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120+ healthcare argumentative essay topics [+outline], dr. wilson mn.

  • August 3, 2022
  • Essay Topics and Ideas , Samples

If you’re a nursing student, then you know how important it is to choose Great Healthcare argumentative essay topics.

After all, your essay will be graded on both the content of your argument and how well you defend it. That’s why it’s so important to choose topics that you’re passionate about and that you can research thoroughly.

What You'll Learn

Strong Healthcare argumentative essay topics

To help you get started, here are some strong Healthcare argumentative essay topics to consider:

  • Is there a nurse shortage in the United States? If so, what are the causes, and what can be done to mitigate it?
  • What are the benefits and drawbacks of various types of Nurse staffing models?
  • What are the implications of the current opioid epidemic on nurses and patients?
  • Are there any ethical considerations that should be taken into account when providing care to terminally ill patients?
  • What are the most effective ways to prevent or treat healthcare-acquired infections?
  • Should nurses be allowed to prescribe medication? If so, under what circumstances?
  • How can nurses best advocate for their patients’ rights?
  • What is the role of nurses in disaster relief efforts?
  • The high cost of healthcare in the United States.
  • The debate over whether or not healthcare is a human right.
  • The role of the government in providing healthcare.
  • The pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act.
  • The impact of healthcare on the economy.
  • The problem of access to healthcare in rural areas.
  • The debate over single-payer healthcare in the United States.
  • The pros and cons of private health insurance.
  • The rising cost of prescription drugs in the United States.
  • The use of medical marijuana in the United States.
  • The debates over end-of-life care and assisted suicide in the United States.

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Controversial Healthcare topics

There is no shortage of controversial healthcare topics to write about. From the high cost of insurance to the debate over medical marijuana, there are plenty of issues to spark an interesting and thought-provoking argumentative essay.

Here are some Controversial healthcare argumentative essay topics to get you started:

1. Is healthcare a right or a privilege?

2. Should the government do more to regulate the healthcare industry?

3. What is the best way to provide quality healthcare for all?

4. Should medical marijuana be legalized?

5. How can we control the rising cost of healthcare?

6. Should cloning be used for medical research?

7. Is it ethical to use stem cells from embryos?

8. How can we improve access to quality healthcare?

9. What are the implications of the Affordable Care Act?

10. What role should pharmaceutical companies play in healthcare?

11. The problems with the current healthcare system in the United States.

12. The need for reform of the healthcare system in the United States.

Great healthcare argumentative essay topics

Healthcare is a controversial and complex issue, and there are many different angles that you can take when writing an argumentative essay on the topic. Here are some great healthcare argumentative essay topics to get you started:

1. Should the government provide free or low-cost healthcare to all citizens?

2. Is private healthcare better than public healthcare?

3. Should there be more regulation of the healthcare industry?

4. Are medical costs too high in the United States?

5. Should all Americans be required to have health insurance?

6. How can the rising cost of healthcare be controlled?

7. What is the best way to provide healthcare to aging Americans?

8. What role should the government play in controlling the cost of prescription drugs?

9. What impact will the Affordable Care Act have on the healthcare system in the United States?

Hot healthcare argumentative essay topics

Healthcare is always a hot-button issue. Whether it’s the Affordable Care Act, single-payer healthcare, or something else entirely, there’s always plenty to debate when it comes to healthcare. Here are some great healthcare argumentative essay topics to help get you started.

1. Is the Affordable Care Act working?

2. Should the government do more to provide healthcare for its citizens?

3. Should there be a single-payer healthcare system in the United States?

4. What are the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act?

5. What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare costs in the United States?

6. Is the Affordable Care Act sustainable in the long run?

7. What challenges does the Affordable Care Act face?

8. What are the potential solutions to the problems with the Affordable Care Act?

9. Is single-payer healthcare a good idea?

10. What are the pros and cons of single-payer healthcare?

Argumentative topics related to healthcare

Healthcare is always an ever-evolving issue. It’s one of those topics that everyone has an opinion on and is always eager to discuss . That’s why it makes for such a great topic for an argumentative essay . If you’re looking for some fresh ideas, here are some great healthcare argumentative essay topics to get you started.

1. Is our healthcare system in need of a complete overhaul?

3. Are rising healthcare costs making it difficult for people to access care?

4. Is our current healthcare system sustainable in the long term?

5. Should we be doing more to prevent disease and promote wellness?

6. What role should the private sector play in providing healthcare?

7. What can be done to reduce the number of errors in our healthcare system?

8. How can we make sure that everyone has access to quality healthcare?

9. What can be done to improve communication and collaboration between different parts of the healthcare system?

10. How can we make sure that everyone has access to the care they need when they need it?

Argumentative essay topics about health

There are many different stakeholders in the healthcare debate, and each one has their own interests and perspectives. Here are some great healthcare argumentative essay topics to get you started:

1. Who should pay for healthcare?

2. Is healthcare a right or a privilege?

3. What is the role of the government in healthcare?

4. Should there be limits on what treatments insurance companies must cover?

5. How can we improve access to healthcare?

6. What are the most effective methods of preventing disease?

7. How can we improve the quality of care in our hospitals?

8. What are the best ways to control costs in the healthcare system?

9. How can we ensure that everyone has access to basic care?

10. What are the ethical implications of rationing healthcare?

Medical argumentative essay topics

  • Is healthcare a fundamental human right?

2. Should there be limits on medical research using human subjects?

3. Should marijuana be legalized for medicinal purposes?

4. Should the government do more to regulate the use of prescription drugs?

5. Is alternative medicine effective?

6. Are there benefits to using placebos in medical treatment?

7. Should cosmetic surgery be covered by health insurance?

8. Is it ethical to buy organs on the black market?

9. Are there risks associated with taking herbal supplements?

10. Is it morally wrong to end a pregnancy?

11. Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?

12. Is it ethical to test new medical treatments on animals?

13. Should people with terminal illnesses have the right to end their lives?

14. Is it morally wrong to sell organs for transplantation?

15. Are there benefits to using stem cells from embryos in medical research?

16. Is it ethical to use human beings in medical experiments?

17. Should the government do more to fund medical research into cancer treatments?

18. Are there risks associated with genetic engineering of humans?

19. Is it ethical to clones humans for the purpose

Argumentative essays on mental illness

  • Should there be more focus on mental health in schools?
  • Are our current treatments for mental illness effective?
  • Are mental health disorders more common now than they were in the past?
  • How does social media impact mental health?
  • How does trauma impact mental health?
  • What are the most effective treatments for PTSD?
  • Is therapy an effective treatment for mental illness?
  • What causes mental illness?
  • How can we destigmatize mental illness?
  • How can we better support those with mental illness?
  • Should insurance companies cover mental health treatments?
  • What are the most effective treatments for depression?
  • Should medication be used to treat mental illness?
  • What are the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders?
  • What are the most effective treatments for OCD?
  • What are the most effective treatments for eating disorders?
  • What are the most effective treatments for bipolar disorder?
  • How can we better support caregivers of those with mental illness?
  • What role does stigma play in mental illness?

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  • A Research Guide
  • Essay Topics
  • 120 Medical & Health Essay Topics

120 Medical & Health Essay Topics

Health essay topics: how to choose the perfect one.

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Health Argumentative Essay Topics:

  • The impact of fast food on public health
  • Should the government regulate the advertising of unhealthy foods?
  • The benefits and drawbacks of vaccination
  • The role of genetics in determining health outcomes
  • Should smoking be banned in public places?
  • The effects of excessive screen time on mental and physical health
  • The importance of sex education in schools
  • Should the consumption of sugary beverages be taxed?
  • The ethical implications of genetic engineering in healthcare
  • The impact of social media on body image and mental health
  • Should healthcare be a universal right?
  • The benefits and risks of alternative medicine
  • The role of exercise in preventing chronic diseases
  • Should the government regulate the use of antibiotics in livestock?
  • The impact of climate change on public health

Health Persuasive Essay Topics:

  • The importance of regular exercise for overall health and well-being
  • The benefits of a balanced and nutritious diet for maintaining good health
  • The dangers of smoking and the need for stricter regulations on tobacco products
  • The impact of excessive sugar consumption on health and the need for sugar taxes
  • The benefits of mental health awareness and the importance of seeking help when needed
  • The dangers of excessive alcohol consumption and the need for stricter alcohol regulations
  • The importance of vaccinations in preventing the spread of diseases and protecting public health
  • The impact of technology on physical and mental health and the need for digital detox
  • The benefits of practicing mindfulness and meditation for stress reduction and overall well-being
  • The dangers of excessive screen time and the need for limiting technology use, especially in children
  • The importance of sleep for physical and mental health and the need for better sleep habits
  • The benefits of regular health check-ups and preventive screenings for early disease detection
  • The impact of air pollution on respiratory health and the need for stricter environmental regulations
  • The benefits of breastfeeding for both the mother and the baby’s health and the need for support and education
  • The dangers of sedentary lifestyles and the need for promoting physical activity in schools and workplaces

Health Compare and Contrast Essay Topics:

  • Traditional medicine vs alternative medicine: A comparative analysis of their effectiveness in treating common ailments
  • Vegetarianism vs veganism: Examining the health benefits and drawbacks of these two dietary choices
  • Cardiovascular exercise vs strength training: Which is more effective in improving overall health and fitness?
  • Mental health vs physical health: Analyzing the impact of each on overall well-being
  • Organic food vs conventional food: Comparing the nutritional value and potential health risks associated with each
  • Western medicine vs Eastern medicine: Exploring the differences in approach and effectiveness in treating chronic illnesses
  • Smoking vs vaping: Assessing the health risks and benefits of these two forms of nicotine consumption
  • High-intensity interval training (HIIT) vs steady-state cardio: Determining the most efficient method for weight loss and cardiovascular health
  • Prescription medication vs natural remedies: Evaluating the effectiveness and potential side effects of each in managing common health conditions
  • Physical health vs emotional health: Examining the interplay between these two aspects of well-being and their impact on overall health
  • Conventional dentistry vs holistic dentistry: Comparing the approaches and benefits of these two dental care practices
  • Traditional Chinese medicine vs Ayurvedic medicine: Analyzing the principles and effectiveness of these ancient healing systems
  • Fast food vs home-cooked meals: Assessing the nutritional value and potential health risks associated with each
  • Conventional childbirth vs natural childbirth: Exploring the benefits and drawbacks of these two delivery methods for both mother and baby
  • Prescription drugs vs over-the-counter drugs: Evaluating the differences in safety, effectiveness, and accessibility of these two types of medications

Health Informative Essay Topics:

  • The impact of stress on mental and physical health
  • The benefits of regular exercise for overall well-being
  • The importance of a balanced diet for maintaining good health
  • The dangers of smoking and its effects on the body
  • The role of sleep in promoting optimal health and productivity
  • The benefits of practicing mindfulness and its impact on mental health
  • The effects of excessive screen time on eye health and overall well-being
  • The importance of vaccination in preventing the spread of infectious diseases
  • The impact of social media on mental health and self-esteem
  • The benefits of regular check-ups and preventive healthcare measures
  • The dangers of excessive alcohol consumption and its effects on the body
  • The role of nutrition in preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease
  • The impact of air pollution on respiratory health and ways to mitigate its effects
  • The benefits of practicing yoga and its positive effects on physical and mental health
  • The importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance for overall well-being

Health Cause and Effect Essay Topics:

  • The Impact of Smoking on Lung Cancer Rates
  • The Relationship between Poor Diet and Obesity
  • The Effects of Stress on Mental Health
  • The Connection between Sedentary Lifestyle and Heart Disease
  • The Influence of Air Pollution on Respiratory Disorders
  • The Link between Alcohol Abuse and Liver Damage
  • The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Functioning
  • The Relationship between Excessive Sugar Consumption and Diabetes
  • The Impact of Fast Food Consumption on Weight Gain
  • The Connection between Lack of Physical Activity and Depression
  • The Effects of Excessive Screen Time on Eye Health
  • The Relationship between Environmental Toxins and Cancer
  • The Influence of Genetics on the Development of Chronic Diseases
  • The Link between Poor Oral Hygiene and Gum Disease
  • The Effects of Excessive Noise Exposure on Hearing Loss

Health Narrative Essay Topics:

  • Overcoming a life-threatening illness: My journey to recovery
  • The impact of a healthy lifestyle on my overall well-being
  • Coping with mental health challenges: My battle with anxiety
  • The transformative power of exercise: How I regained my strength
  • Navigating the healthcare system: My experience as a patient advocate
  • The role of nutrition in managing chronic diseases: My personal story
  • Finding hope in the face of a terminal illness: A story of resilience
  • The importance of self-care: Learning to prioritize my well-being
  • Overcoming addiction: My path to recovery and a healthier life
  • The impact of stress on physical health: My journey to finding balance
  • The power of alternative medicine: How it changed my perspective on health
  • Living with a disability: Embracing a new normal and finding joy
  • The role of genetics in health: My family’s journey with hereditary diseases
  • The importance of mental health awareness: Breaking the stigma
  • The healing power of nature: How spending time outdoors improved my well-being

Health Opinion Essay Topics:

  • The effectiveness of alternative medicine in treating chronic illnesses
  • The role of government in promoting healthy eating habits
  • The benefits and drawbacks of vaccination mandates
  • The influence of advertising on unhealthy food choices
  • The importance of mental health education in schools
  • The impact of technology on physical fitness levels
  • The role of pharmaceutical companies in the rising cost of healthcare
  • The benefits and risks of using medical marijuana
  • The impact of stress on overall health and well-being
  • The ethical considerations of organ transplantation
  • The impact of air pollution on respiratory health
  • The effectiveness of mindfulness and meditation in reducing stress and anxiety

Health Evaluation Essay Topics:

  • The impact of social media on mental health
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation in reducing stress
  • Assessing the effectiveness of vaccination programs in preventing infectious diseases
  • Evaluating the impact of fast food consumption on obesity rates
  • The effectiveness of workplace wellness programs in improving employee health
  • Assessing the benefits and risks of alternative medicine practices
  • Evaluating the impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive function
  • The role of nutrition education in promoting healthy eating habits
  • Assessing the effectiveness of smoking cessation programs
  • Evaluating the impact of air pollution on respiratory health
  • The effectiveness of mental health support services in schools
  • Assessing the benefits and risks of genetically modified foods
  • Evaluating the impact of alcohol consumption on liver health
  • The role of stress management techniques in improving overall well-being

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21 hours ago

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Health care essay topics.

Johannes Helmold

In today’s rapidly developing world, the importance of healthcare professionals cannot be overstated. As the demand for quality medical services continues to grow, the significance of individuals pursuing careers in this field becomes increasingly evident. The healthcare sector plays a pivotal role in society, addressing a wide range of medical needs and improving overall well-being. It is no wonder that many students are drawn to this career path, driven by a genuine passion for helping others and positively impacting people’s lives. With numerous sub-disciplines and specializations available, the healthcare field offers diverse opportunities for students to explore their interests and contribute to improving global health. We’ve assembled a list of the most relevant healthcare essay topics to shed some light on the issues students often struggle with. In case you feel that you need professional help, turn to the best online essay writing service for guidance.

Most Popular Health Care Topics 2023

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Health Care essay topics

What are some interesting healthcare essay topics.

When it comes to healthcare essay topics, there are numerous intriguing options to explore. One interesting topic could be the impact of technology on patient care. This could involve examining the benefits and challenges associated with advancements such as electronic health records, telemedicine, or artificial intelligence in diagnosing diseases. Another fascinating subject could be the ethics of organ transplantation, delving into the complex considerations surrounding organ allocation and the implications for patients and society. Furthermore, topics like the future of personalized medicine, healthcare disparities, or the role of nurses in primary care could provide rich areas for exploration and analysis.

How do I choose a topic for my healthcare essay?

Choosing a topic for your healthcare essay requires careful consideration of various factors. First and foremost, reflect on your interests within the field of health care. Consider the areas that resonate with you the most, whether medical advancements, patient advocacy, health policy, or ethical dilemmas. Additionally, it’s crucial to assess the availability of research and credible sources on the chosen topic. Ensure that there is sufficient literature and evidence to support your arguments. Furthermore, align your subject with the assignment requirements and guidelines provided by your instructor. Finally, strive to select a topic that allows you to contribute a unique perspective, offer potential solutions to existing problems, or provoke critical thinking.

What are the current trends in health care that can be explored in an essay?

Several current trends in health care offer opportunities for exploration in an essay. One prominent trend is the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and their impact on patient privacy and data security. You could delve into the benefits and challenges of EHR implementation, analyzing how they affect patient care and confidentiality. Another trend worth exploring is the rise of telehealth services, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigate the benefits, limitations, and long-term implications of telemedicine regarding access to care, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. Additionally, you could examine the utilization of big data and analytics in healthcare decision-making, the development of precision medicine and gene therapy, the integration of mental health care into primary care settings, or the exploration of social determinants of health.

Are there any ethical issues related to health care that can be discussed in an essay?

Health care encompasses a myriad of ethical issues that provide fertile ground for discussion in an essay. One such issue is end-of-life care and euthanasia, where you can explore the moral, legal, and personal considerations surrounding the right to die with dignity and the role of physicians in this process. Another relevant topic involves the allocation of scarce resources, particularly in organ transplantation. This subject raises ethical dilemmas regarding fairness, equity, and the criteria used to determine who receives organs. Other potential ethical issues include the use of placebos in clinical practice, conflicts of interest in pharmaceutical research, genetic engineering, and cloning, patient autonomy and informed consent, the role of artificial intelligence in decision-making, privacy concerns in health data sharing, and the ethical implications of healthcare disparities.

How can I find credible sources for my healthcare essay topic?

Finding credible sources is essential for a well-researched healthcare essay. To locate reliable information, start by exploring reputable academic databases such as PubMed, JSTOR, or Google Scholar. These platforms provide access to peer-reviewed articles and research papers authored by experts in the field. Additionally, visit respected health organizations’ websites like the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), or professional associations related to your topic of interest. These sources often publish reliable reports, guidelines, and studies. When evaluating sources, ensure they come from reputable authors, institutions, and respected peer-reviewed journals. Pay attention to the publication date to ensure you’re accessing the most current information.

What are some controversial issues in health care that can be debated in an essay?

Health care is rife with controversial issues that spark lively debates. One such issue is abortion rights and reproductive health, exploring topics like access to abortion services, ethical considerations, and the role of legislation in reproductive healthcare decisions. Another contentious subject involves mandatory vaccination policies, where you can examine the balance between public health and individual autonomy, considering issues of personal belief exemptions and community immunity. Additional controversial issues include the legalization of medical marijuana, the use of animals in medical research, healthcare access for undocumented immigrants, the impact of private healthcare insurance on accessibility and equity, regulation of alternative medicine practices, and debates surrounding physician-assisted suicide.

How does the Affordable Care Act impact the healthcare system?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, has a significant impact on the U.S. healthcare system. The ACA aimed to increase access to healthcare and improve affordability. One of its key provisions is the requirement for individuals to have health insurance, which expands coverage and reduces the number of uninsured Americans. The ACA provides subsidies to help individuals and families afford insurance, particularly those with lower incomes. It also expanded Medicaid eligibility, enabling more low-income individuals to access healthcare. The law prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums based on pre-existing conditions. Additionally, the ACA emphasizes preventive care by requiring insurance plans to cover preventive services without cost-sharing. However, the ACA has been a subject of ongoing debates and legal challenges, with criticisms including concerns about affordability, individual mandates, the effects on insurance premiums and choice, and the balance between federal and state control over healthcare policies.

Can I write an essay on the importance of preventive care in health care?

Certainly, you can write an essay on the importance of preventive care in health care. Preventive care focuses on proactive measures to maintain and promote health, aiming to prevent the onset of diseases or detect them early when they are more manageable. In your essay, you can emphasize the benefits of preventive care, such as reduced healthcare costs by preventing expensive treatments and hospitalizations. You can discuss the various components of preventative care, including vaccinations, routine screenings, healthy lifestyle interventions, and early detection of diseases. Additionally, explore the impact of preventive care on population health outcomes, emphasizing the significance of education and public health campaigns in promoting preventive measures. Highlight the importance of healthcare policies and initiatives prioritizing and facilitating access to preventive care services for individuals and communities.

What are the challenges faced by the healthcare industry today?

The healthcare industry faces several challenges in today’s complex landscape. One of the significant challenges is rising healthcare costs. Factors such as technological advancements, increased demand for services, and an aging population contribute to escalating expenses. This poses challenges in terms of affordability, equitable access, and financial sustainability of healthcare systems. Additionally, healthcare disparities are a pressing issue, with certain populations facing barriers to accessing quality care due to factors like socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or geographic location. Other challenges include healthcare workforce shortages, particularly in rural areas, as well as the rapid pace of medical advancements, which necessitates continuous training and education for healthcare professionals. Ethical dilemmas, such as balancing patient autonomy and best practices, also present challenges in decision-making. Lastly, issues related to data privacy and cybersecurity have emerged with the increased adoption of electronic health records and the need to protect sensitive patient information.

Are there any specific healthcare policies or regulations that can be analyzed in an essay?

Yes, numerous specific healthcare policies or regulations can be analyzed in an essay. One example is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects patient privacy and regulates the use and disclosure of health information. You can explore the impact of HIPAA on healthcare practices, patient rights, and data security. Another policy is the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which introduced the Quality Payment Program (QPP) to shift healthcare reimbursement from fee-for-service to value-based care. Analyzing the effects of MACRA and QPP on healthcare delivery and quality improvement efforts could make for an informative essay. Other policies and regulations that can be analyzed include the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the 21st Century Cures Act, the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, or state-specific healthcare regulations. By examining these policies, you can assess their goals, impact on healthcare stakeholders, and potential benefits and challenges associated with their implementation.

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Research Topics & Ideas: Healthcare

100+ Healthcare Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Healthcare-related research topics and ideas

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a healthcare-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of healthcare-related research ideas and topic thought-starters across a range of healthcare fields, including allopathic and alternative medicine, dentistry, physical therapy, optometry, pharmacology and public health.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the healthcare domain. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. In it, we cover the process of writing a dissertation or thesis from start to end. Be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic.

Overview: Healthcare Research Topics

  • Allopathic medicine
  • Alternative /complementary medicine
  • Veterinary medicine
  • Physical therapy/ rehab
  • Optometry and ophthalmology
  • Pharmacy and pharmacology
  • Public health
  • Examples of healthcare-related dissertations

Allopathic (Conventional) Medicine

  • The effectiveness of telemedicine in remote elderly patient care
  • The impact of stress on the immune system of cancer patients
  • The effects of a plant-based diet on chronic diseases such as diabetes
  • The use of AI in early cancer diagnosis and treatment
  • The role of the gut microbiome in mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety
  • The efficacy of mindfulness meditation in reducing chronic pain: A systematic review
  • The benefits and drawbacks of electronic health records in a developing country
  • The effects of environmental pollution on breast milk quality
  • The use of personalized medicine in treating genetic disorders
  • The impact of social determinants of health on chronic diseases in Asia
  • The role of high-intensity interval training in improving cardiovascular health
  • The efficacy of using probiotics for gut health in pregnant women
  • The impact of poor sleep on the treatment of chronic illnesses
  • The role of inflammation in the development of chronic diseases such as lupus
  • The effectiveness of physiotherapy in pain control post-surgery

Research topic idea mega list

Topics & Ideas: Alternative Medicine

  • The benefits of herbal medicine in treating young asthma patients
  • The use of acupuncture in treating infertility in women over 40 years of age
  • The effectiveness of homoeopathy in treating mental health disorders: A systematic review
  • The role of aromatherapy in reducing stress and anxiety post-surgery
  • The impact of mindfulness meditation on reducing high blood pressure
  • The use of chiropractic therapy in treating back pain of pregnant women
  • The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine such as Shun-Qi-Tong-Xie (SQTX) in treating digestive disorders in China
  • The impact of yoga on physical and mental health in adolescents
  • The benefits of hydrotherapy in treating musculoskeletal disorders such as tendinitis
  • The role of Reiki in promoting healing and relaxation post birth
  • The effectiveness of naturopathy in treating skin conditions such as eczema
  • The use of deep tissue massage therapy in reducing chronic pain in amputees
  • The impact of tai chi on the treatment of anxiety and depression
  • The benefits of reflexology in treating stress, anxiety and chronic fatigue
  • The role of acupuncture in the prophylactic management of headaches and migraines

Research topic evaluator

Topics & Ideas: Dentistry

  • The impact of sugar consumption on the oral health of infants
  • The use of digital dentistry in improving patient care: A systematic review
  • The efficacy of orthodontic treatments in correcting bite problems in adults
  • The role of dental hygiene in preventing gum disease in patients with dental bridges
  • The impact of smoking on oral health and tobacco cessation support from UK dentists
  • The benefits of dental implants in restoring missing teeth in adolescents
  • The use of lasers in dental procedures such as root canals
  • The efficacy of root canal treatment using high-frequency electric pulses in saving infected teeth
  • The role of fluoride in promoting remineralization and slowing down demineralization
  • The impact of stress-induced reflux on oral health
  • The benefits of dental crowns in restoring damaged teeth in elderly patients
  • The use of sedation dentistry in managing dental anxiety in children
  • The efficacy of teeth whitening treatments in improving dental aesthetics in patients with braces
  • The role of orthodontic appliances in improving well-being
  • The impact of periodontal disease on overall health and chronic illnesses

Free Webinar: How To Find A Dissertation Research Topic

Tops & Ideas: Veterinary Medicine

  • The impact of nutrition on broiler chicken production
  • The role of vaccines in disease prevention in horses
  • The importance of parasite control in animal health in piggeries
  • The impact of animal behaviour on welfare in the dairy industry
  • The effects of environmental pollution on the health of cattle
  • The role of veterinary technology such as MRI in animal care
  • The importance of pain management in post-surgery health outcomes
  • The impact of genetics on animal health and disease in layer chickens
  • The effectiveness of alternative therapies in veterinary medicine: A systematic review
  • The role of veterinary medicine in public health: A case study of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The impact of climate change on animal health and infectious diseases in animals
  • The importance of animal welfare in veterinary medicine and sustainable agriculture
  • The effects of the human-animal bond on canine health
  • The role of veterinary medicine in conservation efforts: A case study of Rhinoceros poaching in Africa
  • The impact of veterinary research of new vaccines on animal health

Topics & Ideas: Physical Therapy/Rehab

  • The efficacy of aquatic therapy in improving joint mobility and strength in polio patients
  • The impact of telerehabilitation on patient outcomes in Germany
  • The effect of kinesiotaping on reducing knee pain and improving function in individuals with chronic pain
  • A comparison of manual therapy and yoga exercise therapy in the management of low back pain
  • The use of wearable technology in physical rehabilitation and the impact on patient adherence to a rehabilitation plan
  • The impact of mindfulness-based interventions in physical therapy in adolescents
  • The effects of resistance training on individuals with Parkinson’s disease
  • The role of hydrotherapy in the management of fibromyalgia
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioural therapy in physical rehabilitation for individuals with chronic pain
  • The use of virtual reality in physical rehabilitation of sports injuries
  • The effects of electrical stimulation on muscle function and strength in athletes
  • The role of physical therapy in the management of stroke recovery: A systematic review
  • The impact of pilates on mental health in individuals with depression
  • The use of thermal modalities in physical therapy and its effectiveness in reducing pain and inflammation
  • The effect of strength training on balance and gait in elderly patients

Topics & Ideas: Optometry & Opthalmology

  • The impact of screen time on the vision and ocular health of children under the age of 5
  • The effects of blue light exposure from digital devices on ocular health
  • The role of dietary interventions, such as the intake of whole grains, in the management of age-related macular degeneration
  • The use of telemedicine in optometry and ophthalmology in the UK
  • The impact of myopia control interventions on African American children’s vision
  • The use of contact lenses in the management of dry eye syndrome: different treatment options
  • The effects of visual rehabilitation in individuals with traumatic brain injury
  • The role of low vision rehabilitation in individuals with age-related vision loss: challenges and solutions
  • The impact of environmental air pollution on ocular health
  • The effectiveness of orthokeratology in myopia control compared to contact lenses
  • The role of dietary supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids, in ocular health
  • The effects of ultraviolet radiation exposure from tanning beds on ocular health
  • The impact of computer vision syndrome on long-term visual function
  • The use of novel diagnostic tools in optometry and ophthalmology in developing countries
  • The effects of virtual reality on visual perception and ocular health: an examination of dry eye syndrome and neurologic symptoms

Topics & Ideas: Pharmacy & Pharmacology

  • The impact of medication adherence on patient outcomes in cystic fibrosis
  • The use of personalized medicine in the management of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease
  • The effects of pharmacogenomics on drug response and toxicity in cancer patients
  • The role of pharmacists in the management of chronic pain in primary care
  • The impact of drug-drug interactions on patient mental health outcomes
  • The use of telepharmacy in healthcare: Present status and future potential
  • The effects of herbal and dietary supplements on drug efficacy and toxicity
  • The role of pharmacists in the management of type 1 diabetes
  • The impact of medication errors on patient outcomes and satisfaction
  • The use of technology in medication management in the USA
  • The effects of smoking on drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics: A case study of clozapine
  • Leveraging the role of pharmacists in preventing and managing opioid use disorder
  • The impact of the opioid epidemic on public health in a developing country
  • The use of biosimilars in the management of the skin condition psoriasis
  • The effects of the Affordable Care Act on medication utilization and patient outcomes in African Americans

Topics & Ideas: Public Health

  • The impact of the built environment and urbanisation on physical activity and obesity
  • The effects of food insecurity on health outcomes in Zimbabwe
  • The role of community-based participatory research in addressing health disparities
  • The impact of social determinants of health, such as racism, on population health
  • The effects of heat waves on public health
  • The role of telehealth in addressing healthcare access and equity in South America
  • The impact of gun violence on public health in South Africa
  • The effects of chlorofluorocarbons air pollution on respiratory health
  • The role of public health interventions in reducing health disparities in the USA
  • The impact of the United States Affordable Care Act on access to healthcare and health outcomes
  • The effects of water insecurity on health outcomes in the Middle East
  • The role of community health workers in addressing healthcare access and equity in low-income countries
  • The impact of mass incarceration on public health and behavioural health of a community
  • The effects of floods on public health and healthcare systems
  • The role of social media in public health communication and behaviour change in adolescents

Examples: Healthcare Dissertation & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a healthcare-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various healthcare-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

  • Improving Follow-Up Care for Homeless Populations in North County San Diego (Sanchez, 2021)
  • On the Incentives of Medicare’s Hospital Reimbursement and an Examination of Exchangeability (Elzinga, 2016)
  • Managing the healthcare crisis: the career narratives of nurses (Krueger, 2021)
  • Methods for preventing central line-associated bloodstream infection in pediatric haematology-oncology patients: A systematic literature review (Balkan, 2020)
  • Farms in Healthcare: Enhancing Knowledge, Sharing, and Collaboration (Garramone, 2019)
  • When machine learning meets healthcare: towards knowledge incorporation in multimodal healthcare analytics (Yuan, 2020)
  • Integrated behavioural healthcare: The future of rural mental health (Fox, 2019)
  • Healthcare service use patterns among autistic adults: A systematic review with narrative synthesis (Gilmore, 2021)
  • Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Combatting Burnout and Compassionate Fatigue among Mental Health Caregivers (Lundquist, 2022)
  • Transgender and gender-diverse people’s perceptions of gender-inclusive healthcare access and associated hope for the future (Wille, 2021)
  • Efficient Neural Network Synthesis and Its Application in Smart Healthcare (Hassantabar, 2022)
  • The Experience of Female Veterans and Health-Seeking Behaviors (Switzer, 2022)
  • Machine learning applications towards risk prediction and cost forecasting in healthcare (Singh, 2022)
  • Does Variation in the Nursing Home Inspection Process Explain Disparity in Regulatory Outcomes? (Fox, 2020)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. This is an important thing to keep in mind as you develop your own research topic. That is to say, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Need more help?

If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your healthcare dissertation or thesis, check out Topic Kickstarter service below.

Research Topic Kickstarter - Need Help Finding A Research Topic?

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15 Comments

Mabel Allison

I need topics that will match the Msc program am running in healthcare research please

Theophilus Ugochuku

Hello Mabel,

I can help you with a good topic, kindly provide your email let’s have a good discussion on this.

sneha ramu

Can you provide some research topics and ideas on Immunology?

Julia

Thank you to create new knowledge on research problem verse research topic

Help on problem statement on teen pregnancy

Derek Jansen

This post might be useful: https://gradcoach.com/research-problem-statement/

vera akinyi akinyi vera

can you provide me with a research topic on healthcare related topics to a qqi level 5 student

Didjatou tao

Please can someone help me with research topics in public health ?

Gurtej singh Dhillon

Hello I have requirement of Health related latest research issue/topics for my social media speeches. If possible pls share health issues , diagnosis, treatment.

Chikalamba Muzyamba

I would like a topic thought around first-line support for Gender-Based Violence for survivors or one related to prevention of Gender-Based Violence

Evans Amihere

Please can I be helped with a master’s research topic in either chemical pathology or hematology or immunology? thanks

Patrick

Can u please provide me with a research topic on occupational health and safety at the health sector

Biyama Chama Reuben

Good day kindly help provide me with Ph.D. Public health topics on Reproductive and Maternal Health, interventional studies on Health Education

dominic muema

may you assist me with a good easy healthcare administration study topic

Precious

May you assist me in finding a research topic on nutrition,physical activity and obesity. On the impact on children

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How to build a better health system: 8 expert essays

Children play in a mustard field at Mohini village, about 190 km (118 miles) south of the northeastern Indian city of Siliguri, December 6, 2007. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri (INDIA) - GM1DWTHPCLAA

We need to focus on keeping people healthy, not just treating them when they're sick Image:  REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Global Future Council on Health and Healthcare

Introduction

By Francesca Colombo , Head, Health Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Helen E. Clark , Prime Minister of New Zealand (1999-2008), The Helen Clark Foundation

Our healthy future cannot be achieved without putting the health and wellbeing of populations at the centre of public policy.

Ill health worsens an individual’s economic prospects throughout the lifecycle. For young infants and children, ill health affects their capacity to acumulate human capital; for adults, ill health lowers quality of life and labour market outcomes, and disadvantage compounds over the course of a lifetime.

And, yet, with all the robust evidence available that good health is beneficial to economies and societies, it is striking to see how health systems across the globe struggled to maximise the health of populations even before the COVID-19 pandemic – a crisis that has further exposed the stresses and weaknesses of our health systems. These must be addressed to make populations healthier and more resilient to future shocks.

Each one of us, at least once in our lives, is likely to have been frustrated with care that was inflexible, impersonal and bureaucratic. At the system level, these individual experiences add up to poor safety, poor care coordination and inefficiencies – costing millions of lives and enormous expense to societies.

This state of affairs contributes to slowing down the progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals to which all societies, regardless of their level of economic development, have committed.

Many of the conditions that can make change possible are in place. For example, ample evidence exists that investing in public health and primary prevention delivers significant health and economic dividends. Likewise, digital technology has made many services and products across different sectors safe, fast and seamless. There is no reason why, with the right policies, this should not happen in health systems as well. Think, for example, of the opportunities to bring high quality and specialised care to previously underserved populations. COVID-19 has accelerated the development and use of digital health technologies. There are opportunities to further nurture their use to improve public health and disease surveillance, clinical care, research and innovation.

To encourage reform towards health systems that are more resilient, better centred around what people need and sustainable over time, the Global Future Council on Health and Health Care has developed a series of stories illustrating why change must happen, and why this is eminently possible today. While the COVID-19 crisis is severally challenging health systems today, our healthy future is – with the right investments – within reach.

1. Five changes for sustainable health systems that put people first

The COVID-19 crisis has affected more than 188 countries and regions worldwide, causing large-scale loss of life and severe human suffering. The crisis poses a major threat to the global economy, with drops in activity, employment, and consumption worse than those seen during the 2008 financial crisis . COVID-19 has also exposed weaknesses in our health systems that must be addressed. How?

For a start, greater investment in population health would make people, particularly vulnerable population groups, more resilient to health risks. The health and socio-economic consequences of the virus are felt more acutely among disadvantaged populations, stretching a social fabric already challenged by high levels of inequalities. The crisis demonstrates the consequences of poor investment in addressing wider social determinants of health, including poverty, low education and unhealthy lifestyles. Despite much talk of the importance of health promotion, even across the richer OECD countries barely 3% of total health spending is devoted to prevention . Building resilience for populations also requires a greater focus on solidarity and redistribution in social protection systems to address underlying structural inequalities and poverty.

Beyond creating greater resilience in populations, health systems must be strengthened.

High-quality universal health coverage (UHC) is paramount. High levels of household out-of-pocket payments for health goods and services deter people from seeking early diagnosis and treatment at the very moment they need it most. Facing the COVID-19 crisis, many countries have strengthened access to health care, including coverage for diagnostic testing. Yet others do not have strong UHC arrangements. The pandemic reinforced the importance of commitments made in international fora, such as the 2019 High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage , that well-functioning health systems require a deliberate focus on high-quality UHC. Such systems protect people from health threats, impoverishing health spending, and unexpected surges in demand for care.

Second, primary and elder care must be reinforced. COVID-19 presents a double threat for people with chronic conditions. Not only are they at greater risk of severe complications and death due to COVID-19; but also the crisis creates unintended health harm if they forgo usual care, whether because of disruption in services, fear of infections, or worries about burdening the health system. Strong primary health care maintains care continuity for these groups. With some 94% of deaths caused by COVID-19 among people aged over 60 in high-income countries, the elder care sector is also particularly vulnerable, calling for efforts to enhance control of infections, support and protect care workers and better coordinate medical and social care for frail elderly.

Third, the crisis demonstrates the importance of equipping health systems with both reserve capacity and agility. There is an historic underinvestment in the health workforce, with estimated global shortages of 18 million health professionals worldwide , mostly in low- and middle-income countries. Beyond sheer numbers, rigid health labour markets make it difficult to respond rapidly to demand and supply shocks. One way to address this is by creating a “reserve army” of health professionals that can be quickly mobilised. Some countries have allowed medical students in their last year of training to start working immediately, fast-tracked licenses and provided exceptional training. Others have mobilised pharmacists and care assistants. Storing a reserve capacity of supplies such as personal protection equipment, and maintaining care beds that can be quickly transformed into critical care beds, is similarly important.

Fourth, stronger health data systems are needed. The crisis has accelerated innovative digital solutions and uses of digital data, smartphone applications to monitor quarantine, robotic devices, and artificial intelligence to track the virus and predict where it may appear next. Access to telemedicine has been made easier. Yet more can be done to leverage standardised national electronic health records to extract routine data for real-time disease surveillance, clinical trials, and health system management. Barriers to full deployment of telemedicine, the lack of real-time data, of interoperable clinical record data, of data linkage capability and sharing within health and with other sectors remain to be addressed.

Fifth, an effective vaccine and successful vaccination of populations around the globe will provide the only real exit strategy. Success is not guaranteed and there are many policy issues yet to be resolved. International cooperation is vital. Multilateral commitments to pay for successful candidates would give manufacturers certainty so that they can scale production and have vaccine doses ready as quickly as possible following marketing authorisation, but could also help ensure that vaccines go first to where they are most effective in ending the pandemic. Whilst leaders face political pressure to put the health of their citizens first, it is more effective to allocate vaccines based on need. More support is needed for multilateral access mechanisms that contain licensing commitments and ensure that intellectual property is no barrier to access, commitments to technology transfer for local production, and allocation of scarce doses based on need.

The pandemic offers huge opportunities to learn lessons for health system preparedness and resilience. Greater focus on anticipating responses, solidarity within and across countries, agility in managing responses, and renewed efforts for collaborative actions will be a better normal for the future.

OECD Economic Outlook 2020 , Volume 2020 Issue 1, No. 107, OECD Publishing, Paris

OECD Employment Outlook 2020 : Worker Security and the COVID-19 Crisis, OECD Publishing, Paris

OECD Health at a Glance 2019, OECD Publishing, Paris

https://www.un.org/pga/73/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2019/07/FINAL-draft-UHC-Political-Declaration.pdf

OECD (2020), Who Cares? Attracting and Retaining Care Workers for the Elderly, OECD Health Policy Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris

Working for Health and Growth: investing in the health workforce . Report of the High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, Geneva.

Colombo F., Oderkirk J., Slawomirski L. (2020) Health Information Systems, Electronic Medical Records, and Big Data in Global Healthcare: Progress and Challenges in OECD Countries . In: Haring R., Kickbusch I., Ganten D., Moeti M. (eds) Handbook of Global Health. Springer, Cham.

2. Improving population health and building healthy societies in times of COVID-19

By Helena Legido-Quigley , Associate Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a stark reminder of the fragility of population health worldwide; at time of writing, more than 1 million people have died from the disease. The pandemic has already made evident that those suffering most from COVID-19 belong to disadvantaged populations and marginalised communities. Deep-rooted inequalities have contributed adversely to the health status of different populations within and between countries. Besides the direct and indirect health impacts of COVID-19 and the decimation of health systems, restrictions on population movement and lockdowns introduced to combat the pandemic are expected to have economic and social consequences on an unprecedented scale .

Population health – and addressing the consequences of COVID-19 – is about improving the physical and mental health outcomes and wellbeing of populations locally, regionally and nationally, while reducing health inequalities.¹ Moreover, there is an increasing recognition that societal and environmental factors, such as climate change and food insecurity, can also influence population health outcomes.

The experiences of Maria, David, and Ruben – as told by Spanish public broadcaster RTVE – exemplify the real challenges that people living in densely populated urban areas have faced when being exposed to COVID-19.¹

Maria is a Mexican migrant who has just returned from Connecticut to the Bronx. Her partner Jorge died in Connecticut from COVID-19. She now has no income and is looking for an apartment for herself and her three children. When Jorge became ill, she took him to the hospital, but they would not admit him and he was sent away to be cared for by Maria at home with their children. When an ambulance eventually took him to hospital, it was too late. He died that same night, alone in hospital. She thinks he had diabetes, but he was never diagnosed. They only had enough income to pay the basic bills. Maria is depressed, she is alone, but she knows she must carry on for her children. Her 10-year old child says that if he could help her, he would work. After three months, she finds an apartment.

David works as a hairdresser and takes an overcrowded train every day from Leganés to Chamberi in the centre of Madrid. He lives in a small flat in San Nicasio, one of the poorest working-class areas of Madrid with one of the largest ageing populations in Spain. The apartments are very small, making it difficult to be in confinement, and all of David’s neighbours know somebody who has been a victim of COVID-19. His father was also a hairdresser. David's father was not feeling well; he was taken to hospital by ambulance, and he died three days later. David was not able to say goodbye to his father. Unemployment has increased in that area; small local shops are losing their customers, and many more people are expecting to lose their jobs.

Ruben lives in Iztapalapa in Mexico City with three children, a daughter-in-law and five grandchildren. Their small apartment has few amenities, and no running water during the evening. At three o’clock every morning, he walks 45 minutes with his mobile stall to sell fruit juices near the hospital. His daily earnings keep the family. He goes to the central market to buy fruit, taking a packed dirty bus. He thinks the city's central market was contaminated at the beginning of the pandemic, but it could not be closed as it is the main source of food in the country. He has no health insurance, and he knows that as a diabetic he is at risk, but medication for his condition is too expensive. He has no alternative but to go to work every day: "We die of hunger or we die of COVID."

These real stories highlight the issues that must be addressed to reduce persistent health inequalities and achieve health outcomes focusing on population health. The examples of Maria, David and Ruben show the terrible outcomes COVID-19 has had for people living in poverty and social deprivation, older people, and those with co-morbidities and/or pre-existing health conditions. All three live in densely populated urban areas with poor housing, and have to travel long distances in overcrowded transport. Maria’s loss of income has had consequences for her housing security and access to healthcare and health insurance, which will most likely lead to worse health conditions for her and her children. Furthermore, all three experienced high levels of stress, which is magnified in the cases of Maria and David who were unable to be present when their loved ones died.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it evident that to improve the health of the population and build healthy societies, there is a need to shift the focus from illness to health and wellness in order to address the social, political and commercial determinants of health; to promote healthy behaviours and lifestyles; and to foster universal health coverage.² Citizens all over the world are demanding that health systems be strengthened and for governments to protect the most vulnerable. A better future could be possible with leadership that is able to carefully consider the long-term health, economic and social policies that are needed.

In order to design and implement population health-friendly policies, there are three prerequisites. First, there is a need to improve understanding of the factors that influence health inequalities and the interconnections between the economic, social and health impacts. Second, broader policies should be considered not only within the health sector, but also in other sectors such as education, employment, transport and infrastructure, agriculture, water and sanitation. Third, the proposed policies need to be designed through involving the community, addressing the health of vulnerable groups, and fostering inter-sectoral action and partnerships.

Finally, within the UN's Agenda 2030 , Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 sets out a forward-looking strategy for health whose main goal is to attain healthier lives and wellbeing. The 17 interdependent SDGs offer an opportunity to contribute to healthier, fairer and more equitable societies from which both communities and the environment can benefit.

The stories of Maria, David and Ruben are real stories featured in the Documentary: The impact of COVID19 in urban outskirts, Directed by Jose A Guardiola. Available here. Permission has been granted to narrate these stories.

Buck, D., Baylis, A., Dougall, D. and Robertson, R. (2018). A vision for population health: Towards a healthier future . [online] London: The King's Fund. [Accessed 20 Sept. 2020]

Wilton Park. (2020). Healthy societies, healthy populations (WP1734). Wiston House, Steyning. Retrieved from https://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/event/wp1734/ Cohen B. E. (2006). Population health as a framework for public health practice: a Canadian perspective. American journal of public health , 96 (9), 1574–1576.

3. Imagine a 'well-care' system that invests in keeping people healthy

By Maliha Hashmi , Executive Director, Health and Well-Being and Biotech, NEOM, and Jan Kimpen , Global Chief Medical Officer, Philips

Imagine a patient named Emily. Emily is aged 32 and I’m her doctor.

Emily was 65lb (29kg) above her ideal body weight, pre-diabetic and had high cholesterol. My initial visit with Emily was taken up with counselling on lifestyle changes, mainly diet and exercise; typical advice from one’s doctor in a time-pressured 15-minute visit. I had no other additional resources, incentives or systems to support me or Emily to help her turn her lifestyle around.

I saw Emily eight months later, not in my office, but in the hospital emergency room. Her husband accompanied her – she was vomiting, very weak and confused. She was admitted to the intensive care unit, connected to an insulin drip to lower her blood sugar, and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I talked to Emily then, emphasizing that the new medications for diabetes would only control the sugars, but she still had time to reverse things if she changed her lifestyle. She received further counselling from a nutritionist.

Over the years, Emily continued to gain weight, necessitating higher doses of her diabetes medication. More emergency room visits for high blood sugars ensued, she developed infections of her skin and feet, and ultimately, she developed kidney disease because of the uncontrolled diabetes. Ten years after I met Emily, she is 78lb (35kg) above her ideal body weight; she is blind and cannot feel her feet due to nerve damage from the high blood sugars; and she will soon need dialysis for her failing kidneys. Emily’s deteriorating health has carried a high financial cost both for herself and the healthcare system. We have prevented her from dying and extended her life with our interventions, but each interaction with the medical system has come at significant cost – and those costs will only rise. But we have also failed Emily by allowing her diabetes to progress. We know how to prevent this, but neither the right investments nor incentives are in place.

Emily could have been a real patient of mine. Her sad story will be familiar to all doctors caring for chronically ill patients. Unfortunately, patients like Emily are neglected by health systems across the world today. The burden of chronic disease is increasing at alarming rates. Across the OECD nearly 33% of those over 15 years live with one or more chronic condition, rising to 60% for over-65s. Approximately 50% of chronic disease deaths are attributed to cardiovascular disease (CVD). In the coming decades, obesity, will claim 92 million lives in the OECD while obesity-related diseases will cut life expectancy by three years by 2050.

These diseases can be largely prevented by primary prevention, an approach that emphasizes vaccinations, lifestyle behaviour modification and the regulation of unhealthy substances. Preventative interventions have been efficacious. For obesity, countries have effectively employed public awareness campaigns, health professionals training, and encouragement of dietary change (for example, limits on unhealthy foods, taxes and nutrition labelling).⁴,⁵ Other interventions, such as workplace health-promotion programmes, while showing some promise, still need to demonstrate their efficacy.

Investments in behavioural change have economic as well as health benefits

The COVID-19 crisis provides the ultimate incentive to double down on the prevention of chronic disease. Most people dying from COVID-19 have one or more chronic disease, including obesity, CVD, diabetes or respiratory problems – diseases that are preventable with a healthy lifestyle. COVID-19 has highlighted structural weaknesses in our health systems such as the neglect of prevention and primary care.

While the utility of primary prevention is understood and supported by a growing evidence base, its implementation has been thwarted by chronic underinvestment, indicating a lack of societal and governmental prioritization. On average, OECD countries only invest 2.8% of health spending on public health and prevention. The underlying drivers include decreased allocation to prevention research, lack of awareness in populations, the belief that long-run prevention may be more costly than treatment, and a lack of commitment by and incentives for healthcare professionals. Furthermore, public health is often viewed in a silo separate from the overall health system rather than a foundational component.

Health benefits aside, increasing investment in primary prevention presents a strong economic imperative. For example, obesity contributes to the treatment costs of many other diseases: 70% of diabetes costs, 23% for CVD and 9% for cancers. Economic losses further extend to absenteeism and decreased productivity.

Fee-for-service models that remunerate physicians based on the number of sick patients they see, regardless the quality and outcome, dominate healthcare systems worldwide. Primary prevention mandates a payment system that reimburses healthcare professionals and patients for preventive actions. Ministries of health and governmental leaders need to challenge skepticism around preventive interventions, realign incentives towards preventive actions and those that promote healthy choices by people. Primary prevention will eventually reduce the burden of chronic diseases on the healthcare system.

As I reflect back on Emily and her life, I wonder what our healthcare system could have done differently. What if our healthcare system was a well-care system instead of a sick-care system? Imagine a different scenario: Emily, a 32 year old pre-diabetic, had access to a nutritionist, an exercise coach or health coach and nurse who followed her closely at the time of her first visit with me. Imagine if Emily joined group exercise classes, learned where to find healthy foods and how to cook them, and had access to spaces in which to exercise and be active. Imagine Emily being better educated about her diabetes and empowered in her healthcare and staying healthy. In reality, it is much more complicated than this, but if our healthcare systems began to incentivize and invest in prevention and even rewarded Emily for weight loss and healthy behavioural changes, the outcome might have been different. Imagine Emily losing weight and continuing to be an active and contributing member of society. Imagine if we invested in keeping people healthy rather than waiting for people to get sick, and then treating them. Imagine a well-care system.

Anderson, G. (2011). Responding to the growing cost and prevalence of people with multiple chronic conditions . Retrieved from OECD.

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. GBD Data Visualizations. Retrieved here.

OECD (2019), The Heavy Burden of Obesity: The Economics of Prevention, OECD Health Policy Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris.

OECD. (2017). Obesity Update . Retrieved here.

Malik, V. S., Willett, W. C., & Hu, F. B. (2013). Global obesity: trends, risk factors and policy implications. Nature Reviews Endocrinology , 9 (1), 13-27.

Lang, J., Cluff, L., Payne, J., Matson-Koffman, D., & Hampton, J. (2017). The centers for disease control and prevention: findings from the national healthy worksite program. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine , 59 (7), 631.

Gmeinder, M., Morgan, D., & Mueller, M. (2017). How much do OECD countries spend on prevention? Retrieved from OECD.

Jordan RE, Adab P, Cheng KK. Covid-19: risk factors for severe disease and death. BMJ. 2020;368:m1198.

Richardson, A. K. (2012). Investing in public health: barriers and possible solutions. Journal of Public Health , 34 (3), 322-327.

Yong, P. L., Saunders, R. S., & Olsen, L. (2010). Missed Prevention Opportunities The healthcare imperative: lowering costs and improving outcomes: workshop series summary (Vol. 852): National Academies Press Washington, DC.

OECD. (2019). The Heavy Burden of Obesity: The Economics of Prevention. Retrieved here .

McDaid, D., F. Sassi and S. Merkur (Eds.) (2015a), “Promoting Health, Preventing Disease: The Economic Case ”, Open University Press, New York.

OECD. (2019). The Heavy Burden of Obesity: The Economics of Prevention. Retrieved from OECD.

4. Why e arly detection and diagnosis is critical

By Paul Murray , Head of Life and Health Products, Swiss Re, and André Goy , Chairman and Executive Director & Chief of Lymphoma, John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center

Although healthcare systems around the world follow a common and simple principle and goal – that is, access to affordable high-quality healthcare – they vary significantly, and it is becoming increasingly costly to provide this access, due to ageing populations, the increasing burden of chronic diseases and the price of new innovations.

Governments are challenged by how best to provide care to their populations and make their systems sustainable. Neither universal health, single payer systems, hybrid systems, nor the variety of systems used throughout the US have yet provided a solution. However, systems that are ranked higher in numerous studies, such as a 2017 report by the Commonwealth Fund , typically include strong prevention care and early-detection programmes. This alone does not guarantee a good outcome as measured by either high or healthy life expectancy. But there should be no doubt that prevention and early detection can contribute to a more sustainable system by reducing the risk of serious diseases or disorders, and that investing in and operationalizing earlier detection and diagnosis of key conditions can lead to better patient outcomes and lower long-term costs.

To discuss early detection in a constructive manner it makes sense to describe its activities and scope. Early detection includes pre-symptomatic screening and treatment immediately or shortly after first symptoms are diagnosed. Programmes may include searching for a specific disease (for example, HIV/AIDS or breast cancer), or be more ubiquitous. Prevention, which is not the focus of this blog, can be interpreted as any activities undertaken to avoid diseases, such as information programmes, education, immunization or health monitoring.

Expenditures for prevention and early detection vary by country and typically range between 1-5% of total health expenditures.¹ During the 2008 global financial crisis, many countries reduced preventive spending. In the past few years, however, a number of countries have introduced reforms to strengthen and promote prevention and early detection. Possibly the most prominent example in recent years was the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in the US, which placed a special focus on providing a wide range of preventive and screening services. It lists 63 distinct services that must be covered without any copayment, co-insurance or having to pay a deductible.

Only a small fraction of OECD countries' health spending goes towards prevention

Whilst logic dictates that investment in early detection should be encouraged, there are a few hurdles and challenges that need to be overcome and considered. We set out a few key criteria and requirements for an efficient early detection program:

1. Accessibility The healthcare system needs to provide access to a balanced distribution of physicians, both geographically (such as accessibility in rural areas), and by specialty. Patients should be able to access the system promptly without excessive waiting times for diagnoses or elective treatments. This helps mitigate conditions or diseases that are already quite advanced or have been incubating for months or even years before a clinical diagnosis. Access to physicians varies significantly across the globe from below one to more than 60 physicians per 10,000 people.² One important innovation for mitigating access deficiencies is telehealth. This should give individuals easier access to health-related services, not only in cases of sickness but also to supplement primary care.

2. Early symptoms and initial diagnosis Inaccurate or delayed initial diagnoses present a risk to the health of patients, can lead to inappropriate or unnecessary testing and treatment, and represents a significant share of total health expenditures. A medical second opinion service, especially for serious medical diagnoses, which can occur remotely, can help improve healthcare outcomes. Moreover, studies show that early and correct diagnosis opens up a greater range of curative treatment options and can reduce costs (e.g. for colon cancer, stage-four treatment costs are a multiple of stage-one treatment costs).³

3. New technology New early detection technologies can improve the ability to identify symptoms and diseases early: i. Advances in medical monitoring devices and wearable health technology, such as ECG and blood pressure monitors and biosensors, enable patients to take control of their own health and physical condition. This is an important trend that is expected to positively contribute to early detection, for example in atrial fibrillation and Alzheimers’ disease. ii. Diagnostic tools, using new biomarkers such as liquid biopsies or volatile organic compounds, together with the implementation of machine learning, can play an increasing role in areas such as oncology or infectious diseases.⁴

4. Regulation and Intervention Government regulation and intervention will be necessary to set ranges of normality, to prohibit or discourage overdiagnosis and to reduce incentives for providers to overtreat patients or to follow patients' inappropriate requests. In some countries, such as the US, there has been some success through capitation models and value-based care. Governments might also need to intervene to de-risk the innovation paradigm, such that private providers of capital feel able to invest more in the development of new detection technologies, in addition to proven business models in novel therapeutics.

OECD Health Working Papers No. 101 "How much do OECD countries spend on prevention" , 2017

World Health Organization; Global Health Observatory (GHO) data; https://www.who.int/gho/health_workforce/physicians_density/en/

Saving lives, averting costs; A report for Cancer Research UK, by Incisive Health, September 2014

Liquid Biopsy: Market Drivers And Obstacles; by Divyaa Ravishankar, Frost & Sullivan, January 21, 2019

Liquid Biopsies Become Cheap and Easy with New Microfluidic Device; February 26, 2019

How America’s 5 Top Hospitals are Using Machine Learning Today; by Kumba Sennaar, February 19, 2019

5. The business case for private investment in healthcare for all

Pascal Fröhlicher, Primary Care Innovation Scholar, Harvard Medical School, and Ian Wijaya, Managing Director in Lazard’s Global Healthcare Group

Faith, a mother of two, has just lost another customer. Some households where she is employed to clean, in a small town in South Africa, have little understanding of her medical needs. As a type 2 diabetes patient, this Zimbabwean woman visits the public clinic regularly, sometimes on short notice. At her last visit, after spending hours in a queue, she was finally told that the doctor could not see her. To avoid losing another day of work, she went to the local general practitioner to get her script, paying more than three daily wages for consultation and medication. Sadly, this fictional person reflects a reality for many people in middle-income countries.

Achieving universal health coverage by 2030, a key UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), is at risk. The World Bank has identified a $176 billion funding gap , increasing every year due to the growing needs of an ageing population, with the health burden shifting towards non-communicable diseases (NCDs), now the major cause of death in emerging markets . Traditional sources of healthcare funding struggle to increase budgets sufficiently to cover this gap and only about 4% of private health care investments focus on diseases that primarily affect low- and middle-income countries.

In middle-income countries, private investors often focus on extending established businesses, including developing private hospital capacity, targeting consumers already benefiting from quality healthcare. As a result, an insufficient amount of private capital is invested in strengthening healthcare systems for everyone.

A nurse attends to newborn babies in the nursery at the Juba Teaching Hospital in Juba April 3, 2013. Very few births in South Sudan, which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world at 2,054 per 100,000 live births, are assisted by trained midwives, according to the UNDP's website. Picture taken April 3, 2013. REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu (SOUTH SUDAN - Tags: SOCIETY HEALTH) - GM1E94415TG01

Why is this the case? We discussed with senior health executives investing in Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) and the following reasons emerged:

  • Small market size . Scaling innovations in healthcare requires dealing with country-specific regulatory frameworks and competing interest groups, resulting in high market entry cost.
  • Talent . Several LMICs are losing nurses and doctors but also business and finance professionals to European and North American markets due to the lack of local opportunities and a significant difference in salaries.
  • Untested business models with relatively low gross margins. Providing healthcare requires innovative business models where consumers’ willingness to pay often needs to be demonstrated over a significant period of time. Additionally, relatively low gross margins drive the need for scale to leverage administrative costs, which increases risk.
  • Government Relations. The main buyer of health-related products and services is government; yet the relationship between public and private sectors often lacks trust, creating barriers to successful collaboration. Add to that significant political risk, as contracts can be cancelled by incoming administrations after elections. Many countries also lack comprehensive technology strategies to successfully manage technological innovation.
  • Complexity of donor funding. A significant portion of healthcare is funded by private donors, whose priorities might not always be congruent with the health priorities of the government.

Notwithstanding these barriers, healthcare, specifically in middle-income settings, could present an attractive value proposition for private investors:

  • Economic growth rates . A growing middle class is expanding the potential market for healthcare products and services.
  • Alignment of incentives . A high ratio of out-of-pocket payments for healthcare services is often associated with low quality. However, innovative business models can turn out of pocket payments into the basis for a customer-centric value proposition, as the provider is required to compete for a share of disposable income.
  • Emergence of National Health Insurance Schemes . South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and others are building national health insurance schemes, increasing a population’s ability to fund healthcare services and products .
  • Increased prevalence of NCDs. Given the increasing incidence of chronic diseases and the potential of using technology to address these diseases, new business opportunities for private investment exist.

Based on the context above, several areas in healthcare delivery can present compelling opportunities for private companies.

  • Aggregation of existing players.
  • Leveraging primary care infrastructure. Retail companies can leverage their real estate, infrastructure and supply chains to deploy primary care services at greater scale than is currently the case.
  • Telemedicine . Telecommunications providers can leverage their existing infrastructure and customer base to provide payment mechanisms and telehealth services at scale. As seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, investment in telemedicine can ensure that patients receive timely and continuous care in spite of restrictions and lockdowns.
  • Cost effective diagnostics . Diagnostic tools operated by frontline workers and combined with the expertise of specialists can provide timely and efficient care.

To fully realize these opportunities, government must incentivise innovation, provide clear regulatory frameworks and, most importantly, ensure that health priorities are adequately addressed.

Venture capital and private equity firms as well as large international corporations can identify the most commercially viable solutions and scale them into new markets. The ubiquity of NCDs and the requirement to reduce costs globally provides innovators with the opportunity to scale their tested solutions from LMICs to higher income environments.

Successful investment exits in LMICs and other private sector success stories will attract more private capital. Governments that enable and support private investment in their healthcare systems would, with appropriate governance and guidance, generate benefits to their populations and economies. The economic value of healthy populations has been proven repeatedly , and in the face of COVID-19, private sector investment can promote innovation and the development of responsible, sustainable solutions.

Faith – the diabetic mother we introduced at the beginning of this article - could keep her client. As a stable patient, she could measure her glucose level at home and enter the results in an app on her phone, part of her monthly diabetes programme with the company that runs the health centre. She visits the nurse-led facility at the local taxi stand on her way to work when her app suggests it. The nurse in charge of the centre treats Faith efficiently, and, if necessary, communicates with a primary care physician or even a specialist through the telemedicine functionality of her electronic health system.

Improving LMIC health systems is not only a business opportunity, but a moral imperative for public and private leaders. With the appropriate technology and political will, this can become a reality.

6. How could COVID-19 change the way we pay for health services?

John E. Ataguba, Associate Professor and Director, University of Cape Town and Matthew Guilford, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Common Health

The emergence of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2), causing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has challenged both developing and developed countries.

Countries have approached the management of infections differently. Many people are curious to understand their health system’s performance on COVID-19, both at the national level and compared to international peers. Alongside limited resources for health, many developing countries may have weak health systems that can make it challenging to respond adequately to the pandemic.

Even before COVID-19, high rates of out-of-pocket spending on health meant that every year, 800 million people faced catastrophic healthcare costs ,100 million families were pushed into poverty, and millions more simply avoided care for critical conditions because they could not afford to pay for it.

The pandemic and its economic fallout have caused household incomes to decline at the same time as healthcare risks are rising. In some countries with insurance schemes, and especially for private health insurance, the following questions have arisen: How large is the co-payment for a COVID-19 test? If my doctor’s office is closed, will the telemedicine consultation be covered by my insurance? Will my coronavirus care be paid for regardless of how I contracted the virus? These and other doubts can prevent people from seeking medical care in some countries.

In Nigeria, like many other countries in Africa, the government bears the costs associated with testing and treating COVID-19 irrespective of the individual’s insurance status. In the public health sector, where COVID-19 cases are treated, health workers are paid monthly salaries while budgets are allocated to health facilities for other services. Hospitals continue to receive budget allocations to finance all health services including the management and treatment of COVID-19. That implies that funds allocated to address other health needs are reduced and that in turn could affect the availability and quality of health services.

Although health workers providing care for COVID-19 patients in isolation and treatment centres in Nigeria are paid salaries that are augmented with a special incentive package, the degree of impact on the quality improvement of services remains unclear. The traditional and historical allocation of budgets does not always address the needs of the whole population and could result in poor health services and under-provision of health services for COVID-19 patients.

In some countries, the reliance on out-of-pocket funding is hardly better for private providers, who encounter brand risks, operational difficulties, and – in extreme cases – the risk of creating “debtor prisons” as they seek to collect payment from patients. Ironically, despite the huge demand for medical services to diagnose and treat COVID-19, large healthcare institutions and individual healthcare practitioners alike are facing financial distress.

Dependence on a steady stream of fee-for-service payments for outpatient consultations and elective procedures is leading to pay cuts for doctors in India , forfeited Eid bonuses for nurses in Indonesia , and hospital bankruptcies in the United States . In a recent McKinsey & Company survey, 77% of physicians reported that their business would suffer in 2020 , and 46% were concerned about their practice surviving the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 is exposing how fee-for-service, historical budget allocation and out-of-pocket financing methods can hinder the performance of the health system. Some providers and health systems that deployed “value-based” models prior to the pandemic have reported that these approaches have improved financial resilience during COVID-19 and may support better results for patients. Nevertheless, these types of innovations do not represent the dominant payment model in any country.

How health service providers are paid has implications for whether service users can get needed health services in a timely fashion, and at an appropriate quality and an affordable cost. By shifting from fee-for-service reimbursements to fixed "capitation" and performance-based payments, these models incentivize providers to improve quality and coordination while also guaranteeing a baseline income level, even during times of disruption.

Health service providers could be paid either in the form of salaries, a fee for services they provide, by capitation (whether adjusted or straightforward), through global budgets, or by using a case-based payment system (for example, the diagnostics-related groups), among others. Because there are different incentives to consider when adopting any of the methods, they could be combined to achieve a specific goal. For example, in some countries, health workers are paid salaries , and some specific services are paid on a fee-for-service basis.

Ideally, health services could be purchased strategically , incorporating aspects of provider performance in transferring funds to providers and accounting for the health needs of the population they serve.

In this regard, strategic purchasing for health has been advocated and should be highlighted as crucial with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a need to ensure value in the way health providers are paid, inter alia to increase efficiency, ensure equity, and improve access to needed health services. Value-based payment methods, although not new in many countries, provide an avenue to encourage long-term value for money, better quality, and strategic purchasing for health, helping to build a healthier, more resilient world.

7. L essons in integrated care from the COVID-19 pandemic

Sarah Ziegler, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Zurich, and Ninie Wang, Founder & CEO, Pinetree Care Group.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, people suffering non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been at higher risk of becoming severely ill or dying. In Italy, 96.2% of people who died of COVID-19 lived with two or more chronic conditions.

Beyond the pandemic, cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes are the leading burden of disease, with 41 million annual deaths. People with multimorbidity - a number of different conditions - often experience difficulties in accessing timely and coordinated healthcare, made worse when health systems are busy fighting against the pandemic.

Here is what happened in China with Lee, aged 62, who has been living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) for the past five years.

Before the pandemic, Lee’s care manager coordinated a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, nurses, pulmonary rehabilitation therapists, psychologists and social workers to put together a personalized care plan for her. Following the care plan, Lee stopped smoking and paid special attention to her diet, sleep and physical exercises, as well as sticking to her medication and follow-up visits. She participated in a weekly community-based physical activity program to meet other COPD patients, including short walks and exchange experiences. A mobile care team supported her with weekly cleaning and grocery shopping.

Together with her family, Lee had follow-up visits to ensure her care plan reflected her recovery and to modify the plan if needed. These integrated care services brought pieces of care together, centered around Lee’s needs, and provided a continuum of care that helped keep Lee in the community with a good quality of life for as long as possible.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, such NCD services have been disrupted by lockdowns, the cancellation of elective care and the fear of visiting care service . These factors particularly affected people living with NCDs like Lee. As such, Lee was not able to follow her care plan anymore. The mobile care team was unable to visit her weekly as they were deployed to provide COVID-19 relief. Lee couldn’t participate in her community-based program, follow up on her daily activities, or see her family or psychologists. This negatively affected Lee’s COPD management and led to poor management of her physical activity and healthy diet.

The pandemic highlights the need for a flexible and reliable integrated care system to enable healthcare delivery to all people no matter where they live, uzilizing approaches such as telemedicine and effective triaging to overcome care disruptions.

Lee’s care manager created short videos to assist her family through each step of her care and called daily to check in on the implementation of the plan and answer questions. Lee received tele-consultations, and was invited to the weekly webcast series that supported COPD patient communities. When her uncle passed away because of pneumonia complications from COVID-19 in early April, Lee’s care manager arranged a palliative care provider to support the family through the difficult time of bereavement and provided food and supplies during quarantine. Lee could even continue with her physical activity program with an online training coach. There were a total of 38 exercise videos for strengthening and stretching arms, legs and trunk, which she could complete at different levels of difficulty and with different numbers of repetitions.

Lee’s case demonstrates that early detection, prevention, and management of NCDs play a crucial role in a global pandemic response. It shows how we need to shift away from health systems designed around single diseases towards health systems designed for the multidimensional needs of individuals. As part of the pandemic responses, addressing and managing risks related to NCDs and prevention of their complications are critical to improve outcomes for vulnerable people like Lee.

How to design and deliver successful integrated care

The challenge for the successful transformation of healthcare is to tailor care system-wide to population needs. A 2016 WHO Framework on integrated people-centered health services developed a set of five general strategies for countries to progress towards people-centered and sustainable health systems, calling for a fundamental transformation not only in the way health services are delivered, but also in the way they are financed and managed . These strategies call for countries to:

  • Engage and empower people / communities: an integrated care system must mobilize everyone to work together using all available resources, especially when continuity of essential health and community services for NCDs are at risk of being undermined.
  • Strengthen governance and accountability, so that integration emphasizes rather than weakens leadership in every part of the system, and ensure that NCDs are included in national COVID-19 plans and future essential health services.
  • Reorient the model of care to put the needs and perspectives of each person / family at the center of care planning and outcome measurement, rather than institutions.
  • Coordinate services within and across sectors, for example, integrate inter-disciplinary medical care with social care, addressing wider socio-economic, environmental and behavioral determinants of health.
  • Create an enabling environment, with clear objectives, supportive financing, regulations and insurance coverage for integrated care, including the development and use of systemic digital health care solutions.

Whether due to an unexpected pandemic or a gradual increase in the burden of NCDs, each person could face many health threats across the life-course.

Only systems that dynamically assess each person’s complex health needs and address them through a timely, well-coordinated and tailored mix of health and social care services will be able to deliver desired health outcomes over the longer term, ensuring an uninterrupted good quality of life for Lee and many others like her.

  • Wang B, Li R, Lu Z, Huang Y. Does comorbidity increase the risk of patients with COVID-19: evidence from meta-analysis. Aging (Albany NY) 2020;12: 6049–57.
  • WHO. Noncommunicable diseases in emergencies. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2016.
  • WHO. COVID-19 significantly impacts health services for noncommunicable diseases. June 2020.
  • Kluge HHP, Wickramasinghe K, Rippin HL, et al. Prevention and control of non-communicalbe diseases in the COVID-19 response. The Lancet. 2020. 395:1678-1680
  • WHO. Framework on integrated people-centred health services. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2016.

8 . Why access to healthcare alone will not save lives

Donald Berwick, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; Nicola Bedlington, Special Adviser, European Patient Forum; and David Duong, Director, Program in Global Primary Care and Social Change, Harvard Medical School.

Joyce lies next to 10 other women in bare single beds in the post-partum recovery room at a rural hospital in Uganda. Just an hour ago, Joyce gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She is now struggling with abdominal pain. A nurse walks by, and Joyce tries to call out, but the nurse was too busy to attend to her; she was the only nurse looking after 20 patients.

Another hour passes, and Joyce is shaking and sweating profusely. Joyce’s husband runs into the corridor to find a nurse to come and evaluate her. The nurse notices Joyce’s critical condition - a high fever and a low blood pressure - and she quickly calls the doctor. The medical team rushes Joyce to the intensive care unit. Joyce has a very severe blood stream infection. It takes another hour before antibiotics are started - too late. Joyce dies, leaving behind a newborn son and a husband. Joyce, like many before her, falls victim to a pervasive global threat: poor quality of care.

Adopted by United Nations (UN) in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. SDG 3 aims to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all. The 2019 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) reaffirmed the need for the highest level of political commitment to health care for all.

However, progress towards UHC, often measured in terms of access, not outcomes, does not guarantee better health, as we can see from Joyce’s tragedy. This is also evident with the COVID-19 response. The rapidly evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted long-term structural inefficiencies and inequities in health systems and societies trying to mitigate the contagion and loss of life.

Systems are straining under significant pressure to ensure standards of care for both COVID-19 patients and other patients that run the risk of not receiving timely and appropriate care. Although poor quality of care has been a long-standing issue, it is imperative now more than ever that systems implement high-quality services as part of their efforts toward UHC.

Poor quality healthcare remains a challenge for countries at all levels of economic development: 10% of hospitalized patients acquire an infection during their hospitalization in low-and-middle income countries (LMIC), whereas 7% do in high-income countries. Poor quality healthcare disproportionally affects the poor and those in LMICs. Of the approximately 8.6 million deaths per year in 137 LMICs, 3.6 million are people who did not access the health system, whereas 5 million are people who sought and had access to services but received poor-quality care.

Joyce’s story is all too familiar; poor quality of care results in deaths from treatable diseases and conditions. Although the causes of death are often multifactorial, deaths and increased morbidity from treatable conditions are often a reflection of defects in the quality of care.

The large number of deaths and avoidable complications are also accompanied by substantial economic costs. In 2015 alone, 130 LMICs faced US $6 trillion in economic losses. Although there is concern that implementing quality measures may be a costly endeavor, it is clear that the economic toll associated with a lack of quality of care is far more troublesome and further stunts the socio-economic development of LMICs, made apparent with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poor-quality care not only leads to adverse outcomes in terms of high morbidity and mortality, but it also impacts patient experience and patient confidence in health systems. Less than one-quarter of people in LMICs and approximately half of people in high-income countries believe that their health systems work well.

A lack of application and availability of evidenced-based guidelines is one key driver of poor-quality care. The rapidly changing landscape of medical knowledge and guidelines requires healthcare workers to have immediate access to current clinical resources. Despite our "information age", health providers are not accessing clinical guidelines or do not have access to the latest practical, lifesaving information.

Getting information to health workers in the places where it is most needed is a delivery challenge. Indeed, adherence to clinical practice guidelines in eight LMICs was below 50%, and in OECD countries, despite being a part of national guidelines, 19-53% of women aged 50-69 years did not receive mammography screening.4 The evidence in LMICs and HICs suggest that application of evidence-based guidelines lead to reduction in mortality and improved health outcomes.

Equally, the failure to change and continually improve the processes in health systems that support the workforce takes a high toll on quality of care. During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam, which adapted and improved their health systems after the SARS and H1N1 outbreaks, were able to rapidly mobilize a large-scale quarantine and contact tracing strategy, supported with effective and coordinated mass communication.

These countries not only mitigated the economic and mortality damage, but also prevented their health systems and workforce from enduring extreme burden and inability to maintain critical medical supplies. In all nations, investing in healthcare organizations to enable them to become true “learning health care systems,” aiming at continual quality improvement, would yield major population health and health system gains.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance for health systems to be learning systems. Once the dust settles, we need to focus, collectively, on learning from this experience and adapting our health systems to be more resilient for the next one. This implies a need for commitment to and investment in global health cooperation, improvement in health care leadership, and change management.

With strong political and financial commitment to UHC, and its demonstrable effect in addressing crises such as COVID-19, for the first time, the world has a viable chance of UHC becoming a reality. However, without an equally strong political, managerial, and financial commitment to continually improving, high-quality health services, UHC will remain an empty promise.

1. United Nations General Assembly. Political declaration of the high-level meeting on universal health coverage. New York, NY2019.

2. Marmot M, Allen J, Boyce T, Goldblatt P, Morrison J. Health equity in England: the Marmot review 10 years on. Institute of Health Equity;2020.

3. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: Committee on Improving the Quality of Health Care Globally. Crossing the global quality chasm: Improving health care worldwide. Washington, DC: National Academies Press;2018.

4. World Health Organization, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Bank Group. Delivering quality health services: a global imperative for universal health coverage. World Health Organization; 2018.

5. Kruk ME, Gage AD, Arsenault C, et al. High-quality health systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era: time for a revolution. The Lancet Global Health. 2018;6(11):e1196-e1252.

6. Ricci-Cabello I, Violán C, Foguet-Boreu Q, Mounce LT, Valderas JM. Impact of multi-morbidity on quality of healthcare and its implications for health policy, research and clinical practice. A scoping review. European Journal of General Practice. 2015;21(3):192-202.

7. Valtis YK, Rosenberg J, Bhandari S, et al. Evidence-based medicine for all: what we can learn from a programme providing free access to an online clinical resource to health workers in resource-limited settings. BMJ global health. 2016;1(1).

8. Institute of Medicine. Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America . Washington, DC: National Academies Press 2012.

Related topics:

108 Healthcare Reform Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on healthcare reform, ✍️ healthcare reform essay topics for college, 👍 good healthcare reform research topics & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting healthcare reform research titles, 💡 simple healthcare reform essay ideas, ❓ questions about healthcare reform.

  • Healthcare in the United States: Timeline and Reforms
  • The Affordable Care Act and Healthcare Reforms
  • The Impact of Healthcare Reform
  • Healthcare Reform and the Role of Nurse Practitioners
  • Joe Biden’s New Reform on Healthcare
  • Policy Reforms for Affordable Healthcare in the US
  • Importance Healthcare Reforms and for Governments
  • Health-Related Lobbyists and Health Care Reforms Health-related lobbyists consist of health professionals, pharmaceuticals, and health associations responsible for agitating better policies and conditions for the health sector.
  • The Healthcare Reform: The Wellness Initiative The wellness initiative promotes the well-being of people by teaching medical students and nurses the basis of wellness and self-management.
  • US Health Care Reform: Who Will Benefit? The health care reform bill seeks to expand health insurance coverage to about 32 million Americans who are uninsured.
  • Healthcare Reform by Barack Obama One of the biggest constraints that has impeded healthcare reform is public opinion, each person has its own point of view which is considered to be correct.
  • The U.S. Healthcare System’s Problems and Reforms The U.S. healthcare delivery system’s primary objective is to integrate people, institutions, and resources to meet various healthcare needs and preferences of the targeted group.
  • Comparative Analysis: The Affordable Care Act and the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform The Affordable Care Act is better than The Massachusetts Healthcare Reform because the act will reduce the number of unsecured Americans without much impact on the economy.
  • The Focus of the Healthcare Reform Program The healthcare reform program enhances the improvement of the current healthcare process. The article focuses on the government’s healthcare reform.
  • Healthcare Reform Issue on Presidential 2012 Elections Coming closer to Election Day for presidential polls, the American people face one of the most challenging times in deciding on an appropriate office bearer.
  • Health Care Reform and Its Effects on Population This paper analyzes health plans influence in Colorado based on the article “In Colorado, disparity in health plan prices underscores ambitions, and limits, of Affordable Care Act”.
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of Universal Health Care Reform The universal health plan is very timely to the American citizens who have suffered for a long time from improper health care and exploitation from insurance companies.
  • Analysis of Health Care Reform In the article “Health care reform and equality: Promise, pitfalls, and prescriptions,” Kevin Fiscella discusses the prospects of the health care system in the state.
  • The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Health Care Reform The health organizations may use strategies like buying cheap clinical equipment and reducing staff to adjust the cost of health care delivery.
  • Health Care: Tort Reform “Compare and Contrast“ Tort reforms have been necessitated by the emergence of a trend where medical doctors practice what is known as ‘defensive medicine.
  • A Diverse Approach to the Healthcare Reform To succeed in healthcare reform, the government must focus not on one aspect of healthcare, but a diverse approach is beneficial.
  • Healthcare Reform: Affordable Care Act Personal knowledge or information with essential certainty, basic truth, law, or assumption, from lessons, is an indispensable part of healthcare financial management.
  • Health Care Reform Initiative in California For a healthcare system to achieve financial sustainability, it should have incorporated certain goals in its design: access to quality health care, consumer choice.
  • Social Responsibility: Underserved Health Care Reform People with severe medical conditions often cannot afford therapy or even necessary medications due to their high costs and rising population rising unemployment rates.
  • “Health Care Reform and Equity” by Fiscella The given article review will primarily focus on two main domains, which are access and national quality strategy informed by research.
  • Health Care Reform and American Politics The United States of America has long been striving to enact health insurance reform and it eventually became possible with Obama in charge.
  • Obama’s Healthcare Reform and Organizational Decision-Making Talking of organizational decision making, Obama’s push for comprehensive healthcare legislation has been a source of intriguing insights.
  • US Healthcare Policy: Obama’s Healthcare Reform President Barak Obama has a hard task ahead in making sure that the health situation of the country is addressed.
  • Health Care Reform Proposals Health care reform is one of the most important topic needs consideration as it touches the most sensitive issue in all regions of the world.
  • Medical Insurance: Health Care Reform The United States is said to have reached a stage where the status of health care is precarious, primarily because of it is simply not sustainable anymore.
  • Obama’s Health Care System Reform Obama’s new national health plan tailored for all Americans has been one of the best among all other plans brought by previous presidents.
  • Financial Operating Changes in Healthcare System Reform in the United States Financing not only provides access and employs various ways of paying for health care services, but also strongly affects the entire healthcare system.
  • Healthcare Reform and Ethics in Nursing Viewpoint This essay explores the role of nurses in the negotiation of ethical conflicts in the past and present, as well as the treatment of patients who do not have insurance.
  • Ethics vs. Healthcare Reform from Nursing Perspective Healthcare reforms adopted at the state level affect the activities of nurses directly and play a key role in forming opinions regarding the profession.
  • The Politics of Health and Care: Reforms Timeline The adoption of HIPAA was among the key healthcare reform events of the 1990s (the presidentship of Clinton), and the act did not encounter significant opposition.
  • Health Reform Strategies: Vermont’s Single-Payer Health Care System Healthcare reform at the state level often occurs due to legislative and policy changes. This paper will seek to investigate Vermont’s single-payer health care system reform.
  • Political Polarization as to US Healthcare Reform The present paper will seek to introduce the topic of political polarization with regards to healthcare in the U.S.
  • Health Care Reform: Positive Impact and Difficulties Health reform has positively affected healthcare provision in various ways. Nonetheless, it has resulted in particular difficulties which require immediate attention from the side of policymakers.
  • Nursing Advocacy Role in Healthcare Reforms The paper discusses the definition of the advocacy role of a nurse and shows that the opinion of a medical specialist can change the situation in the healthcare segment.
  • Ethical Conflicts of Obama and Trump Healthcare Reforms The healthcare reforms advanced by President Obama in 2010 have a number of similarities with the recent reforms introduced by President Trump.
  • Healthcare Reform for Availability and Safety Despite the fact that the USA is one of the most developed countries in the world, it has major issues associated with health care available to its citizens.
  • Healthcare Reform Policies in the United States Health care reform is an ongoing process whose aim is to transform or improve the quality of services available to different populations.
  • Healthcare Reform in the US: Right or Not This paper argues that health care reform in the United States should be premised on the idea that access to medical services is a basic human right and not a privilege of those who could afford it.
  • Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Act Massachusetts passed comprehensive health care reform designed to provide near-universal health insurance coverage for state residents.
  • Healthcare Reform and Nursing Metaparadigm The current healthcare administration has shown that their ideas are almost fundamentally opposed to the nursing metaparadigm and are likely to undermine it.
  • Healthcare Reform and Ethics: Obamacare Act This paper discusses conflicts that exist between ethics and healthcare reform that has been brought upon the execution of the affordable care act of Obamacare.
  • Person-Centered Health Care Reform The Person-centered healthcare reform aimed at allowing the underinsured population to get access to better healthcare options.
  • Health Care Reform and Insurance in Florida The lack of sufficient health insurance in Florida coverage is one of the critical issues that prevent it from being considered healthy.
  • “Deconstructing Health Care Reform” by Gardner Gardner claims that Americans need affordable health care because it is their right. Politicians should focus on benefits associated with the promotion of the Affordable Care Act.
  • Nursing in Obamacare and Healthcare Reform Era Nowadays, the nursing profession is not simple since it not only enhances patient’s medical condition but also requires treating them with respect.
  • Money and Politics in Healthcare Reform Having initiated the healthcare reform, President Obama met stiff opposition to the insurance and pharmaceutics lobby. It would be disadvantageous and made them lose revenue.
  • Healthcare Reform: Evolving Nursing and Patient Care Practice This paper will reflect on the opinions of nurses in regard to the incoming healthcare reform and provide important feedback for consideration and analysis in regards to the subject.
  • Health Care Reform: Changes in the US Nursing Practice This paper educates nurses about how the practice of nursing is expected to grow and/or change by discussing the concepts of continuity or continuum of care, medical homes and nurse-managed clinics.
  • Health Care Reform: Miracle Medicine and Its Financial Chasm This research paper discusses Health Care Reform and the financial price the United States will pay. Changing the realm of healthcare is an essential step towards improving the quality of life.
  • Obamacare and Healthcare Reform Ethical Challenges The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act involves several ethical issues connected with failing to protect some of the most fundamental rights.
  • Health Care Reform and Strategic Management This paper reviews a case study on strategies for dealing with healthcare reform, discusses marketing strategies for promoting the upcoming changes and attracting new clientele.
  • Universal Healthcare System Reform The assumption of this paper is that the privatized and profit oriented nature of the healthcare system prevents accessibility to essential healthcare services for people who need it the most.
  • The Challenge of Healthcare Reform Such issue as healthcare reform in the United States has repeatedly been debated by journalists, public administrators, and scholars.
  • The Tough Luck Constitution and the Assault on Healthcare Reform
  • Healthcare Reform and Its Implications for the U.S. Economy
  • What Is the Main Goal of Healthcare Reform?
  • The Alliance for Healthcare Reform
  • Healthcare Reform and the Affordable Care Act
  • Does America Need the Government Option in Healthcare Reform
  • Healthcare Reform From the Nurse Practitioner Perspective
  • The Need for Healthcare Reform in America
  • Healthcare Reform and Congress’ Role in the Legislative Process
  • Public Policy: Healthcare Reform and Social Security
  • U.S. Healthcare Reform, 2009-2010: Implications for African Americans
  • Government’s Support for Healthcare Reform
  • Economic and Healthcare Reform Throughout Recent History
  • The Healthcare Reform Act in Texas
  • Healthcare Reform Creates Incentives to Increase Patient Engagement
  • Conservative and Liberal Ideology on Healthcare Reform
  • Healthcare Reform and Healthcare Information Systems
  • Obama’s Universal Healthcare Reform
  • What Are the 4 Most Common Types of Managed Healthcare Plans in the USA?
  • Healthcare Reform Implementation: Stakeholders and Their Roles-the Israeli Experience
  • What Healthcare Reforms Would Purchaser Coalitions Like to See?
  • What Is the Significance of the Affordable Care Act for Healthcare Reform?
  • How Should Healthcare Reform Be Financed?
  • Should There Be Regulations on Healthcare Reform?
  • How Does Healthcare Reform Impact the Brand Name Drug Market Prices?
  • What Is the Role of Healthcare Reform in Shifting the Focus to the Preventive Health System?
  • Will Healthcare Reform Allow Everyone to Get Health Insurance?
  • Who Passes the Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Bill?
  • What Does Healthcare Reform Entail?
  • What Lessons Can Be Learned From Healthcare Reform at the State Level?
  • How Can the Healthcare Reform Strengthen the Economy?
  • How Will the Healthcare Reform Impact Supply and Demand?
  • What Are the Challenges for Managing Information Technologies in the Context of Healthcare Reform?
  • Does Healthcare Reform Affect the Quality of Medical Services?
  • What Is the Purpose of Healthcare Reform?
  • How Does Nursing Fit Into Healthcare Reform?
  • How Does Healthcare Reform Specifically Influence Healthcare Practice in the US?
  • How Might Healthcare Reform Change the Financial Arrangements Between Hospitals and Physicians?
  • Why Did the Auto Companies of the US Support Clinton’s Healthcare Reform?
  • What Was Ronald Reagan’s Achievement Related to Healthcare Reform?
  • How Can the Experiences of Other Countries Benefit the US in Advancing Healthcare Reform?
  • What Are the Barriers to Healthcare Reform Development?
  • Does Healthcare Reform Reduce Medical Errors?
  • Is It Possible to Ensure Output Equity Through Healthcare Reform?
  • What Payment Initiatives Included in the Healthcare Reform Legislation?
  • Does Healthcare Reform Extend to Private Medicine?
  • Is It True That Healthcare Reform Is Replacing Private Insurance With Public Plans?
  • Can Young Adults Be Covered Under Their Parents’ Health Insurance Under Healthcare Reform?
  • Could Healthcare Reform Make It Easier to Find a Doctor?
  • What Are the Most Important Concepts Involved in Healthcare Reform?

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StudyCorgi. (2022, July 14). 108 Healthcare Reform Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/healthcare-reform-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "108 Healthcare Reform Essay Topics." July 14, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/healthcare-reform-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "108 Healthcare Reform Essay Topics." July 14, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/healthcare-reform-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Healthcare Reform were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on December 27, 2023 .

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Mastering the Art of Writing a Health Care Essay on a Good Topic

'A healthy nation is a wealthy nation' - this famous proverb inspires many young people to pursue a career in healthcare, becoming nurses, physicians, therapists, etc. However, some of them fail to realize the responsibility that comes with such occupations. This may bring about a situation whereby colleges and universities turn out unqualified healthcare and nursing experts. To prevent it from happening, professors who teach respective disciplines assign their students the task of writing a health care essay. Being either an essay or research paper, it presents the students with a choice: to examine the problem on their own using various tools and equipment or analyze all available sources on the given research question, offering some personal findings.

14 Amazing Health Care Essay Topics with Introduction Examples

In your essay about health care, you may either talk about various diseases, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, or methods used by doctors to help their patients, as well as their roles in general. In most cases, students should criticize the modern healthcare system as it really is in need of improvement. It is necessary that they provide some vivid real-life examples if they wish to convince their audience of their point of view.

Approaches to healthcare in the US, UK, and Australia differ, so you may focus on discussing their pros and cons in the essays about health care.

To help you understand which issues to discuss, we have listed the best health care essay topics below. You can also find short answers to each question.

Why is Healthcare Important to Society?

"Healthcare and medicine is a broad term that refers to a system involving maintenance and enhancement of medical services to cater to the health demands of human beings and other living creatures. The quality of healthcare services is one of the most critical factors that predetermines a country's well-being. The system usually varies depending on the healthcare policies of the region. In highly industrialized countries (i.e.countries of the First World), the system is advanced, with almost every citizen having unrestricted access to healthcare services. The low economic level in underdeveloped countries exerts an adverse impact on the healthcare system of these nations."

Is Healthcare a Right or a Privilege

"In the countries of the Third World, healthcare and medicine are not developed enough to save the lives of all of their citizens. Most of them cannot afford quality services, and that is the main difference between developed and underdeveloped countries as far as healthcare is concerned. Unlike poor people, the rich should make health their priority. However, they often neglect to do so, wasting almost all their money on things that harm their body, such as tobacco, alcoholic beverages, drugs, etc. In other words, they tend to have more bad habits, and they value their health less."

Overweight is Putting Strain on the Health Care in the United States

"Childhood obesity in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. This type of disorder has adverse effects on both physical and mental health, as obese kids tend to fall victim to school bullies. The worst consequence of being overweight is Diabetes Type II, and, unfortunately, more and more US children are facing this problem. The pivotal role in the increase in fat intake is played by environmental factors, tastes and preferences, and culture. Highly stressful activities like homework assignments may cause the child to eat more sweets, while their parents do nothing to restrict their consumption of sugar-rich foods. And finally, the lack of physical exercises also takes its toll."

Is Healthcare a Human Right?

"According to NCBI, healthcare is not a human right. To understand why it is important to define both terms. 'Human right' refers to a moral right of great significance that each human being should be entitled to. Dictionaries define healthcare as 'the act of taking prevention or important procedures to make a person's well-being better.' Healthcare is even more complex and confusing to define. Its meaning is too broad to be considered a human right. So, is there a person ultimately responsible for providing healthcare to the entire world? Insisting that healthcare is a human right is, therefore, wrong and pointless."

Should the Government Provide Health Care Insurance?

"The US government is not the only one responsible for providing healthcare insurance to all its citizens. It is only typical of the representatives of the political left to believe that the government should do that. All parties agree that health care is a valuable service, but the government has other important things to take care of. Rather than take care of medicine and nursing, the government's main goal should be to monitor and control the political and economic situation in the country. In fact, each organization has its goals, and so does the government. The government may protect the customer's freedom to buy goods and services by putting in place the corresponding laws and regulations. That is the best thing the US government can do as far as healthcare is concerned."

Causes and Effects of Health Care Crisis in America

"While urban population is more or less OK with its healthcare system, the rural areas of the US keep on suffering from what they call an American healthcare crisis. Hospitals in these regions continue to close down, while those that remain operational provide services of increasingly poor quality. More than 80 rural hospitals have shuttered during the last eight years because their personnel lacked the qualifications to cure patients properly. More than 700 hospitals are at high risk of being closed down, as they lack qualified healthcare professionals. Therefore, emergency medical services are becoming very important, because this is the only way of providing help to patients suffering from strokes, heart attacks, and other heart-related conditions."

Professionalism in Healthcare

"Being a doctor is the most responsible job in the world. It is also the most in-demand one, even though not always properly remunerated. In the underdeveloped countries, the doctor's salaries are among the lowest. In the US, the situation is much better, but still needs improvement in many respects. Medical personnel in this country are granted a license to invest long hours in research and diligent evaluation. Licensure is the way to guarantee the doctor's excellent skills and rich experience in a specific field. It is their willingness to place personal needs after the needs of the patient."

What Has Been the Impact of Medicare on the Healthcare System?

"Quality medicare and teamwork are the essential prerequisites of professional attitude and behavior. The most essential qualities of any medical expert are integrity, accountability, motivation, altruism, and empathy. This way the crucial trust between the patient and professionals is developed. Advanced interpersonal and communication skills impact the quality of medicare as well. Over the past 20 years, we have been witnessing the resurgence of interest in professional training and fair evaluation in the US. It is, therefore, experienced doctors' job to support and guide young professionals on their way to success."

Why Do You Want to Pursue a Career in Healthcare?

"Several factors, the salary being probably the most important one, motivate a lot of young people to choose a career in healthcare. Everyone knows that good medical experts are valued extremely high in the United States. Jobs in healthcare guarantee great opportunities and full security. Quite a few students consider helping other people their priority because they lost their loved ones to fatal diseases. They want to contribute to the medical field by finding a cure to the most complicated disorders some day. And finally, a career in healthcare provides an excellent opportunity to live and work in different parts of the world."

Cultural Diversity in Healthcare

"The purpose of this research paper is to identify basic nuances and issues of cultural diversity in the context of medical treatment, as well as offer solutions aimed at preventing said issues. The main focus is on communication as a culture-based phenomenon, correlation between the patient's progress and expert's treatment, and possible communication characteristics that act as obstacles between healthcare staff and patients. Of the two theoretical approaches used in the study, the first one relates to the information processing, while the second one concerns changing behaviors and interpretation."

Healthcare in America

"Though considered one of the best in the world, the American health care system still has some catching up to do with other countries, including the US's closest neighbor Canada. The US lacks a uniform health system that could offer universal healthcare coverage. Its healthcare system can be referred to as hybrid as it is funded from different sources, such as private funds (48%), households funds (28%), and private businesses funds(20%). The majority of medical and nursing services in this country are privately-owned, even if they are financed by the government. What makes this system stand out from the rest of the world is its great professional staff."

Healthcare in Canada

"Canada has implemented one of the best healthcare reforms in the world. Over the past 4 decades, the country has introduced a number of improvements, making medical treatment affordable for almost every citizen. Urgent and essential health care services are provided based on the needs rather than financial opportunities. This fact alone shows how generous the Canadian government and its healthcare professionals are. When it comes to healthcare, they value fairness and equality more than other nations do. The local healthcare system keeps getting improved as the nation's population increases. It is also important to acknowledge that the very essence of healthcare is also undergoing change."

Public vs. Private Healthcare Sectors

"When comparing the public and private healthcare sectors, it is impossible to ignore the NHS or the National Health Service. The organization, whose staff is made up mostly of primary care nurses or emergency care nurses, provides free health care services to the UK population. That is the reason why the job of Registered Nurse is so prevalent in local healthcare institutions. Specialized caregivers account for another sizeable portion of the healthcare sector. Each young professional is provided with a lot of opportunities for professional development and further career growth.

Communication in Healthcare

"Communication is one of the most important factors in healthcare. Without knowing the details of the patient's conditions and their medical history, the doctor will not be able to make a proper diagnosis. The evidence obtained in the course of this study indicates that there's a direct correlation between the medical representative's communication skills and the patient's willingness to follow the doctor's advice. The doctor's duty is to help the patient control their chronic condition all by themselves, if needed, as well as acquire preventive behaviors. The doctor should not simply cure the patient, but rather teach them some significant lessons to help them remain healthy."

Hopefully, these samples of papers on medicine and nursing will help you choose the hottest topics and best introductions to your essays and research papers. Still having problems? We can offer affordably-priced assistance with any sort of academic writing, including an essay on health care! Try our services at any time, and you won't be disappointed!

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90+ Strong Health Essay Topics And How To Handle Them

Haiden Malecot

Table of Contents

healthcare system essay questions

You can write about healthy lifestyle, rehabilitation after traumas, childcare, common or rare diseases, global advances in health and medicine, environmental health issues, and more.

How to deal with essay on health?

Your essay will be the most impressive if you choose a topic that is familiar to you or you can write about something you have experience with. It will be easier for you to do a health essay paper and build a convincing argument. Another approach is choosing a topic which is not familiar to you but in which you are interested in. It would be a great opportunity for you to educate yourself.

If you pick an interesting essay topic idea which is too broad to cover in your essay, you should do additional keyword research and look for some specific aspects of this topic to narrow it.

Keep in mind that you should look for a narrow topic which has enough available resources that you can use for researching it.

Before you start writing, make sure you have found enough evidence and examples to support your argument. A good idea is to create a working outline or a mind map for your essay that will guide your writing and help you stay focused on your key points.

First, create a strong thesis statement and think about several main points to support it.

If you are looking for health topics to write about and are not sure what to write about, here we have gathered a lot of exciting ideas that you won’t find on any other essay writing services.

Feel free to use them as inspiration own topic ideas or for writing your essays.

Health topics to write about

  • How Can We Help Children Maintain a Healthy Body Weight?
  • Ethical and Legal Issues of Surrogate Pregnancy.
  • How Dangerous are Long-term Consequences of Anorexia?
  • Principles of Preventing Medical Errors in Hospitals.
  • How Can Doctors Promote Healthy Lifestyle?
  • Why is Homeopathy a Pseudo-Science?
  • What Are Side Effects of Blood Transfusion?
  • Types of Eating Disorders.
  • Can a Vegan Diet Be Healthy?
  • The Best Strategies to Maintain Healthy Body Weight.
  • Psychological Issues of Breast Cancer.
  • Importance of Organ Donation after Death.
  • Can Cloning Help Save Lives?
  • Ethics in Human Experimentation.
  • Symptoms of Heart Attacks in Women.
  • Is It Possible to Cure Diabetes in the Future?

Interesting health topics to write about

  • What is the Difference Between Western Medicine and Alternative Medicine?
  • Health Consequences of Eating Disorders.
  • Bioprinting as the Future of Organ Transplants.
  • Use of Stem Cell Technologies for Cancer Treatment.
  • Ethical and Social Issues of Cosmetic Surgery.
  • How Does Advertising Influence Healthy Food Choices?
  • Role of Nutrition Education in Promoting Healthy Diets.
  • Fast Food Consumption and Obesity.
  • How Can Exercise Help Senior Improve Strength and Balance?
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of Weight Loss Surgery.
  • Obesity as a Medical and Social Problem.
  • Strategies for Heart Disease Prevention.
  • How Long Can Humans Actually Live?
  • Pros and Cons of Clinical Trials.
  • Alternative Ways to Treat Depression.
  • Is There a Cure for HIV or AIDS?

Controversial health essay topics

  • Is There a Link Between Sugary Drinks and Cancer?
  • Health Consequences of Caffeine.
  • Can Little Kid Food Habits Signal Autism?
  • Should Euthanasia Be Legalized?
  • Pros and Cons of Medical Marijuana.
  • Is Alternative Medicine Dangerous?
  • Is Doing Sports always Healthy?
  • Which Diet Is Better: Low-Fat or Low-Carb?
  • Discuss Measures for Prevention of Communicable Diseases.
  • Social Determinants That Influence People’s Well-being.
  • Are Doctors Responsible for the Opioid Epidemic?
  • Is Religion a Mental Disorder?
  • Is Nuclear Waste Really Dangerous for People?
  • Is a No-Carb Diet Safe?
  • Are We Too Dependent on Antibiotics?
  • Are Natural Medicines a Good Alternative to Pharmaceutical?
  • Can Blockchain Help Improve the Trust in the Accuracy of Clinical Trials Data?

Mental health argumentative essay topics

  • Influence of Environmental Factors on Mental Health.
  • Drug Misuse and Mental Disorders.
  • Social Effects of Mental Disorders.
  • Alcohol Addiction and Psychiatric Disorders.
  • Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment of Teen Depression.
  • How to Protect Your Mental Health from Social Media Dangers.
  • Effects of Social Isolation and Loneliness on Severe Mental Disorders.
  • Negative Effects of Total Isolation on Physical and Mental Health.
  • Mental Health Benefits Associated with Physical Activity.
  • Association between Exercise and Mood.
  • Mental Health Problems of Homeless People.
  • Stress as a Risk Factor for Mental Disorders.
  • Effect of Disposer to Violence on Mental Disorders.
  • Common Mental Disorders in the USA.
  • Depression and Anxiety Disorders among Adults.
  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders.
  • Economic Burden of Depression and Anxiety Disorders.
  • Influence of Anxiety Disorders on the Quality of Life.

Health care essay topics

  • Advantages and Challenges of E-health Technology.
  • Application of Big Data to the Medical Care System.
  • Risk Connected with Untested Methods of Alternative Medicine.
  • Controversial Issues in the US Medical Care System.
  • Telemedicine and Other Disruptive Innovations in Health Care System.
  • How Can We Achieve Health Equity?
  • Impact of Racism on the Well-Being of the Nation.
  • School-based Health Care and Educational Success of Children.
  • Role of School-based Health Care in Preventing Dropout.
  • What Can Be Done to Curb Rising Suicide Rates?
  • Do Adults and Senior Still Need Vaccines?
  • What Human Rights Issues Have an Impact on Public Health?
  • What Measures Should Be Taken to Prevent Heat-related Deaths?
  • Discuss Healthy Housing Standards.
  • What Are Common Strategies for Prevention of Chronic Diseases?

Health essay topics for high school students

  • Can Computers Displace Doctors?
  • Can People Become Immortal?
  • Can Happiness Cure Diseases?
  • How to Prevent Teen Pregnancy?
  • The Biggest Health Challenges Facing Youth.
  • Importance of Balanced Diet for Teenagers.
  • Does Being Healthy Make You Happy?
  • Why Is Exercise Important to Teenagers?
  • Why Is Obesity Becoming an Epidemic?
  • How to Become a Healthy Person.
  • Importance of Healthy Lifestyle for Teens.
  • Negative Impact of Smoking Teenagers.
  • How Does Stress Affect Teenagers?
  • Why Do Teenagers Experiment with Drugs?
  • How to Develop Healthy Eating Habits.

Need a health essay overnight? Here’s a deal! Buy argumentative essay help by choosing any topic from our list and handing it to our writers. Complete confidentiality and the brilliant result are guaranteed.

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U.s. Health Care System Essay

The U.S. health care system is way more complex than what meets the eye. A major difference between the health care system in the U.S. and other nations, is that the U.S. does not have universal health care. Lack of a universal health care opens up the doors for competition amongst insurance, physicians, technology, hospitals and outpatient services. Health care insurance in the U.S. is extremely competitive and not always fair. Recently in 2012, The Affordable Care Act passed by Barack Obama set new regulations regarding insurance. According to this Act, employers of 50+ employees must offer health insurance , public health insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid was made affordable for those that qualify, it is illegal for anyone to be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions, and everyone must have health insurance or they will endure tax penalties. For Medicare and Medicaid, each state has different qualifications regarding eligibility. Private health insurance is not mandatory, but many of those that can afford it prefer it because it will cover more than any government insurance. Private health insurance also offers family plans along with single plans(varying from company to company), which will definitely attract middle to high income families. Health insurance is an absolute essential in the U.S. as it is up to the citizen to obtain one that works for them. Medical technology is a strong suit in the U.S., most commonly found in more expensive insurance

Essay about U.S. Health Care system

Many people believe that the current of health care in the United States is the best health care in the world however it has major shortcomings that has become more visible for the whole world to see. The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world based on health expenditure per capita and on

PPACA: History Of The United States Healthcare System

rehend the PPACA, one must understand the history of the United States’ health care system. The most successful and known reform would be the passage of Medicare and Medicaid. President Johnson’s main objective with his program was to provide health insurance to those over 65 years old, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to receive coverage due to retirement or being financially unfit to purchase health insurance. It has since been expanded to cover those with disabilities, and lower income families (“Overview,” 2015). Brady (2015) examines President Clinton’s attempt to massively overhaul health care in the United States. His plan, the Health Security Act (HSA), required employers to offer health insurance to their employees, and mandated that every US citizen purchase health insurance. This plan would have most likely expand health insurance to many more Americans; however, many feared the large tax increases, restricted options for patients, and with the lack of general support for the bill, it failed in Congress and was never implemented (p. 628). President Clinton’s failed attempt at health care reform opened up the door to future reforms, and it even shared multiple similarities to the PPACA. Smith (2015) updates the history of the health care system in America stating that “In the mid-2000s, America’s uninsured population swelled to nearly 47 million, representing about 16 percent of the population” and how “16 million Americans […] were underinsured” (p. 2). People

Healthcare Coverage Is Not Affordable

Did you know that healthcare coverage is not affordable to everyone that lives in the United States? For most people affordable healthcare is not exactly affordable anymore which has eventually left them no alternative but to not carry health insurance coverage. Individuals that do not carry health insurance coverage will open themselves up for massive health bills if they get sick, but at this point those bills look more affordable than the cost of health insurance coverage. All the signs point to the expensiveness of healthcare coverage and that most individuals cannot afford to get it especially if their income revenue stream isn’t very high. Mortgages, utility bills, possibly car insurance, social security, loan payments and various other types of bills could leave most individuals, depending on the financial situation, with not much money left to pay for the health insurance. The absence of healthcare coverage in the United States exemplifies the financial hardships for families in America.

U.s. Health Care Delivery System

The U.S. health care delivery system is very complex because it is not a universal health system governed solely by the federal government. Only Americans with health care insurance coverage receive routine health services. Health insurance can be purchased in the private market or provided by the federal government. The uninsured and poor population acquire health insurance by government funded health care called Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid is the largest payer of health care services in the United States with Medicaid providing health services to about 72.5 million and Medicare provides health coverage to more than 55 million (CMS, 2015).

Health Care Systems/Medicaid & Medicare Essay

There are so many Incentive Programs that provide financial incentives for the use of certified EHR technology to improve patient and by taking part the Center can receive incentive payments for certain Medicaid health care and can receive up to a maximum of $63,750 over six years participation. Although to qualify we must have a minimum 30% of Medicaid patient volume and a practice predominantly in a Federally Qualified Health Center and have a minimum 30% patient volume attributable to needy individuals.

Why We Have The Healthcare System

In the United States health insurance is purchased through private marketplace or can be provided by the government. However, only certain populations qualify for government provided healthcare, such as veterans, people with disabilities, children, and elderly. Private health insurance can be purchased from various for-profit commercial insurance companies or from non-profit insurers, and is usually subsidized by a person’s employer. Employers voluntarily sponsor the health insurance plans for their workers, because it is cheaper to buy plans from insurance companies in a group. Sometimes premiums paid by the employer and employee fund an internal health insurance plan, which is usually administered by a third party from a health insurance program. HMO 's, or Health Maintenance Organizations, are the most common type of the health care. HMOs are an example (employer pays yearly capitation fee). It saves some money on routine care, but it is not good for specialized care. From a physician 's perspective HMOs cause them to earn less, but work shorter hours.

US Health Services System Essay

The U.S. Health Services System (HSS) is a market based system in which individuals are required to purchase healthcare individually or through an employer. At this time the U.S. HSS is not available to everyone despite the industrialization that the nation has rather it is available to those who can afford it. The U.S. HSS is a broad mixture of services such as hospitals, nursing homes, long term care, emergency care, vaccinations and a myriad of other health related services. The U.S HSS is a mixture of public, private and voluntary programs funded by federal, state and private monies.

Medicare Is A Popular Choice Of Insurance Coverage

The US triumphs by spending about 17 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on healthcare, making it the largest percentage of any country in the world. The government provides assistance in healthcare to many people, whether it be Medicare or Medicaid. Employers are the main source of health insurance in the United States, many offering their own health insurance plans that the employee can choose from. The most common types of health insurance are Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, or a private insurance offered by employers. Today, in the United States, government programs pay about 47 percent of the healthcare costs. (Winkfield) Although healthcare in the United States assists several people, many are still uninsured due to the cost and the

Health Care At The United States Of America Essay

The United States of America is the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare coverage for its residents. Despite much spending on healthcare, the United States of America failed to provide Universal Health Care for its population. The United States have violated the human rights of 32 million people by denying them proper health care coverage. In considering the highest health care spent, the U.S. government has failed to meet its obligation to respect, protect and fulfill everyone’s rights. This has disproportionally affected the health of many disadvantaged groups and the under-resourced communities, such as the undocumented immigrants, people living in poverty, people of color and including the middle-class working legal immigrants. A majority of uninsured residents have received poor access to the office of private physicians. Many undocumented uninsured immigrants are forced to frequently seek healthcare from so-call safety-net providers, such as community centers and the outpatient or emergency department of hospitals. They go without medication and skip preventative care, especially due to high costs. Countless have unhealthy lifestyles which have contributed to very poor health outcomes such as high rates of cancer, low birth weight and infant mortality and lower life expectancy. Current presidential debates about health care reform address concerns about the right to health care, access, fairness,

The United States Health Care System

The United States health care is very complex and is a combination between a public health care system and a private health care system. The United States health care system is financed through, the federal, state, and local governments, contributing 42.9% of all health care costs, while another 22% is contributed through out-of-pocket costs, and the rest is provided by health insurance companies (New York University, n.d.). Americans can obtain health insurance through their employer, through government subsidized health insurance programs such as Medicaid, or pay privately for health care coverage. The United States has the highest amount of health care expenditures than any other developed country. The United States pays an average of $8,508 per citizen, while the “average annual family health insurance premiums were estimated for 2012 at 15,745, with 11,429 paid by employers. (McLaughlin, C., & McLaughlin, p. 22). “Despite spending more on health care, Americans had poor health outcomes,

The Health Care System Of America Essay

The health care system in America is unlike any other. Many Americans go into debt every day because of medical bills and costs. America is the one of the only countries in the world that has its citizens falling into bankruptcy due to healthcare costs. Not only is the healthcare expensive and doesn’t extend care to everyone, the system treats those of different races differently. Health disparities has been a big issue in America’s history since slavery and continues to resonate here to this day. In the film, John Q, it is evident how income and race affect a young child’s ranking in the medical field. Young Mikey needs a new heart but due to racial health disparity and his father’s insurance plan, the hospital board will not put his name on the donor list. In films such as, Sick Around the World and Sick Around America, the health care system in America is shown to be one of the most expensive but least effective. This healthcare system leaves thousands in debt and without medical care. In the book, An American Heath Dilemma, it states, “wherein nearly 50 percent of the population reported it was having difficulty paying for health care.” (569, Byrd) The book talks about Americans constant struggle of needing health care but not being able to afford it, just like John Archibald in John Q. The American healthcare system needs some major changes and policies for equality before it can be as productive as those in other countries.

Hybrid Health Care System Essay

The United States does not have a uniform healthcare system, it can be best explained as a hybrid system. There are many different types of coverage you can choose to receive; from Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance.

Essay On American Healthcare

Healthcare coverage resembles a blanket: In some countries, the cloth of healthcare covers all of its citizens, and others allow their people to fight over the blanket. This resides in the hands of its government, whether or not they will permit universal healthcare. To clarify, universal healthcare refers to the process of medical service being provided to citizens while the costs are taken out of the taxpayer money. While thirty two or more countries use universal healthcare, America is one of the only first world countries to not jump on that bandwagon (Kapitall). Instead of raising its taxes and risk making their people and economy suffer, the United States established a law known as the Affordable Care Act

Universal Health Care System In The United States

Health care in the United States is unique in comparison to any other developed country. Most countries that have a health care system in place have a universal health care system where the government plays the major role of being responsible for who is insured and for what. The United States has a system that is managed mostly by employers, private insurance companies and a few government managed programs. Universal health care is not a common practice or even a rare one in the U.S. Based on the demographics of the population the government has some interference with health care delivery. If a group of people meet certain financial and economical factors they will qualify for one of two programs, Medicaid or Medicare, depending on age

U.s. Public Health Care

Two major reasons why the U.S. has the highest health care expenditures are substantially higher prices and more fragmented health care delivery that leads to extensive use of medical resources. Insured and high-income Americans, however, have more problems with health care services such as not getting regular medical treatments than the insured in other OECD countries. It reflects the lack of comprehensive health insurance coverage and higher out-of-pocket costs for care of the insured. Fragmented coverage in health care plans also does not support coordinated care in-network including the sharing of information among health professionals and insurance providers. A more effective health care system and management in primary

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Health Care in the United States, Essay Example

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In the United States, there has long been discussion about the quality and nature of the delivery of healthcare.  The debates have included who may receive such services, whether or not healthcare is a privilege or an entitlement, whether and how to make patient care affordable to all segments of the population, and the ways in which the government should, or should not, be involved in the provision of such services.  Indeed, many people feel that the healthcare in this country is the best in the world; others believe tha (The Free Dictionary)t our health delivery system is broken.  This paper shall examine different aspects of the healthcare system in our country, discussing whether it has been successful in providing essential services to American citizens.

The delivery of healthcare services is considered to be a system; according to the Free Diction- ary (Farlex, 2010), a system is defined as “a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.” This is an apt description of our healthcare structure, as it is compiled of patients, medical and mental health providers, hospitals, clinics, laboratories, insurance companies, and many other parties that are reliant on each other and that, when combined, make up the entity known as our healthcare system.

Those who believe that our healthcare system is the best in the world often point to the fact that leaders as well as private citizens from countries throughout the world frequently come to the United States to have surgeries and other treatments that they require for survival.  A more cynical view of this phenomenon is that if people have the money, they are able to purchase quality care in the U.S., a “survival of the fittest” situation.  Those who lack the resources to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment are simply out of luck, and often will die without the needed care.

In fact, reports by the World Health Organization and other groups consistently indicate that while the United States spends more than any other country on healthcare costs, Americans receive lower quality, less efficient and less fairness from the system.  These conclusions come as a result of studying quality of care, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, productive lives.  (World Health Organization,2001.) What cannot be disputed is that the cost of healthcare is constantly rising, a fact which was the precipitant to the large movement to reform healthcare in our country in 2010.  More than 10 years ago, the goal of managed care was to drive down the costs of healthcare, but those promises did not materialize (Garsten, 2010.) A large segment of the population is either uninsured or underinsured, and it is speculated that over the next decade, these problems will only increase while other difficulties will arise (Garson, 2010.)

When examining the healthcare system, there are three aspects of care that call for evaluation: the impact of delivering care on the patient, the benefits and harms of that treatment, and the functioning of the healthcare system, as described in an article by Adrian Levy.  Levy argues that each of these outcomes should be assessed and should include both the successes and the limitations of each aspect.  The idea is that there should be operational measurements of patients’ interactions with the healthcare system that would include patients’ experiences in hospitals, using measurements of their functional abilities and their qualities of life following discharge.  The results of patients’ interactions with the healthcare system should be utilized to develop and improve the delivery of healthcare treatment, as well as to develop policy changes that would affect the entire field of healthcare in the United States.

One view of the state of American healthcare is that the system is fragmented; there have been many failed attempts by several presidents to introduce the idea of universal healthcare.  Instead, American citizens are saddled with a system in which government pays either directly or indirectly for over 50% of the healthcare in our country, but the actual delivery of insurance and of care is undertaken by an assortment of private insurers, for-profit hospitals, and other parties who raise costs without increasing quality of service (Wells, Krugman, 2006.) If the United States were to switch to a single-payer system such as that provided in Canada, the government would directly provide insurance which would most likely be less expensive and provide better results than our current system.

It is clear that throwing money at a problem does not necessarily resolve it; the fact that the United States spends more than twice as much on healthcare provision as any other country in the world only makes it more ironic that when it comes to evaluating the service, Americans fall appallingly flat.  In my opinion, if the new healthcare reform bill had included a public option which would have taken the profit margin out of the equation, the nation and its citizens would have been in a much better position to receive quality healthcare.  The fact that people die every day from preventable illnesses and conditions simply because they do not have affordable insurance is a national disgrace.  In addition, many of the people who have been the most adamantly against government “intrusion” into their healthcare are actually on Medicaid or Medicare, federally-funded programs.  Their lack of understanding of what the debate actually involves is striking, and they are rallying against what is in their own best interests.  These are people that equate Federal involvement in healthcare as socialism.  Unless and until our healthcare system is able to provide what is needed to all of its citizens, all claims that we have the best healthcare system in the world are, sadly, utterly hollow.

Adrian R Levy (2005, December). Categorizing outcomes of Health Care delivery. Clinical and investigative medicine, pp. 347-351.

Arthur Garson (2000). The U.S. Healthcare System 2010: Problems Principles and Potential Solutions. Retrieved July 3, 2010, from Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/101/16/2015

The Free Dictionary. (n.d.). Farlex. Retrieved July 3, 2010. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/system

World Health Organization. (2003, July). WHO World Health Report 2000. Retrieved July 3, 2010, from State of World Health: http://faculty.washington.edu/ely/Report2000.htm

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Health Information Systems Essays (Examples)

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Health information systems assessment.

1. How does or can HIT influence costs, quality, or access? Health information technology (HIT) utilization, in the words of Shekelle, Morton, and Keeler (2006), “has been promoted as having tremendous promise in improving the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, quality, and safety of medical care delivery…” With regard to quality, the authors point out that thanks to the integration of tools of knowledge acquisition and automated decision making, HIT comes in handy in medical error reduction. HIT also reduces redundancy, thus effectively bringing down costs associated with obtaining healthcare. This is more so the case with centralized medical records made possible by HIT. The said centralization of medical records could, for instance, eliminate duplication (i.e. multiple tests and medications being prescribed by different doctors). In addition to easing electronic transactions, to the convenience of patients, HIT also enhances patient access to their medical records, and thus better information regarding follow-up care. 2. How does….

Health Information Systems HIS and Nursing Informatics

A1. Advantages and Disadvantages of a System All health information systems (HIS) come with great advantages and some disadvantages that must be taken in account to keep patients safe. A HIS is a system that captures, retains information, and helps manage it. A HIS can be used to send health information within an organization and outside of the organization. Several items within a healthcare organization have interoperability with the HIS such but not limited to: x-rays, IV pumps, laboratory data, and vital machines can all be directly linked to the HIS. A big advantage of the HIS is that it makes patient information easy to find from several locations. Interoperability is having the various systems in the healthcare organization sharing information and working together. A patient can have their blood work results available inside the hospital to view and can also be viewed by another health care provider that is at….

Health Information Systems

PDI's financial condition. Review relevant financial information. Like most companies providing solutions to the biopharma industry, PDI has felt some of the negative effects of what is happening throughout the industry. [PDI's Finances] PDI is a commercialization partner providing solutions to the biopharma and medical devices and diagnostics industries. The industry is very volatile right now and the need for contract sales has been diminished. This was a large portion of PDI's business. This coupled with the slow down of blockbuster drugs by the FDA dampened PDI's earnings potential. ome of the risk sharing deals that PDI implemented for Evista and Lotrel also did not produce the results they had hoped for. When we examine the company's finances, we find that they are still a healthy organ1zation. Analysts are rating the company as a hold. During the 2nd Quarter, PDI's net revenue was $143.9 million, an increase of 89.9%. Their balance sheet demonstrates total….

The following sources were used for financial information on PDI. http://www.pdi-inc.com.Investor Relations. http://www.hoovers.com

Annual Report

Execution of Health Information Systems

Advance Information Management and the Application of Technology In this modern age, the incorporation of information technology (IT) with the health care system is important. . With the need of quality care within the industry, there is great significance in many institutions about the execution of electronic health record (EHs) and information support systems. The use of registries and IT support systems will enable the community hospital to monitor and track patients and improve patient safety and quality of care (Chin and Sakuda, 2012). The advantage of making use of computerized management systems is limited not only to reduced book-keeping and accounts for patients and physicians but is linked to continued access to reasonably priced healthcare, enhanced quality of care, prevention of medical blunders, reduction in health care expenses, improved administrative efficacies, and engagement of patients in their own health care (Chin and Sakuda, 2012). The following proposal will seek to….

Blavin, F., Ramos, C., Shah, A., Devers, K. (2013). Lessons from the Literature on Electronic Health Record Implementation. Urban Institute. Retrieved 16 October 2015 from:  https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/hit_lessons_learned_lit_review_final_08-01-2013.pdf 

Chin, B. J., & Sakuda, C. M. (2012). Transforming and Improving Health Care through Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology. Hawai'i Journal of Medicine & Public Health, 71(4 Suppl 1), 50-55.

Health IT. (2013). Creating a Leadership Team for Successful EHR Implementation. The National Learning Consortium. Retrieved 16 October 2015 from:  https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/creating-leadership-team-successful-ehr-implementation 

Martinez, X. E. (2015). What Role Should Nurses Play In EHR Implementation? Power Your Practice. Retrieved 16 October 2015 from:  http://www.poweryourpractice.com/electronic-health-records/what-role-should-nurses-play-in-ehr-implementation/

Using EMRs to Manage Patient Info

Health Information Management SystemSelecting and implementing an EMR system involves a range of stakeholders, adherence to regulatory standards, and significant financial investment. This paper discusses the various aspects of this process, including stakeholder involvement, the evidence-based approach for selecting an EMR, the methodology for its rollout, cost analysis, and the regulatory considerations. The goal is to give an overview of the challenges and considerations involved in implementing an EMR system, aligning with the essentials of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and the broader goals of healthcare excellence.History of Technology in HealthcareThe integration of technology in healthcare has evolved along with every other field touched by advances in technology. Initially, in the early 20th century, technology's role in healthcare was primarily administrative and focused on basic patient care (Wager et al., 2021). However, the field began to change with the advent of electronic machines and computers. The late 20th century marked….

Ahmed, W., Jagsi, R., Gutheil, T. G., & Katz, M. S. (2020). Public disclosure on social media of

identifiable patient information by health professionals: Content analysis of Twitter data. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e19746.

Al Ani, M., Garas, G., Hollingshead, J., Cheetham, D., Athanasiou, T., & Patel, V. (2022).

Information Systems in Healthcare

Health Information System Promoting Action Design esearch to create value in healthcare through IT ecently there has been varying proof showing that health IT reduces costs while improving the standard of care offered. The same factors that had caused delays in reaping benefits from IT investment made in other sectors (i.e. time consuming procedural change) are also very common within the healthcare sector. Due to the current transitive nature of the Healthcare sector, new IT investment is likely not going to provide maximum value unless this new investment is backed up with a total reform of healthcare delivery. The overall ability of healthcare IT value researchers to add value to practice will be severely limited as a result of the traditional ex-post approach to measuring IT and the fact that government spurs significant investment. It may be risky to generalize or compare results from traditional IT value research with those from healthcare….

Fichman, R., Kohli, R., & Krishnan, R. (2011). The role of information systems in healthcare: Current research and future trends. Information Systems Research, 22(3), 419-428.

Goh, J.M., Gao, G., & Agarwal, R. (n.d.). Evolving work routines: Adaptive routinization of information technology in healthcare. Information Systems Research, 22(3), 565-585.

Hoffnagel, E., Woods, D., & Leveson, N. (2006). Resilience engineering: Concepts and precepts. Abingdon: GBR: Ashgate Publishing.

Jones, S., Heaton, P., Riudin, R., & Schneider, E. (2012). Unraveling the IT productivity paradox lessons for health care. The New England Journal of Medicine, 366(24), 2243-2245.

Information System Briefing the Process of Selecting

Information System Briefing the Process of selecting & acquiring an Information System (IS) for Healthcare: Any medical organization planning to go for an IS must choose an efficient Electronic Patient ecord -- EP which is the starting point of any computerized system. Effectiveness of the following points must drive the process of selection and acquisition of an IS. These are (i) Patient care which is the documented record of every patient undergoing process at the medical care unit. (ii) Communication: Patient records constitute and important means through which doctors, nurses and other are able to communicate with one another regarding patient requirements. (iii) Legal documentation: Legal documentation is important as these keep track document care as well as treatment, can become legal records. (iv) Billing and reimbursement: Patient record delivers the documentation which is used by patients to verify billed services. (v) esearch and quality management: Patient records are used in a….

Anderson, James. G; Aydin, Carolyn. (2005) "Evaluating the Organizational Impact of Healthcare Information Systems" Springer.

Keshavjee, K; Bosomworth, J; Copen, J. (2006) "Best practices in EMR implementation"

AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2006; 2006: 982. compete-study.com [PDF]

Wager, Karen A; Lee, Frances W; Glase, John P. (2009) "Healthcare Information System -- A

Healthcare Information Systems

Healthcare Delivery Systems Annotated.

References:

Parnaby, J., & Towill, D.R. (2008). Seamless healthcare delivery systems. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 21(3), 249-73.

Towill, D.R., & Christopher, M. (2005). An evolutionary approach to the architecture of effective healthcare delivery systems. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 19(2), 130-47.

Health Care Systems Management as

The infant mortality rate is of 8.97 deaths per 1,000 live births. This rate places Kuwait on the 160th position on the chart of the CIA. The adult prevalence rate of HIV / AIDS is of 0.1 per cent. In terms of economy, Kuwait is a relatively open, small and wealthy economy. It relies extensively on oil exports -- petroleum exports for instance account for 95 per cent of the total export revenues as well as for 95 per cent of the federal income. The Kuwaiti representatives have recently set the goal of increasing the oil production per day. Currently, Kuwait is facing the pressures of the internationalized economic crisis -- which however, due to recent economic surpluses in Kuwait, affects the economy to a lower extent. Simultaneously with the increase in oil production, the Kuwaiti authorities are also focusing on diversifying the economic activities in the sense of supporting non-oil….

Agency, Kuwait News. "Blair's "Kuwait Vision." 15 March 2010. Zawya.com. .

Al-Ansari, H. And S. AL-Enezi. "Health Sciences Libraries in Kuwait." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 89.3 (2001): 287-93.

Al-Awadhi, Olusi, Al-Saeid, Moussa, et.al. "Incidence of Musculoskeletal Pain in Adult Kuwaitis." Annals of Saudi Medicine 25.6 (2005): 459=62.

Al-Baho, A. "Resident's Guide to the Curriculum for Training in Family Medicine." December 2008. Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialization. .

Healthcare System and Practice Guideline

Healthcare System Practice Guideline Introduce an overview of one healthcare system practice guideline There are numerous areas within health care that demand change in everyday healthcare practice. More often than not, irrespective of the healthcare setting, an inventive group is required to conduct research and facilitate change. There are numerous practices that require change or upgrading. This is facilitated through the establishment and advancement of clinical practice guidelines. The selected healthcare system practice guideline is Management of Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Care (2017). This particular guideline delineates the important decision points in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and provides well-outlines and wide-ranging evidence based recommendations assimilating prevailing information and practices for practitioners throughout Department of Defense (DoD) and Veretan Affairs (VA) Health Care Systems. Diabetes mellitus is an illness that is caused either by an absolute or relative deficiency in insulin giving rise to hyperglycemia. Type 1 DM (T1DM) is as….

Healthcare Systems Across the World

Access and Availability The biggest problem in terms of access to healthcare is in rural areas. Our investigation found that there are very few if any rural clinics or healthcare facilities. Access to healthcare is also limited to those that can afford insurance or qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. The unemployed and the poor are at a major disadvantage when it comes to gaining access to healthcare. The location of healthcare facilities is limited to the larger municipalities. Accountability The entity that is responsible for the healthcare system is the United States Government. In addition, Puerto ico has a governor and a cabinet in place to ensure that the appropriate laws are carried out. The entity that makes laws concerning healthcare is outside of the country but the entity that enforces these laws is inside the country. Services are evaluated by state run entities and agencies of the United States government such as that….

The World Factbook -- Puerto Rico. Retrieved November 8, 2004 from;  http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rq.html#People 

Puerto Rico: Estimated Number of Persons Living with AIDS at the End of 2002. Retrieved November 8, 2004 from;  http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/cgi-bin/healthfacts.cgi?action=profile&area=Puerto+Rico&category=HIV%2fAIDS&subcategory=Persons+Living+with+AIDS&topic=All+Ages 

HIV / AIDS Among Hispanics. Retrieved November 8, 2004 from;  http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/PUBS/Facts/hispanic.pdf 

Puerto Rico: Total Number of Adults with Diagnosed Diabetes, 2002. Retrieved November 8, 2004 from;

Healthcare System Management Is the

Based upon the fact the baby boomers are all approaching retirement age, it would be a good idea for the organization to pursue programs that are geared towards seniors. Programs that are geared towards seniors are a great way to produce quality comprehensive health care for those in the community that need it. The organization might pursue the idea of opening a PACE program. " The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a capitated benefit authorized by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) that features a comprehensive service delivery system and integrated Medicare and Medicaid financing" (Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), 2009). The PACE program features complete medical and social services that rely on an interdisciplinary team approach in an adult day health center that includes in-home and referral services depending on the person's needs (Program of All Inclusive Care for the….

Baker, J. Judith & Baker, R.W. (2006). Healthcare Finance, Basic Tools for Nonfinancial

Managers. Maryland: Aspen Publications, Inc.

Bury, Elizabeth, Carter, Kara S., Feigelman, Masha and Grant, Jennifer M. (n.d.). Retrieved June

2, 2009, from Web site:

Protection of Digital Health Information With Increase

Protection of Digital Health Information With increase health information technology store access patient information, likelihood security breaches risen. In fact, Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ): In United States, a whopping 97% increase number health records breached 2010-2011 Ensuring that patient information is protected at all times is vital for any health care institution. Patient information records contain sensitive information that can be used for malicious purposes like identity theft, credit card fraud, and leaking of information for malicious intent. The advancement and use of technology has made it easier for patient information to be accessed within the health care facility Shoniregun, Dube, & Mtenzi, 2010. This increases the speed of service delivery to the patient and improves the care given to the patient. Technology has allowed for the use of portable electronic devices by the healthcare practitioners in entering and accessing patient records and information. Portable electronic devices are small electronic gadgets that….

Green, M.A., & Bowie, M.J. (2005). ESSENTIALS OF HEALTH INFORMATION Management: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES: Principles and Practices. Independence, KY: Thomson/Delmar Learning.

Harman, L.B., & Association, A.H.I.M. (2006). Ethical Challenges in the Management of Health Information. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Laurinda B. Harman, C.A.F., and Kesa Bond. (2012). Electronic Health Records: Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, 14(9), 712-719.

Shoniregun, C.A., Dube, K., & Mtenzi, F. (2010). Electronic Healthcare Information Security. New York / Heidelberg: Springer.

Acquistion of Information Systems Selection and Acquisition

Acquistion of Information Systems Selection and Acquisition of Information Systems Selection and acquisition of information systems could involve an enormous investment for a healthcare organization. Besides the initial costs that organizations need to incur, there are also long-term costs associated with maintenance, support and enhancement of the information system. Selecting the right information systems that would meet the need of an organization is a critical step to consider when selecting and acquiring the information systems. To select information systems, it is critical to evaluate the costs and benefits as well as gaining insight on the full constituents of the users. Fundamental objective of this paper is to discuss the process of selecting and acquiring the information systems for our healthcare organization. Process of Selecting and Acquiring the Information Systems System acquisitions are the process of selecting a new system in order to replace the old information systems. The process of system acquisition takes place….

Johnson, E. (2006). Selecting an Electronic Medical Record System for the Physician Practice. AHIMA's 78th National Convention and Exhibit Proceedings.

Wager, K.A. Lee, F.W. & Glaser, J.P. (2009). Health Care Information Systems: A Practical Approach for Health Care Management. John Wiley & Sons. USA.

Nursing Healthcare Information Systems Key

Others include delays in data accessibility, albeit shorter delays and the continued need for source data verification (Donovan, 2007). Other obstacles have occurred in the developing of mobile healthcare applications. These have included mobile device limitations, wireless networking problems, infrastructure constraints, security concerns, and user distrust (Keng and Shen, 2006). A third problem that has been encountered is that of a lack of education on not only the importance of the information technology but also training on how to use the specific pieces of equipment. The tools that are provided to people are only as good as the training that is provided on how to use them. The tools may be able to do wonderful things, but if those that are using them do not know how to get the best use out of them they will in the end be less efficient. Medical Errors According to an Institute of Medicine (IOM) medical….

Al-Assaf, Al F., Bumpus, Lisa J., Carter, Dana, and Dixon, Stephen B. (2003). Preventing Errors

in Healthcare: A Call for Action. Hospital Topics. 81(3), 5-12.

Brommeyer, Mark. (2005). e-nursing and e-patients. Nursing Management -- UK. 11(9), 12-13.

Damberg, Cheryl L., Ridgely, M. Susan, Shaw, Rebecca, Meili, Robin C., Sorbero, Melony E.,

what is health information system

A Health Information System (HIS) is a system that captures, stores, manages, and transmits health-related data. It includes a combination of people, processes, and technology that collects, processes, and presents information to support healthcare provider decision-making and improve patient outcomes. Health Information Systems typically include electronic health records (EHRs), computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems, and clinical decision support systems (CDSS), among other components. These systems help healthcare providers to efficiently manage patient care, track patient progress, and ensure accurate and timely communication among healthcare professionals. Overall, a Health Information System plays a crucial role in improving the quality, safety, and efficiency....

Health Information System (HIS) A Health Information System (HIS) is a comprehensive, integrated information system designed to manage, store, and process health-related data and information. It provides a platform for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of patient health information, facilitating efficient and effective healthcare delivery. Components of a Health Information System A comprehensive HIS typically consists of the following components: Electronic Health Record (EHR): A digital repository of patient health information, including medical history, medications, allergies, vital signs, diagnostic test results, and treatment plans. Patient Management System: A module for scheduling appointments, managing patient demographics, and tracking insurance coverage. Clinical Decision Support Tools:....

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Health Information System Promoting Action Design esearch to create value in healthcare through IT ecently there has been varying proof showing that health IT reduces costs while improving the standard of…

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Healthcare System Practice Guideline Introduce an overview of one healthcare system practice guideline There are numerous areas within health care that demand change in everyday healthcare practice. More often than not,…

Access and Availability The biggest problem in terms of access to healthcare is in rural areas. Our investigation found that there are very few if any rural clinics or healthcare…

Based upon the fact the baby boomers are all approaching retirement age, it would be a good idea for the organization to pursue programs that are geared towards seniors.…

Protection of Digital Health Information With increase health information technology store access patient information, likelihood security breaches risen. In fact, Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ): In United States, a whopping…

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Others include delays in data accessibility, albeit shorter delays and the continued need for source data verification (Donovan, 2007). Other obstacles have occurred in the developing of mobile healthcare…

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Two key brain systems are central to psychosis, Stanford Medicine-led study finds

When the brain has trouble filtering incoming information and predicting what’s likely to happen, psychosis can result, Stanford Medicine-led research shows.

April 11, 2024 - By Erin Digitale

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People with psychosis have trouble filtering relevant information (mesh funnel) and predicting rewarding events (broken crystal ball), creating a complex inner world. Emily Moskal

Inside the brains of people with psychosis, two key systems are malfunctioning: a “filter” that directs attention toward important external events and internal thoughts, and a “predictor” composed of pathways that anticipate rewards.

Dysfunction of these systems makes it difficult to know what’s real, manifesting as hallucinations and delusions. 

The findings come from a Stanford Medicine-led study , published April 11 in  Molecular Psychiatry , that used brain scan data from children, teens and young adults with psychosis. The results confirm an existing theory of how breaks with reality occur.

“This work provides a good model for understanding the development and progression of schizophrenia, which is a challenging problem,” said lead author  Kaustubh Supekar , PhD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

The findings, observed in individuals with a rare genetic disease called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome who experience psychosis as well as in those with psychosis of unknown origin, advance scientists’ understanding of the underlying brain mechanisms and theoretical frameworks related to psychosis.

During psychosis, patients experience hallucinations, such as hearing voices, and hold delusional beliefs, such as thinking that people who are not real exist. Psychosis can occur on its own and isa hallmark of certain serious mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is also characterized by social withdrawal, disorganized thinking and speech, and a reduction in energy and motivation.

It is challenging to study how schizophrenia begins in the brain. The condition usually emerges in teens or young adults, most of whom soon begin taking antipsychotic medications to ease their symptoms. When researchers analyze brain scans from people with established schizophrenia, they cannot distinguish the effects of the disease from the effects of the medications. They also do not know how schizophrenia changes the brain as the disease progresses. 

To get an early view of the disease process, the Stanford Medicine team studied young people aged 6 to 39 with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a genetic condition with a 30% risk for psychosis, schizophrenia or both. 

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Kaustubh Supekar

Brain function in 22q11.2 patients who have psychosis is similar to that in people with psychosis of unknown origin, they found. And these brain patterns matched what the researchers had previously theorized was generating psychosis symptoms.

“The brain patterns we identified support our theoretical models of how cognitive control systems malfunction in psychosis,” said senior study author  Vinod Menon , PhD, the Rachael L. and Walter F. Nichols, MD, Professor; a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and director of the  Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory .

Thoughts that are not linked to reality can capture the brain’s cognitive control networks, he said. “This process derails the normal functioning of cognitive control, allowing intrusive thoughts to dominate, culminating in symptoms we recognize as psychosis.”

Cerebral sorting  

Normally, the brain’s cognitive filtering system — aka the salience network — works behind the scenes to selectively direct our attention to important internal thoughts and external events. With its help, we can dismiss irrational thoughts and unimportant events and focus on what’s real and meaningful to us, such as paying attention to traffic so we avoid a collision.

The ventral striatum, a small brain region, and associated brain pathways driven by dopamine, play an important role in predicting what will be rewarding or important. 

For the study, the researchers assembled as much functional MRI brain-scan data as possible from young people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, totaling 101 individuals scanned at three different universities. (The study also included brain scans from several comparison groups without 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: 120 people with early idiopathic psychosis, 101 people with autism, 123 with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and 411 healthy controls.) 

The genetic condition, characterized by deletion of part of the 22nd chromosome, affects 1 in every 2,000 to 4,000 people. In addition to the 30% risk of schizophrenia or psychosis, people with the syndrome can also have autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which is why these conditions were included in the comparison groups.

The researchers used a type of machine learning algorithm called a spatiotemporal deep neural network to characterize patterns of brain function in all patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome compared with healthy subjects. With a cohort of patients whose brains were scanned at the University of California, Los Angeles, they developed an algorithmic model that distinguished brain scans from people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome versus those without it. The model predicted the syndrome with greater than 94% accuracy. They validated the model in additional groups of people with or without the genetic syndrome who had received brain scans at UC Davis and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, showing that in these independent groups, the model sorted brain scans with 84% to 90% accuracy.

The researchers then used the model to investigate which brain features play the biggest role in psychosis. Prior studies of psychosis had not given consistent results, likely because their sample sizes were too small. 

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Vinod Menon

Comparing brain scans from 22q11.2 deletion syndrome patients who had and did not have psychosis, the researchers showed that the brain areas contributing most to psychosis are the anterior insula (a key part of the salience network or “filter”) and the ventral striatum (the “reward predictor”); this was true for different cohorts of patients.

In comparing the brain features of people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and psychosis against people with psychosis of unknown origin, the model found significant overlap, indicating that these brain features are characteristic of psychosis in general.

A second mathematical model, trained to distinguish all subjects with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and psychosis from those who have the genetic syndrome but without psychosis, selected brain scans from people with idiopathic psychosis with 77.5% accuracy, again supporting the idea that the brain’s filtering and predicting centers are key to psychosis.

Furthermore, this model was specific to psychosis: It could not classify people with idiopathic autism or ADHD.

“It was quite exciting to trace our steps back to our initial question — ‘What are the dysfunctional brain systems in schizophrenia?’ — and to discover similar patterns in this context,” Menon said. “At the neural level, the characteristics differentiating individuals with psychosis in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome are mirroring the pathways we’ve pinpointed in schizophrenia. This parallel reinforces our understanding of psychosis as a condition with identifiable and consistent brain signatures.” However, these brain signatures were not seen in people with the genetic syndrome but no psychosis, holding clues to future directions for research, he added.

Applications for treatment or prevention

In addition to supporting the scientists’ theory about how psychosis occurs, the findings have implications for understanding the condition — and possibly preventing it.

“One of my goals is to prevent or delay development of schizophrenia,” Supekar said. The fact that the new findings are consistent with the team’s prior research on which brain centers contribute most to schizophrenia in adults suggests there may be a way to prevent it, he said. “In schizophrenia, by the time of diagnosis, a lot of damage has already occurred in the brain, and it can be very difficult to change the course of the disease.”

“What we saw is that, early on, functional interactions among brain regions within the same brain systems are abnormal,” he added. “The abnormalities do not start when you are in your 20s; they are evident even when you are 7 or 8.”

Our discoveries underscore the importance of approaching people with psychosis with compassion.

The researchers plan to use existing treatments, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation or focused ultrasound, targeted at these brain centers in young people at risk of psychosis, such as those with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome or with two parents who have schizophrenia, to see if they prevent or delay the onset of the condition or lessen symptoms once they appear. 

The results also suggest that using functional MRI to monitor brain activity at the key centers could help scientists investigate how existing antipsychotic medications are working. 

Although it’s still puzzling why someone becomes untethered from reality — given how risky it seems for one’s well-being — the “how” is now understandable, Supekar said. “From a mechanistic point of view, it makes sense,” he said.

“Our discoveries underscore the importance of approaching people with psychosis with compassion,” Menon said, adding that his team hopes their work not only advances scientific understanding but also inspires a cultural shift toward empathy and support for those experiencing psychosis. 

“I recently had the privilege of engaging with individuals from our department’s early psychosis treatment group,” he said. “Their message was a clear and powerful: ‘We share more similarities than differences. Like anyone, we experience our own highs and lows.’ Their words were a heartfelt appeal for greater empathy and understanding toward those living with this condition. It was a call to view psychosis through a lens of empathy and solidarity.”

Researchers contributed to the study from UCLA, Clinica Alemana Universidad del Desarrollo, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the University of Oxford and UC Davis.

The study was funded by the Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute’s Uytengsu-Hamilton 22q11 Neuropsychiatry Research Program, FONDEYCT (the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development of the government of Chile), ANID-Chile (the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (grants AG072114, MH121069, MH085953 and MH101779).

Erin Digitale

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu .

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Public Health Buckeyes: Angela Falconi

BSPH student combines passions for health care, policy

Angela Falconi poses with Cunz Hall in the background

Falconi has been involved in CPH research and is an active member of Ohio State's Pilipino Student Association.

Meet Angela Falconi, a fourth-year student specializing in  environmental public health who aspires to advocate for others through public health policy.

What inspired you to pursue a public health education?

Growing up, I was surrounded by both medicine and public policy because of my parents. Since I was six, my father, a politician and elected official, had me act as his unofficial campaign staff—knocking on doors with him to speak to voters, sitting in on city council meetings and accompanying him to various events. My mother, a pediatric physician, inspired me to pursue a career in medicine by showing me the impact that she’s made on her patients and always encouraging me to learn more about the health care field. When choosing my major, it felt natural to me to combine policy and health into public health.

What public health topics are you passionate about?

“Your zip code determines your health.”

This is one of the most important phrases I have learned in my public health courses, and as a volunteer at Helping Hands Health and Wellness Center, a free clinic which provides health care services for the uninsured and underinsured. I see the realities of this phrase in the patients who I work with. 

As an aspiring elected official, I want to create health care reform which helps individuals the health care system has failed to provide with affordable service.

You spent last summer in Washington, D.C. interning in the U.S. Senate. What was that experience like?

I worked (there) through the IMPACT program, created by the US-Asia Institute in coordination with the Embassy for the Philippines for Filipino students interested in public policy. Working and living in D.C. was one of the best experiences I have had in my undergraduate career because I was able to learn about and research health care policy on the national stage, which is exactly what I hope to do in my future career.

What have you enjoyed most about being involved in research as a student?

I am a research assistant for the Consumer Access Project which utilizes a secret shopper survey of Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplace plan networks to study these barriers and inequities, including disparities related to race. I have loved getting to work with  Wendy Xu as she has helped me learn more about the research process as well as how everyday Americans experience the health care system.

What kind of extracurricular activities are you involved in?

The Pilipino Student Association (PSA) has been my home away from home since the start of my time at Ohio State. It has not only allowed me to learn more about my Filipino culture, but I met my best friend through this organization. I have been involved in PSA in numerous roles: culture night coordinator, vice-president internal, president and now dance leader. 

As dance leader, I lead PSA’s tinikling team. Tinikling is a dance which involves two people beating, sliding, and tapping two bamboo poles on the ground while two people dance above the sticks, trying not to get caught in between them. Our latest performance from PSA’s culture show “Barrio” was in October. I choreographed, taught and performed the modern part of this dance!

What are your goals for the future?

I hope to not only assist individual patients as a physician, but I also hope to help others on the national scale by being an advocate as an elected official. I hope to apply the experiences and lessons that I have learned from my time at Ohio State into my future career in the field of health policy.

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About The Ohio State University College of Public Health

The Ohio State University College of Public Health is a leader in educating students, creating new knowledge through research, and improving the livelihoods and well-being of people in Ohio and beyond. The College's divisions include biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health behavior and health promotion, and health services management and policy. It is ranked 29 th  among all colleges and programs of public health in the nation, and first in Ohio, by  U.S. News and World Report. Its specialty programs are also considered among the best in the country. The MHA program is ranked 8 th , the biostatistics specialty is ranked 22 nd , the epidemiology specialty is ranked 25 th and the health policy and management specialty is ranked 17 th .

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Healthcare Information Systems: Optimization for Delivery of Quality Service Essay

Overview of healthcare information technologies, improving the quality of medication, reducing the cost of healthcare.

Lack of relevant system-wide healthcare Information technology causes significant expenses that come in the form of the increased number of the workforce and wasted time. Research suggests that lack of appropriate IT platforms to deliver healthcare service contributes to over 10% increase in healthcare costs.

Therefore, IT systems are inextricably connected to healthcare costs for healthcare institutions, which trickle down to the population. Increased healthcare costs have prompted healthcare institutions to adopt cost-saving IT systems to optimize their returns while ensuring the delivery of quality service (Rodrigues, 2009).

There are many IT applications from which healthcare institutions can choose to improve the quality of service and reduce costs of delivering healthcare services. However, every institution must be able to select an IT base that is relevant and appropriate to its condition.

Information technology has the potential to improve the quality of healthcare services. Studies show that most healthcare providers believe that adopting clinical IT systems improve the extent to which they can deliver quality patient care. IT systems can solve some of the problems posed by fragmented IT systems. Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) has become of the key clinical IT systems that have gained significant application in most clinical and medical institutions (Rodrigues, 2009).

Research shows that the application of CPOE reduces the frequency of repeat tests. The quality of healthcare service is connected with the number of repeat tests that a patient undergoes before a successful diagnosis is achieved. Surveys conducted on patients reveals that patients rated physicians based on the number of unsuccessful diagnosis or tests for their illness. The use of CPOE reduces turnaround times for laboratory, pharmacy and radiography request applications made.

Some medical studies have suggested that using CPOE reduces the error frequency during medical surgeries. According to a survey conducted by Bates et al. (1998), the application of CPOE systems had the ability to reduce medication errors by 55%. Out of 11 studies that aimed at estimating the accuracy of medication using CPOE, four studies showed that CPOE achieved to reduce errors, and improved the quality of medication and patient safety.

Studies show that the introduction of CPOE as an IT platform is a nonfinancial incentive for healthcare professionals. Surveys conducted in hospitals using CPOE shows that healthcare professionals are motivated to deliver quality service compared to hospitals that did not implement these technologies. It is significant to note that the professionals’ perception of quality service is inextricably linked to availability of alternative IT tools (Bates & Gawande, 2003).

Recent studies have surveyed the value of using CPOE in ambulatory procedures. These studies suggest that a worldwide application of CPOE can improve quality healthcare among patients while saving their money.

Reduction of drug events is a key focus by many physicians (Bates & Gawande, 2003). Given this need, many clinicians have indicated that CPOE helps to reduce adverse drug events and other related medication errors because it offers cost effective medications, drug prescriptions, and laboratory tests (Bates & Gawande, 2003).

The use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) reduces the costs of handling medical records and increases the level of access. Studies show that the costs of collecting, storing, and retrieving medical records can have significant cost implication on institutional costs. One of the main problems facing healthcare professionals is the lack of access to centralized information sharing platforms.

Research has shown that the use of EHR has the potential of providing better documentation of patient histories (Bates & Gawande, 2003). The extent to which professionals can share medical information with ease enables physicians to use medical histories, which reduces the costs of beginning new diagnosis and medication (Scalet, 2003). Evidence suggests that reduced transcription and medical management expenses are linked with the physicians’ use of electronic health records.

According Bates & Gawande (2003), financial returns depend on the extent to which a medical organization adapts to effective use of EHR. The paths toward a cost-effective healthcare system stem from getting the critical mass of physicians choosing to use electronic health record systems.

Some studies suggest that the use of electronic health records can save up to $20,000 per healthcare professional. The adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) is a centerpiece in reducing the costs of providing healthcare services (Memorial Care, 2010). The use of traditional manila folders is believed to cost many hospitals millions of money due to loss or inaccessibility of critical patient and administrative records.

EMR transmits important medical records in real-time and helps medical practitioners to have access to information in a timely manner. This avoids waste of time, which reduces costs of searching and retrieving medical histories (Memorial Care, 2010). Lack of systemized record management increases clinicians’ time and workload, which exerts pressure and workload.

Studies content that it can cost a medical organization over $20,000 per clinician due to errors caused by increased workload and service time. Therefore, implementing electronic medical records has the potential of reducing workloads and extra working hours, which has a significant impact on the quality and cost of providing medical services to patients (Bates & Gawande, 2003).

Bates, D. W., & Gawande, A. A. (2003). Improving safety with information technology. New England Journal of Medicine 348(25), 2526-2534.

Memorial Care. (2010). How electronic medical records reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.memorialcare.org/about/pressroom/media/how-electronic-medical-records-reduce-costs-and-improve-patient-outcomes-2010

Rodrigues, J. (2009). Health Information Systems: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications. New York, NY: Idea Group Inc (IGI).

Scalet, S. 2003. Saving money, saving lives. CIO Magazine . Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/

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1. IvyPanda . "Healthcare Information Systems: Optimization for Delivery of Quality Service." April 14, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthcare-information-systems-essay/.

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IvyPanda . "Healthcare Information Systems: Optimization for Delivery of Quality Service." April 14, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthcare-information-systems-essay/.

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For more than 10 years, MedCity INVEST has brought together active investors and promising startups across biopharma, diagnostics, medical devices, and health tech. The conference content highlights opportunities and challenges in the healthcare industry amidst a shifting landscape of consumer convenience, the shift to value-based care, the desire for seamless care coordination and more equitable and affordable healthcare for all.

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    Henry H. Ting, Chief Health & Wellness Officer, Delta George Khalife, Vice President of Midwest U.S., Toronto Stock Exchange & TSX Venture Exchange Jack Stockert, Managing Director, Health2047