Editing Health (section)

===Role of medicine and medical science===
{{main|Medicine}}

Contemporary medicine is in general conducted within [[health care system]]s. Legal, [[credential]]ing and financing frameworks are established by individual governments, augmented on occasion by international organizations, such as churches. The characteristics of any given health care system have significant impact on the way medical care is provided.

From ancient times, Christian emphasis on practical charity gave rise to the development of systematic nursing and hospitals and the [[Catholic Church]] today remains the largest non-government provider of medical services in the world.<ref>{{cite book | last = Blainey | first = Geoffrey | name-list-style = vanc |year=2011 |title=A Short History of Christianity |publisher=Penguin Viking |oclc=793902685 |title-link=A Short History of Christianity }}{{page needed|date=June 2014}}</ref> Advanced industrial countries (with the exception of the [[United States]])<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite web|url=http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2004/Insuring-Americas-Health-Principles-and-Recommendations.aspx |title=Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations |publisher=Institute of Medicine at the National Academies of Science |date=14 January 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019103757/http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2004/Insuring-Americas-Health-Principles-and-Recommendations.aspx |archive-date=19 October 2009 }}
|2={{cite web |url=http://cthealth.server101.com/the_case_for_universal_health_care_in_the_united_states.htm |title=The Case For Single Payer, Universal Health Care for the United States |publisher=Cthealth.server101.com |access-date=4 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423105127/http://cthealth.server101.com/the_case_for_universal_health_care_in_the_united_states.htm |archive-date=23 April 2018 |url-status=dead}}
}}</ref> and many [[Developing country|developing countries]] provide medical services through a system of [[universal health care]] that aims to guarantee care for all through a [[single-payer health care]] system, or compulsory private or co-operative [[health insurance]]. This is intended to ensure that the entire population has access to medical care on the basis of need rather than ability to pay. Delivery may be via private medical practices or by state-owned hospitals and clinics, or by charities, most commonly by a combination of all three.

Most [[tribe|tribal]] societies provide no guarantee of healthcare for the population as a whole.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sonowal |first=C.J. |date=April 2010 |title=Factors Affecting the Nutritional Health of Tribal Children in Maharashtra |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09735070.2010.11886359 |journal=Studies on Ethno-Medicine |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=21–36 |doi=10.1080/09735070.2010.11886359 |issn=0973-5070}}</ref> In such societies, healthcare is available to those that can afford to pay for it or have self-insured it (either directly or as part of an employment contract) or who may be covered by care financed by the government or tribe directly.

[[File:Drug ampoule JPN.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=collection of glass bottles of different sizes|Modern drug [[ampoule]]s]]

Transparency of information is another factor defining a delivery system. Access to information on conditions, treatments, quality, and pricing greatly affects the choice by patients/consumers and, therefore, the incentives of medical professionals. While the US healthcare system has come under fire for lack of openness,<ref>{{cite journal | first = Martin | last = Sipkoff | name-list-style = vanc | title = Transparency called key to uniting cost control, quality improvement | journal = Managed Care | date = January 2004 | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 38–42 | pmid = 14763279 | url = http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0401/0401.forum.html | access-date = 16 April 2006 | archive-date = 17 February 2004 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040217160421/http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0401/0401.forum.html | url-status = live }}</ref> new legislation may encourage greater openness. There is a perceived tension between the need for transparency on the one hand and such issues as patient confidentiality and the possible exploitation of information for commercial gain on the other.

====Delivery====
{{See also|Health care|clinic|hospital|hospice}}

Provision of medical care is classified into primary, secondary, and tertiary care categories.<ref>{{cite web |title=Primary, Secondary and Tertiary HealthCare – Arthapedia |url=http://www.arthapedia.in/index.php%3Ftitle%3DPrimary,_Secondary_and_Tertiary_HealthCare |website=www.arthapedia.in |access-date=19 January 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128011946/http://www.arthapedia.in/index.php%3Ftitle=Primary,_Secondary_and_Tertiary_HealthCare |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Nurses at Butawin Urban Clinic, PNG (10711159465).jpg|thumb|alt=photograph of three nurses|Nurses in [[Kokopo]], [[East New Britain]], [[Papua New Guinea]]|upright]]
[[Primary care]] medical services are provided by [[physician]]s, [[physician assistant]]s, [[nurse practitioner]]s, or other health professionals who have first contact with a patient seeking medical treatment or care.<ref>{{cite web |title=Types of health care providers: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia |url=https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001933.htm |website=medlineplus.gov |access-date=19 January 2021 |language=en |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123051332/https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001933.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> These occur in physician offices, [[clinic]]s, [[nursing home]]s, schools, home visits, and other places close to patients. About 90% of medical visits can be treated by the primary care provider. These include treatment of acute and chronic illnesses, [[preventive care]] and [[health education]] for all ages and both sexes.

[[Secondary care]] medical services are provided by [[medical specialist]]s in their offices or clinics or at local community hospitals for a patient referred by a primary care provider who first diagnosed or treated the patient.<ref>{{cite web |title=Secondary Health Care |url=https://internationalmedicalcorps.org.uk/what-we-do/all-emergencies/secondary-health-care#:~:text=Secondary%20Health%20Care%20is%20the,most%20often%20provided%20in%20hospitals. |website=International Medical Corps |access-date=19 January 2021 |language=en |archive-date=17 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117030041/https://internationalmedicalcorps.org.uk/what-we-do/all-emergencies/secondary-health-care#:~:text=Secondary%20Health%20Care%20is%20the,most%20often%20provided%20in%20hospitals. |url-status=live }}</ref> Referrals are made for those patients who required the expertise or procedures performed by specialists. These include both [[ambulatory care]] and [[inpatient]] services, [[Emergency department]]s, [[intensive care medicine]], surgery services, [[physical therapy]], [[childbirth|labor and delivery]], [[endoscopy]] units, diagnostic [[Medical laboratory|laboratory]] and [[medical imaging]] services, [[Hospice care|hospice]] centers, etc. Some primary care providers may also take care of hospitalized patients and deliver babies in a secondary care setting.

[[Tertiary care]] medical services are provided by specialist hospitals or regional centers equipped with diagnostic and treatment facilities not generally available at local hospitals. These include [[trauma center]]s, [[burn (injury)|burn]] treatment centers, advanced [[neonatology]] unit services, [[organ transplant]]s, high-risk pregnancy, [[radiation therapy|radiation]] [[oncology]], etc.

Modern medical care also depends on information – still delivered in many health care settings on paper records, but increasingly nowadays by [[Electronic health record|electronic means]].

In low-income countries, modern healthcare is often too expensive for the average person. International healthcare policy researchers have advocated that "user fees" be removed in these areas to ensure access, although even after removal, significant costs and barriers remain.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Laokri S, Weil O, Drabo KM, Dembelé SM, Kafando B, Dujardin B | title = Removal of user fees no guarantee of universal health coverage: observations from Burkina Faso | journal = Bulletin of the World Health Organization | volume = 91 | issue = 4 | pages = 277–82 | date = April 2013 | pmid = 23599551 | pmc = 3629451 | doi = 10.2471/BLT.12.110015 }}</ref>

[[Separation of prescribing and dispensing]] is a practice in medicine and pharmacy in which the [[physician]] who provides a [[medical prescription]] is independent from the [[pharmacist]] who provides the [[prescription drug]]. In the [[Western world]] there are centuries of tradition for separating pharmacists from physicians. In Asian countries, it is traditional for physicians to also provide drugs.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chou YJ, Yip WC, Lee CH, Huang N, Sun YP, Chang HJ | title = Impact of separating drug prescribing and dispensing on provider behaviour: Taiwan's experience | journal = Health Policy and Planning | volume = 18 | issue = 3 | pages = 316–29 | date = September 2003 | pmid = 12917273 | doi = 10.1093/heapol/czg038 | doi-access = free }}</ref>