The healthcare industry, which is otherwise referred to as the medical industry, is an integration and assortment of various sectors which are primarily involved in safeguarding the health of the US citizenry, in a particular fashion or setting. As such, the industry focuses largely on the mitigation of any particular elements which may adversely affect and compromise the health of the general population. The healthcare industry comprises of companies which primarily manufacture drugs and equipment, provide medical services, medical insurance, and many other cardinal objectives that are solely wired at facilitating the ample provision of proper healthcare to patients. That said, healthcare equipment, healthcare services, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and related life sciences are the three central sectors in the medical industry, and their roles and impacts will thus be candidly interrogated herein.
The healthcare industry typically consists of organizations which ideally provide products and crucial services to individuals who may need any forms of preventive, curative and rehabilitative treatments. The global health sector spending is projected to surpass 8.7 trillion US dollars by 2020 and has one of the largest workforces globally (SIS International Market Research, 2018). Hence, the industry is an immensely important part of every country’s economy. In particular, the US medical industry is fundamentally dedicated to the explicit study, treatment, as well as prevention of illnesses, injuries and diseases in the country, constituting one of the largest and most expansive industries in the United States. As such, it provides approximately 14 million employment opportunities to the American populace. Coupled with the ever-ballooning population, nursing shortages, and aging of baby boomers, there is an increasingly growing need for more providers, workers, and stakeholders in the healthcare industry.
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The first sector in the industry is healthcare equipment and supplies, an integral aspect that is primarily used by physicians alongside other medical practitioners to particularly help in the diagnosis of patients, monitoring, and the consequent treatment process. A notable example of diagnostic equipment includes things like CT Scans, MRIs and many others, which essentially afford physicians and medics, in general, the possibility to formulate diagnoses as well as plans of treatment for various illnesses and disorders, without necessarily calling for exploratory surgeries.
Healthcare equipment plays an indispensable role in the medical industry. For instance, monitoring equipment is instrumental in constantly measuring blood pressure, oxygen levels, alongside many other vital signs. In addition, treatment-based supplies such as IV lines, surgical masks, needles and a range of other products are pivotal, especially in starving off the spread of illnesses and diseases. Moreover, they significantly facilitate the treatment process for patients (Healthcare Business & Technology, 2016) .
Notably, there are currently more than 6500 healthcare equipment companies in the United States, although a significant majority are relatively small, with few being publicly traded (Williams, 2014). It is important to note that while medical equipment essentially encompasses a vast array of technological discoveries as discussed herein, they still fail to include supplies like surgical masks and gloves, for example. Therefore, this insinuates that there are countless proportions of healthcare equipment and supplying organizations and companies across the globe that are clamoring for a share of the extensively huge market.
Healthcare equipment and services sector is thus largely constituted of companies which deal in the provision of medical devices, supplies, as well as health care such as hospital facilities, nursing homes, private medical practices, as well as home healthcare providers. In this regard, it is worth noting that healthcare provider organizations and establishments in the United States of America number approximately 600,000. Shudderingly, hospital facilities account for a meager 1% of this number, although they provide job opportunities for an upward of 35% of healthcare providers in their entirety (Nursing Degree, 2016) . Noteworthy, medical device or equipment and supply companies are tremendously growing to ensure that they adequately meet the various needs of the rap idly expanding medical industry so much so that they can currently provide special devices like surgical instruments, orthopedic apparatus, x-ray machines, as well as diagnostic apparatus.
The delivery of medical services throughout the various levels of care is perhaps the most visible component of the healthcare system not only to users but also to the general public. In the modern world, there are numerous ways of proving medical services, including at home, community, workplace, and health facilities. In the US general medicine scope, face-to-face provision of medical services is the commonest modality, although the recent increase in modern telecommunications technology such as Tele-Health is also significant. It occurs when patients and practitioners communicate via phone, internet platforms, video conferencing and other non-one-on-one communication modalities.
Improving the access, coverage, as well as the quality of medical services, majorly depends on the various ways the services are organized and managed. Additionally, it is also contingent on the incentives that influence users and providers. As such, in healthcare systems that are market-based like in the United States, the medical services are normally paid for by patients themselves, or through their health insurance covers. Generally, health care services are immensely important in the medical industry of the US and the world over, as they critically help to ensure healthy living for citizenries as well as ample medical care to patients, thus increasing both the quality and quantity of life for the population.
Apart from healthcare equipment and medical services, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and other related life sciences present yet another highly cardinal and requisite sector in the healthcare industry. This sector is primarily constituted of companies that major on producing pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, as well as other miscellaneous scientific services. On this note, the pharmaceutical sector can be described as the sale and development of medication. Therefore, this undoubtedly makes the pharmaceutical sector the most profitable and lucrative businesses in market-based healthcare systems such as in the United States. Specifically, the sector is majorly comprised of all companies and organizations that are involved in processes like the development, production, sale, distribution as well as marketing of medication and drugs. As such, the sector is among the most regulated and sophisticated ones the world over, particularly in respect to the safety of the users and testing of the drugs and medications.
Research has constantly revealed that every year, billions of dollars are spent on the purchase of pharmaceuticals and other drugs across the world. For instance, in the year 2006, it was approximated that a staggering 643 billion US dollars were used in the purchase of prescription drugs globally (Statista, 2018) . This figu re has been rising tremendously over the years. Noteworthy, the United States of America accounts for slightly more than half of the entire pharmaceutical market worldwide. In 2018, the figure stands at a whopping 360 billion US dollars in the US alone (Statista, 2018) .
On the flipside, biotechnology essentially draws on the biological sciences of genetics, microbiology, embryology, among many others. As such, it ideally entails the use of living things especially in fields such as engineering, medicine, and technology. Besides, biotechnology also involves the production and consequent development or advancement of medicine, as well as the practice of genetic testing and gene therapy. The Biotechnology sector is increasingly fast-changing, especially owing to the high emergence, inception, and incorporation of new technologies such as Genetic Engineering and Gene Therapy among others, which typically make use of various living organisms to create other helpful medicines and treatment modules.
That being said, it is critical to note that there are policy updates, changes and revisions that can be done on these healthcare sectors to address the opportunities and challenges in the industry. First, the pharmaceutical, equipment, and service sectors have been largely criticized for substantially increasing the cost of healthcare for patients, thus compelling people to use alternatives such as over-the-counter drugs instead of costly brand prescription medications. Therefore, efficacious measures have to be incorporated to ensure drugs, equipment, and services are not exorbitantly priced. Compliance is yet another major challenge, whereby strict laws and regulations are imposed to ensure the efficacy and safety of dosage, prescriptions, processes, and treatments. Therefore, stringent compliance stipulations need to be adopted to ensure the highest levels of quality delivery of healthcare services and pharmaceutical products to the population.
In conclusion, in spite of all these underlying challenges, the healthcare industry remains a force to reckon with and is one of the fundamentally pivotal sectors in the global economy. The industry will flourishingly continue to grow and thrive majorly due to the high demand for healthcare services and facilities, pharmaceutical products, as well as equipment by people across the globe. Healthcare equipment, services, as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors are the three primary sectors in the industry, and their general priorities are geared toward ensuring improved patient care, effective and efficient healthcare administration, wellness, alongside advancement of life-saving treatments. Thus, they play instrumental roles in the healthcare industry, significantly aiding to promote a disease-free and healthy society across the globe.
References
Healthcare Business & Technology. (2016). Medical technology . Retrieved from www.healthcarebsuinesstech.com: http://www.healthcarebusinesstech.com/medical-technology/
Nursing Degree. (2016). The sectors of healthcare industry . Retrieved from www.nursingdegree.net: http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/609/the-sectors-of-healthcare-industry/
SIS International Market Research. (2018). Healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device market research. SIS International Research Journal .
Statista. (2018). Prescription drug expenditure in the United States from 1960 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars) . Retrieved from www.statista.com: https://www.statista.com/statistics/184914/prescription-drug-expenditures-in-the-us-since-1960/
Williams, S. (August 12, 2014). Healthcare equipment and supplies: Investing essentials. The Motley Fool
