{"id":1042,"date":"2013-11-21T13:05:30","date_gmt":"2013-11-21T12:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/economics\/?p=1042"},"modified":"2015-03-17T11:56:43","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T10:56:43","slug":"saving-our-healtcare-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/economics\/2013\/11\/21\/saving-our-healtcare-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"The Time to Rethink the Healthcare is now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"AMR<\/a>
AMR Ambulance, Seattle, by Andrew Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAdvanced economies face profound economic, budgetary and social risks <\/span><\/a>, which are at the center of debates about the sustainability of our healthcare and social protection systems<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

These<\/strong> economies are saturated with debt<\/strong>, having managed to accumulate more than 200 percent of their GDP in total public and private debt<\/strong>. This amount exceeds 300 percent of the GDP for most of the European economies while Japan and the UK have surpassed the 500 percent level<\/strong> (IMF, McKinsey Global Institute).<\/p>\n

If we focus on the public debt<\/strong> only, the picture is equally worrisome, with countries like the UK, France or Spain having already topped the 90 percent threshold level<\/strong>. However, this government debt is tiny<\/strong> compared<\/strong> to the amount represented by Unfunded Liabilities<\/i>, the promises of pensions and health care made for future generations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Rethinking<\/a><\/p>\nOur healthcare systems are obsolete <\/span><\/a>. They were designed when a large proportion of health concerns and expenditure was devoted to acute conditions. Today the problem is different. The changing demographic context is shifting the burden of disease from acute to chronic conditions<\/b>. Patients with at least one chronic condition represent 85 percent of healthcare utilization in the US <\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0while in the UK<\/a> they imply 80 percent of primary care consultations and 66 percent of emergency hospital admissions.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization<\/a>\u00a0(WHO), most of the illnesses and death related to\u00a0chronic diseases are closely linked to four risky\u00a0<\/strong>behaviours<\/b>:<\/p>\n