HLTA02H3 Lecture Notes - Toyota Electronic Modulated Suspension, Prescription Drug, Moral Hazard
Document Summary
Health care represents a relationship in which a group of providers, or agents, offer personal ser- vices to principals, or patients. Most health care occupations are regulated fields of practice that de- fine who can practice and what they can do. Health care can be delivered in a formal or informal context. The constitution of health care and illness is defined by social constructs. A health care sys- tem is also socially constructed and defines the set of rules that presides over the relationship be- tween the patient and the provider. Although health care systems vary culturally, they share three universal characteristics: licensure, health insurance, and contractors and funding. Health care insurance works when everyone pools a certain amount of money together, allowing those who are or become sick to access treatment without paying for it. When the cost of treatment is reduced, individuals may seek unnecessary services; co-payments attempt to reduce this.
