Healthcare value

Dye CF. 2000. Leadership in Healthcare Values at the Top. Chicago Health Administration Press. 

Providing conununications and interactions facilities in healthcare by (a) using eHealth information technology and (b) using a value chain approach to healthcare value delivery. 

Healthcare value created for the ith patient over a period can be defined as... 

The healthcare value chain could evolve to include providers of alternative medicine. People are increasingly revealing their preference for the integration of eastern and western medicine, and other alternative therapies such as the practice of acuptmcture and yoga. Spending in complementary and alternative medicine in US exceeded 27 bilhon in 1997 and US 20.3 billion in Japan in 2004 (Adams et al. 2008). The Japanese market is expected to exceed US 43.1 billion in 2013. 

However, the public has not abandoned conventional medicine for alternative healthcare. Most Americans seek out alternative therapies as a complement to their conventional healthcare whereas only a small percentage of Americans rely primarily on alternative care. Why have (30) so many patients turned to alternative therapies Frustrated by the time constraints of managed care and alienated by conventional medicine s focus on technology, some feel that a holistic approach to healthcare better reflects their beliefs and values. Others seek therapies that will relieve symptoms associated with chronic disease, symp-(35) toms that mainstream medicine cannot treat. 

Within the last 20 years or so, three major features of controlled clinical trials, in particular, have permitted significant advances in deciding whether treatments are of value or not randomisation, systematic review and metaanalysis, and the concept of the large-scale, simple (to understand and conduct) randomised trial in areas where only moderate benefits can be expected.All of these elements are likely to underpin future trials for purposes of regulation, pharmacoeconomics and healthcare policy. Yet there is no room for complacency or allowing standards to slip. Systematic reviews of some... 

We live in an era in which the value of medicines can no longer be assumed and the phrase evidence based is no longer restricted to the realm of academics. The increasing financial burden on our healthcare systems has prompted decision-makers around the world to demand that the pharmaceutical industry provide proof of the value of new drugs being introduced into the market. Decision-makers in certain countries (e.g. Australia and Canada) have taken this requirement a step further by linking reimbursement approval to the provision... 

Today s healthcare policy-makers, including government officials, health insurance companies and managed-care organizations, are faced with the reality of limited resources for healthcare and the knowledge that much medical care is of uncertain value. The value of vitamin E therapy in Alzheimer s disease, for example, is still unclear, but some physicians have recommended it for years without any real measures of its effect on the disease. 

Matthew Herper, The Value of New Drugs Is Dropping, Forbes.com. Available online. URL http //www.forbes.corn/2009/01/07/pharmaceuticals-sales-biz-healthcare-cx mh 0108drugssales.html partner=alerts. Posted January 8, 2009. 

Finally, the vaccine must be inexpensive and this is by no means an easy requirement. To illustrate the point, if a vaccine costs 25 to produce, pack, and deliver to the patient, how can this be acceptable in a country where the amount of money available per patient is only 250 per annum Of course, money is saved on the subsequent savings in healthcare costs throughout the remainder of the patient s life. The rest of the debate is limited to a discussion of the value of a life, but in human terms this cannot be measured. 

Promotional items of insignificant value, provided free of charge, are permissible as long as they are related to the healthcare provider s work and/or entail a benefit to patients. 

We are now in a cycle characterized by incremental innovation, not therapeutic breakthroughs, and it is reasonable for industry critics to question the industry on the value of its innovations. A wave of patent expiries, high failure rates of developmental products, pressure to reduce or contain healthcare inflation (prices and expenditures), and access to essential medicines in developing countries have resulted in a global environment of increasing hostility. At this point it is difficult to predict the direction in which the environment will move over the next three to five years. 

No matter what industry in which you are employed, it s possible to pinpoint average salaries paid by employers for specific jobs. One of the best resources for gathering current and accurate salary information (available online or in printed form) is the Salary Wizard from www.Salary.com, which allows you to search—free—average salary informahon by job title (and level), either by national average or specific to a parhcular U.S. city. The site provides a salary range (for base pay), the median salary, and additional information on a total compensahon package (which would include the dollar value of possible bonuses, benefits—including Social Security, 401 (k)/403(b), disability, healthcare, pension, and time off—and the net paycheck eshmate), as well as other useful information. 

The commercial value of traditional medicines has highlighted the need to protect traditional knowledge from biopiracy . Some would have traditional medicine protected under new or existing forms of intellectual property rights whereas others object to that concept on ethical, economic or other reasons including, as mentioned above, that protection may limit access at a time when increased levels of healthcare are needed. 

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