Supply and Demand for Oncologists - Essay Example

Describe an example of a healthcare good or service at the beginning of your post.

Currently, there is a crisis in the cancer care in the United States, and the experts predict that the condition will still worsen in the near future. It is due to the incline in the American population who are in demand of the cancer care services, the inadequacy in the replacement of workers and the incline in the aging or the retiring workforce. For instance, it has been predicted by the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) that by the year 2020, there shall be a 48% incline in the incidences of cancer and 81% incline in the people survives or lives with cancer (Erickson et al., 2007).In the same study, they also found and predicted that there would be only 14% of the people practicing oncology.

Analyze how you could shift the supply curve or the demand curve to affect the market price for your selected example.

From the personal analysis, it can be evident that the government has two main choices which they can use to balance the supply and demand of the healthcare. The first choice is to increase the capacity to supply the healthcare by releasing extra funds which are above inflation to match the increasing demand. It would thus mean that the adequate number of the healthcare employees should be employed and the effective and efficient working environment should be created to ensure that they achieve job retention as well as satisfaction. Besides, the second option is that the government could handle the demand-supply equation by putting a lot of emphasis on demand. It can be done by reducing the health inequality by reducing the social inequality which is the main determinant of the healthcare provision by funding the social care. Also, they should hold serious and open discussions with the electorate about what they can be in need of from the NHS at both the micro and the macro levels of the economy.

Evaluate the impact of two or three factors that could influence the extent to which the supply curve or demand curve could be shifted.

In the health sector, there are various factors which tend to impact on the conceivable policy solutions in the oncology workforce. The main solution which can address the shortages in the oncology workforce, in the long run, was to boost the number of physicians who receive the GME more so those who tend to pursue the oncology fellowship and the medicine residencies. The government through the federal support programs as well as Medicare tends to provide the financial support for the training fellows and residents who train on the public policy issues to improve the efficiency in the provision of healthcare services. However, other policies which control the funding of these programs influence the number of physicians and the specialties. It is the Medicare program which is the largest player in the GME, and it offers financial supports which directly which aids in compensation for the residency education costs which comprise of the salaries and stipends. It also indirectly compensates for the patient care costs which tend to be higher due to the teaching academic programs which are offered in the hospital. Besides, some of the other GME support sources comprise of the Veterans Administration, Medicaid, the Title IV which aims at supporting the physician training and primary care and the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program which aids the pediatric training.

References:

Erikson, C., E. Salsberg, G. Forte, S. Bruinooge, and M. Goldstein,(2007). Future supply and demand for oncologists: Challenges to assuring access to oncology services. Journal of Oncology Practice 3(2):79-86.