![]() In fact, a person must decide whether or not their life is ending or if it is worth salvaging. More than basic economic issues are at stake in this conundrum. After weighing all of the costs and benefits of her healthcare situation, the person has to decide if the costs of healthcare outweigh the benefits. Can they afford it? Do they deserve it? Do they need it? Where should they go to get it? Do they even want it? And it is this last question which poses the biggest dilemma facing a person. At some point in every person's life, a decision has to be made regarding one's healthcare. It is an institution of which we are all a part whether we like it or not. With that said, healthcare ought to "be treated differently from other social goods" in a society. And on the whole, it can be said that healthcare itself is a " special" institution within society. To consolidate such a large segment of moral philosophy, it becomes important to focus on what separates healthcare ethics from other forms of morality. The ethical and/or moral premises of healthcare are complex and intricate. Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, considered the father of Western medicine. In addition, healthcare philosophy attempts to highlight the primary movers of healthcare systems be it nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, hospital administrators, health insurance companies ( HMOs and PPOs), the government ( Medicare and Medicaid), and lastly, the patients themselves. ![]() And seeing that healthcare typically ranks as one of the largest spending areas of governmental budgets, it becomes important to gain a greater understanding of healthcare as not only a social institution, but also as a political one. Ultimately, the purpose, objective and meaning of healthcare philosophy is to consolidate the abundance of information regarding the ever-changing fields of biotechnology, medicine, and nursing. For example, what exactly is a health care intervention? What differentiates healthcare from engineering or teaching, for example? Is health care about 'creating autonomy' or acting in people's best interests? Or is it always both? A 'philosophy' of anything requires baseline philosophical questions, as asked, for example, by philosopher David Seedhouse. Unless this question is addressed any debate about healthcare will be vague and unbounded. However, the most important question of all is 'what is health?'. Who, if anybody, can decide when a patient is in need of "comfort measures" (allowing a natural death by providing medications to treat symptoms related to the patient's illness)?.What are the necessary parameters for clinical trials and quality assurance?.How can healthcare best be administered to the greatest number of people?.What should be the basis for calculating the cost of treatments, hospital stays, drugs, etc.?.Who requires and/or deserves healthcare? Is healthcare a fundamental right of all people?.The philosophy of healthcare is primarily concerned with the following elemental questions: This perennial concern is especially prominent in modern political liberalism, wherein health has been understood as the foundational good necessary for public life. That is, the societal institution of healthcare can be seen as a necessary phenomenon of human civilization whereby an individual continually seeks to improve, mend, and alter the overall nature and quality of their life. (Although veterinary concerns are worthy to note, the body of thought regarding their methodologies and practices is not addressed in this article.) For the most part, however, the philosophy of healthcare is best approached as an indelible component of human social structures. The philosophy of healthcare is the study of the ethics, processes, and people which constitute the maintenance of health for human beings. ( December 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
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