HCS/552
February 4, 2013
John J. Schibler
Terms Comparison Paper
Health care economics involves making plenty of choices. Individuals, groups, businesses, and organizations choose how to use resources . Economics and health care are linked, because health care professionals apply economics in their everyday professional activities. They are able to do this through resource allocation. Any health care organization has to plan out how they will use their resources to their advantage. Health care economics are able to incorporate terms like cost, quality, and resources. In this paper, I will compare these terms as they relate to health care economics. In this paper, I will also explain how they differ from one another. Resources are considered to be any physical thing or virtual element that has limited availability. A resource can also be anything that is used to help people earn a living. There are different types of resources such as human resources, and natural resources. In economics, human resources refer t human capital or employees in an organization (Getzen, 2007). Many times resources are considered to be a means of factors of production. When health care organization is in production of something, natural resources are being used. Resources are usually limited, and most organizations have to look for ways of allocating resources that they need. Resources in health care means that all materials and funds are used to provide health care for people. The term “resource” has similar meaning in health care and economics. When used in health care, it means that all materials and funds are used to provide health care. When referring to the economic portion of health care, resource means that they are the personnel, the funds, facilities, or any material used in production. Another similarity is that resources are limited and they have value. For example, funds, as well as personnel are limited, and they
References: Getzen, T.E. (2007). Health, economics, and financing (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons. http://www.healthcarefinance.org/HEtext_files/chap01.pdf