Macroeconomics Healthcare
Macroeconomics of Healthcare
Douglas A. Propp, MD, MS, FACEP, CPE
Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine
Advocate-Lutheran General Hospital
Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
University of Chicago
As Emergency Physicians, we are frequently peripherally exposed to healthcare economic statistics, policies, and debates with little concern for mastering these concepts, feeling that they have little to do with our practice of Emergency Medicine. Although a working knowledge of microeconomics will not aid in arriving at the diagnosis for the elderly patient with mental status changes who we are evaluation at 3 A.M., an understanding of these principles will enhance our roles in positively contributing to the healthcare debate, given our overall limited societal resources. Although not intended to be comprehensive, I will introduce several relevant concepts to hopefully whet your appetite in case you want to pursue them further.
Economics
Economics is the study of how resources are allocated with the marketplace.1 I make the analogy between the disciplines of Physics and Economics. Whereas Physics are the laws which explain the observed behavior of matter, Economics are the rules which explain the behavior of people who pursue (and compete with others for) the limited resources (goods, currency, health, etc.) within a society. The interest in healthcare economics has blossomed over the past several decades as spending on healthcare has continued to escalate, now representing well over $1 trillion (with approximately 40% going to hospitals and 20% going to doctors), and occupying over 16% of the nation 's Gross Domestic Product (cumulative value of domestic goods and services produced). Many of the healthcare economic principles focus on how people make decisions related to expenditures for the health given competing alternative (e.g., food, clothing, housing, hobbies, travel, education, etc.)
Insurance
Insurance allows typically
Douglas A. Propp, MD, MS, FACEP, CPE
Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine
Advocate-Lutheran General Hospital
Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
University of Chicago
As Emergency Physicians, we are frequently peripherally exposed to healthcare economic statistics, policies, and debates with little concern for mastering these concepts, feeling that they have little to do with our practice of Emergency Medicine. Although a working knowledge of microeconomics will not aid in arriving at the diagnosis for the elderly patient with mental status changes who we are evaluation at 3 A.M., an understanding of these principles will enhance our roles in positively contributing to the healthcare debate, given our overall limited societal resources. Although not intended to be comprehensive, I will introduce several relevant concepts to hopefully whet your appetite in case you want to pursue them further.
Economics
Economics is the study of how resources are allocated with the marketplace.1 I make the analogy between the disciplines of Physics and Economics. Whereas Physics are the laws which explain the observed behavior of matter, Economics are the rules which explain the behavior of people who pursue (and compete with others for) the limited resources (goods, currency, health, etc.) within a society. The interest in healthcare economics has blossomed over the past several decades as spending on healthcare has continued to escalate, now representing well over $1 trillion (with approximately 40% going to hospitals and 20% going to doctors), and occupying over 16% of the nation 's Gross Domestic Product (cumulative value of domestic goods and services produced). Many of the healthcare economic principles focus on how people make decisions related to expenditures for the health given competing alternative (e.g., food, clothing, housing, hobbies, travel, education, etc.)
Insurance
Insurance allows typically