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Monday, September 19, 2011

Health care industry


The health care industry, or medical industry, is the sector of the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, palliative, or, at times, unnecessary care. The modern health care sector is divided into many sub-sectors, and depends on interdisciplinary teams of trained professionals and paraprofessionals to meet health needs of individuals and populations.

The health care 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.

For purposes of finance and management, the healthcare industry is typically divided into several areas. As a basic framework for defining the sector, the United Nations' International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) categorizes the health care industry as generally consisting of:

1. hospital activities;
2. medical and dental practice activities;
3. "other human health activities"

This third class involves activities of, or under the supervision of, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, scientific or diagnostic laboratories, pathology clinics, residential health facilites, or other allied health professions, e.g. in the field of optometry, hydrotherapy, medical massage, yoga therapy, music therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, chiropody, homeopathy, chiropractics, acupuncture, etc.

The Global Industry Classification Standard and the Industry Classification Benchmark further distinguish the industry as two main groups:
(1) health care equipment & services; and
(2) pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and related life sciences.

Health care equipment and services comprise companies and entities that provide medical equipment, medical supplies, and health care services, such as hospitals, home health care providers, and nursing homes. The second industry group comprises sectors companies that produce biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and miscellaneous scientific services.

Other approaches to defining the scope of the health care industry tend to adopt a broader definition, also including other key actions related to health, such as education and training of health professionals, regulation and management of health services delivery, provision of traditional and complementary medicines, and administration of health insurance



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