In: Economics
2. Policy makers often use infant mortality rates and life expectancy at birth when evaluating the efficacy of health care systems. In addition to living and dying, what other aspects of health status are important? How does the choice of measurement tool change our perspective when evaluating health care systems?
For an individual, the level of demand for medical care can be estimated by using the factors that affect the well being of a single being. These factors may include the age of the patients (children and old people may require more attention), sex of the patient (women may demand more medical care as compared to men), level of education of the patient, knowledge and belief about one's health, family size, health insurance, the price at which service is provided and the income of that particular individual.
On the other hand, while we are estimating the demand for medical care for an entire country, we need to consider a broader perspective. This may include per capita income, proximity to medical service (like the number of hospitals per lakh population), and the level of infrastructure in the health sector in the country. Out of pocket expenditure on health care services may also be considered as one of the factors.
In addition to living and dying, the quality of life is also important. These include access to basic facilities like safe water and proper sanitation.
The measurement tools used to evaluate the healthcare systems may change our perspective. Firstly, whether the data is collected from a primary or secondary source makes a difference. Primary data can be used to evaluate the demand for health care of an individual as it helps to judge what he/she believes at a personal level. Secondary data may be useful to evaluate the demand for a nation as one could easily get the access to major indicators at a macro level.