhealthofGDP,thuswechoosethreemetricsinthispart:1)Thetotalexpenditureonhealthas%ofGDPTeam#2880Page3of222)Governmentandprivateexpenditureonhealthas%ofTotalexpenditureonhealth3)Percapitatotalexpenditureonhealth.1.1.6ThereasonforthechoiceofinequitiesTheresourcesdevotedtohealthsys