Healthcare industry

An insurance form with pills

The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, and palliative care. It encompasses the creation and commercialization of products and services conducive to the preservation and restoration of well-being. The contemporary healthcare sector comprises three fundamental facets, namely services, products, and finance. It can be further subdivided into numerous sectors and categories and relies on interdisciplinary teams of highly skilled professionals and paraprofessionals to address the healthcare requirements of both individuals and communities.[1][2]

The healthcare industry is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries.[3] Consuming over 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) of most developed nations, health care can form an enormous part of a country's economy. U.S. healthcare spending grew 2.7 percent in 2021, reaching $4.3 trillion or $12,914 per person.  As a share of the nation's Gross Domestic Product, health spending accounted for 18.3 percent.[4] The per capita expenditure on health and pharmaceuticals in OECD countries has steadily grown from a couple of hundred in the 1970s to an average of US$4'000 per year in current purchasing power parities.[5]

  1. ^ HEALTH PROFESSIONS [1]
  2. ^ "Health Care Initiatives, Employment & Training Administration (ETA) - U.S. Department of Labor". Doleta.gov. Archived from the original on 2012-01-29. Retrieved 2015-02-17.
  3. ^ "Snapshots: Comparing Projected Growth in Health Care Expenditures and the Economy | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation". Kff.org. 2006-04-17. Retrieved 2015-02-17.
  4. ^ "Historical | CMS". www.cms.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  5. ^ "THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND GLOBAL HEALTH - FACTS AND FIGURES 2021" (PDF). INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS & ASSOCIATIONS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2022-02-28.