Health care
Health care or
healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical,
nursing, and
allied health professions [
1]. The organised provision of such services may constitute a
health care system. This can include a specific governmental organisation such as, in the UK, the
National Health Service or a cooperation across the National Health Service and Social Services as in
Shared Care. Before the term "healthcare" became popular, English-speakers referred to
medicine or to the
health sector and spoke of the treatment and prevention of
illness and
disease.
The healthcare industry is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries. Consuming over 10 percent of
gross domestic product of most developed nations, health care can form an enormous part of a country's
economy. In
2003, health care costs paid to
hospitals,
doctors,
nursing homes,
diagnostic laboratories,
pharmacies,
medical device manufacturers and other components of the health care system, consumed 15.3 percent [
2] of the
GDP of the
United States, the largest of any country in the world. In 2001, for the
OECD countries the average was 8.4 percent [
3] with the United States (13.9%), Switzerland (10.9%), and Germany (10.7%) being the top three.
The healthcare industry includes the delivery of health services by
doctors and other
allied health providers. Usually such services receive payment from the
patient or from the patient's
insurance company; although they may be government-financed (such as the
National Health Service in the
United Kingdom) or delivered by
charities or
volunteers, particularly in poorer countries.
*
HRC/Eldis Health Resource Guide New research and other resources on health in developing countries
USA-specific
*
Health care company profiles at NNDB.
*
Students with Specialized Health Care Needs.
*
Health Care, Nutrition, and Goal One.
*
Education and Health Care Advocacy.
*
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
