Health Systems Essay
Student’s Name
Course
Professor
Institution
Date
Health Systems Essay
Article information
Ahmed, S., Hasan, M. Z., MacLennan, M., Dorin, F., Ahmed, M. W., Hasan, M. M., & Khan, J. A. (2019). Measuring the efficiency of health systems in Asia: A data envelopment analysis. BMJ Open, 9(3), e022155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022155
Article Finding Process
The process of finding a peer-reviewed article involved several steps. First, I conducted a literature search in Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases from 2015 through 2019 to identify articles that evaluated the effectiveness of health systems in the United States, Asia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. The search strategy involved using several combinations of search words (for example, health systems, performance, efficiency) but “Efficiency of health systems” was the main descriptor. Second, I checked the article’s journal in Ulrich’s database to determine if it is indicated as peer-reviewed (Walden University Library, 2020). Third, I considered the author’s credentials and institutional affiliations. I also considered the length of the title, type of publication (scholarly), language and tone, and article structure.
Article Summary and Findings
Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world. With over 4.4 billion people, healthcare resources need to be used efficiently (Ahmed et al., 2019). The study employed a results-oriented DEA (data envelopment analysis) methodology to define the effectiveness of Asia’s medical structures. The authors found that approximately 91.3% of Asian countries inefficiently used health system resources. The study also found that health systems were highly inefficient in high-income countries than in upper and low-income states. However, some countries showed efficiency in their Utilization of health systems, an implication that they operate at their highest efficiency level.
On the contrary, the findings show that in 75% of high-income countries in Asia, an increase in health systems input does not increase output. Correspondingly, 76.9% of Asian countries in the upper-middle-income class demonstrated a similar situation. Thus, many Asian countries invest excess resources in health systems, leading to underutilization. Although healthcare efficiency differs across many countries, the study indicated that low wage and developing countries have the most efficient health systems. Thus, these countries offer quality health care at a low cost, and they effectively utilize their health system resources.
How the Article Expands Knowledge
The article expands healthcare knowledge in several ways. For example, it demonstrates that many countries, especially high-income states, confront health systems inefficiencies. According to Hanney and González-Block (2017), social factors and health technologies significantly affect health systems’ efficiency. However, the article illustrates that nations can improve these inefficiencies by increasing their health care budgets and evaluating their health systems’ overall performance to identify all the factors contributing to these inefficiencies. Besides, this article highlights proper Utilization of resources can make health systems more efficient and enable healthcare organizations to deliver quality care at reduced costs.
Insights About the Utilization Of Learning Resources
The provided learning resources had many insights and provided me with ideal information about health systems. They enabled me to realize that the many theoretical and applied questions about health systems are unanswered, and future researches need to focus on this area. Particularly, the PDF articles were great readings and interesting in their explanations of the health systems can improve the quality and delivery of health care services if well-managed. Besides, I sought additional resources through the Walden University Online Library, which further helped me prepare for this week’s discussion.
References
Ahmed, S., Hasan, M. Z., MacLennan, M., Dorin, F., Ahmed, M. W., Hasan, M. M., & Khan, J. A. (2019). Measuring the efficiency of health systems in Asia: A data envelopment analysis. BMJ Open, 9(3), e022155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022155
Hanney, S. R., & González-Block, M. A. (2017). ‘Knowledge for better health revisited–the increasing significance of health research systems: a review by departing Editors-in-Chief. Health research policy and systems, 15(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-017-0248-y
Walden University Library. Verify Peer Review. Retrieved from https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/c.php?g=254749&p=1698914&preview=aa21693f1168861d508c323d1ab4002a#s-lg-box-20209209