Social Issues In Health Care

The health care system that an individual interacts with determines not only the health coverage that they receive, but has many larger implications such as the effect on quality of life. General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the World Health Organization Director, states that “ The main message from this report is that the health and well- being of people around the world depend critically on the performance of the health systems that serve them.” (WHO, 2000). Luckily, health care systems are always under a microscope to make them more cost effective as well as benefit their users. However, what is effective for one population may not be the case in another which is also true on a person-to-person basis. This is another one of the reasons why

Those living in the Outback, or the central part of the country, see astonishingly different care compared to the costal citizens. The current life expectancy for those living in these rural areas is roughly 10 years lower than the majority of the population that live in coastal cities (Glover, n.d.). While health disparities in the United States are also an area of improvement, the difference between the two groups is nowhere near this extreme. This may also be due to the difference in environment. For example, the deep Outback, the very center, driest, and hottest section of the country, and is about 70% of the entire country and only holds about 5% of the countries population (Traill, B., & Woinarski, J.,2014). Getting practices and practitioners who do not live in, or have never lived in this area, would be very unlikely to move out there, regardless of the incentives the government will offer them for doing so. Similarly to the United States, Australian health policy makers are interested in telehealth as an option for these individuals. However, in 2013 Australian Medicare began covering telehealth services for those in eligible areas. Eligible areas being the entire country except for the 5 large and populated cities such as Perth, Victoria, and the capital territory of Canberra which is laid out on maps for the individuals to access (Medicare Benefits Schedule, 2013). Given that this is a fairly new service, it will take time to receive statistics on its effectiveness. Telehealth is available in the United States, the program in Australia is much farther reaching and available to those living in rural