Question

Explain the six main factors (Social and demographic forces, Economic forces, Political forces, Technological forces, Informational forces and Ecological Forces) that will determine the future change in health care.

Please then list each factor, summarize the information, and provide examples of each. In addition, please explain which of the six factors you feel will be most relevant in the future.

Review four separate articles (don't forget to reference) from the Internet relevant to the future of health care by 2025.

Answer 1

Political Factors:

Government is planning better insurance mandates, tax legislation changes, and consumer protection to benefit entire value chain or supply chain involved right from production till end consumer. Government spending for healthcare is expected to increase. Allowing for increased subsidies will be another step so the advantage. It will further benefit in long term in changing healthcare bills and plans to be more cost effective for everyone. However, Regulation and de-regulation trends, trade and tariff controls will also depend on Government type and stability.

Economic Factors:

Factors such inflation, unemployment, and increase interest rates can badly change how the public is able to spend their money on their healthcare. If the unemployment rate is increased, there won’t be much workforce involved to scale production. Then people won’t be able to pay the hefty costs of any hospital or emergency room visit. The people are then going to have a limited selected of health services which they can actually afford. Hence, these factors are much crucial.

Social Factors:

Individual’s demographic, public values, fears, beliefs, and cultural norms do affect time to time and situation to situation. With growing concerns/ awareness of healthcare issues and benefits and respective cost effective solutions, a community can only do it together to get the utmost benefits, helping their very own society, it includes consumers, doctors, medicine manufacturers, distributors etc.

Technological and Informational Factors:

With positive changes in treatments because of technological advancements, patients are getting care faster than ever before.  Mobile apps to connect doctors with patients even at their homes, patient’s ability to ask questions about illnesses on email and live-chat on websites, is the advantage enabled by technology. Research and Development activity advancements with technology transfer are a boon to mankind now.

Ecological Factors:

Regulations of air quality to purification of water, with rise in investment in a global public health infrastructure, better practices to reduce Positive carbon balance (net increase of carbon released into the atmosphere and oceans) will result in better global climate control, with reduction in greenhouse gas effects, and decrease in acidification of oceans. Hence many governmental and non-governmental organizations are determined and working more efficiently for the common cause for the good of all people.