“What Are Health Services? Why 90% of People Miss Out on These Critical Information”

Introduction:This is an era of “Health Services”?

Aging, chronic diseases and public health events are reshaping the health demand landscape. Data shows that chronic diseases account for more than 70% of global medical expenses, Global cost of chronic diseases is expected to reach $47 trillion by 2030^【1】，while 80% of major diseases can be avoided through early screening and lifestyle intervention^【2】.

“High-end physical examination package = health protection? The truth subverts cognition. Some people spend tens of thousands of yuan on physical examinations but miss cancer indicators, while others use basic screening to find early risks. 90% of people fall into pits in “health service selection” due to information asymmetry.

This article reveals: How to quickly explain all the information about health services in just 3 minutes of reading.

“What Are Health Services?”-Definition and goals of health services

Definition of health services

Health services refer to the general term for health-related products, technologies, information, consultations and interventions provided to individuals, families and communities by various health service providers using their professional knowledge and skills through a series of organized and planned activities for the purpose of maintaining and promoting human health.

The definition of health services is clarified – maintaining and promoting the health of the population, and the way to achieve this goal – multidisciplinary collaboration, as well as the nature of services – comprehensiveness, are emphasized.

Goals of health services

The World Health Organization (WHO), as an authority in the field of global health, has given the following description of health services: “Comprehensive services provided through multidisciplinary collaboration with the goal of maintaining and promoting the health of the population.”

The fundamental goal of health services is to maintain and promote the health of the population. This does not simply mean the absence of disease, but covers a good state of physical, mental and social adaptability^【3】.

Types of health services

what is health care services? – The important role of prevention in health

Goal: To enhance health awareness, prevent potential health problems, and promote overall health, including mental health services and physical health services, as part of health care services.

• Health consultation service: Provide health information and health assessment to help individuals or groups understand their health status and formulate preventive measures (beauty plan, weight loss plan, healthy diet, etc.).
• Health checkup service: Through comprehensive physical examination, potential health risks such as nutritional imbalance and metabolic abnormalities are discovered to provide a basis for early intervention.
• Sports and fitness service: Provide fitness venues, equipment and professional guidance to encourage regular exercise to enhance physical fitness and prevent diseases.

what is health care services? -Prompt service when health problems occur

Goal：Provide diagnosis, treatment and other medical services to control the disease and alleviate symptoms when the disease occurs. Timely diagnose and effectively treat existing health problems to control the progression of the disease.

• Medical services: Based on the disease diagnosis provided, specific treatment plans are implemented for existing health problems, such as bandaging, excision, surgery, acupuncture, massage, etc.
• Symptom relief: For example, for patients with acute gout attacks, the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or colchicine can quickly relieve joint pain and redness and swelling.

what is health care services? -Serving the management of health issues

Goal：Aims to help individuals effectively cope with and manage health problems during the recovery and health management stages of the disease, improve their quality of life, and accelerate the recovery of physical functions.

• Health monitoring: Regularly monitor individual physiological indicators (such as blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids, etc.) and health status, and promptly detect changes in health problems.
• Lifestyle guidance: Guide individuals to establish a healthy lifestyle, such as diet management, exercise management, sleep management, etc.
• Home Health Services：Provide professional medical care, rehabilitation training guidance and daily life care for patients who need home rehabilitation, ensuring that patients can receive safe and effective care at home.

what is health care services? -Other services for health issues

Goal: Continue to pay attention to health conditions, provide rehabilitation support, prevent recurrence of diseases, and provide protection for a healthy life in the future

• Health care services: provide life care, medical care and rehabilitation care services during the recovery or old age to ensure continuous improvement of health status.
• Health insurance services: provide financial protection, reduce the financial burden caused by illness, and provide necessary support after recovery.
• Health care services: provide daily health care, such as wound care, rehabilitation training guidance, etc., to promote the recovery of body functions.
• Health tourism services: after recovery from illness, through health tourism, medical tourism and other services, help relax the body and mind, promote comprehensive recovery, and prevent future health problems.

The value created by health services

The value that health services create for individuals

• Improved health literacy: Health services help individuals master basic health knowledge and skills, such as proper diet, moderate exercise, and disease prevention, by providing services such as health education, health consultation, and health screening. This helps individuals form a healthy lifestyle and improve their self-care ability.
• Reduced disease incidence: With the improvement of health literacy, individuals are better able to identify health risks and take preventive measures, thereby reducing the risk of illness. For example, through regular health checkups, potential health problems can be discovered and treated in a timely manner to avoid worsening of the disease.

The value that health services create for society

The advancement of public health care

• Disease prevention and control: Health services can effectively reduce the occurrence and spread of diseases by strengthening disease prevention and control work, such as infectious disease monitoring, vaccination, and health education, thereby reducing the burden on the public health system.
• Emergency response capability: When a public health emergency occurs, health services can respond quickly, provide timely medical treatment and prevention and control measures, and reduce the impact and influence of the incident on society.
• Telemedicine service: In response to the problem of lack of medical resources in remote areas, health services promote telemedicine services so that patients in remote areas can enjoy high-quality medical resources in big cities. This helps to narrow the medical gap between urban and rural areas and regions and promote health equity.
• Improvement of primary medical capacity: At the same time, health services also focus on strengthening the construction and capacity improvement of primary medical institutions, improving the diagnosis and treatment level and service quality of primary doctors, and providing more convenient and efficient medical services for patients in remote areas.

The value created for social and economic development

• Medical security system: Health services provide financial support and security for patients by improving the medical security system, such as basic medical insurance and major disease insurance, to reduce the risk of poverty caused by illness.
• Health poverty alleviation policy: For poor areas and poor people, health services have also implemented a series of health poverty alleviation policies, such as free physical examinations and medical assistance, to help them get rid of the plight of poverty caused by illness.
• Health management industry: As people pay more and more attention to health, the health management industry has developed rapidly. Health services meet people’s needs for health management by providing personalized health management plans, health consultation and other services, and promote the prosperity of the health management industry.
• Elderly care service industry: At the same time, with the intensification of population aging, the elderly care service industry has also ushered in a broad space for development. Health services provide more comprehensive and caring care for the elderly by providing elderly care, rehabilitation and health care services, and promote the healthy development of the elderly care service industry.

The future of health services

Technology-driven: Innovating health service experience

AI-assisted diagnosis: Can AI be applied to health?，yes！AI can quickly identify lesion characteristics and assist doctors in disease diagnosis by deeply learning a large number of medical images (such as X-rays, CT, MRI, etc.), clinical case data, etc.

For example, in the diagnosis of lung diseases, AI algorithms can accurately detect the size, shape, density and other characteristics of lung nodules, and judge the possibility of benign or malignant, greatly improving the efficiency and accuracy of diagnosis.

Personalized genetic testing services: Genetic testing is to analyze the genetic sequence of individuals and understand their genetic information, so as to provide personalized solutions for disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

For example, genetic testing can predict the risk of individuals suffering from certain genetic diseases, such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer. For high-risk groups, preventive measures can be taken in advance, such as regular screening and lifestyle intervention.

In terms of disease treatment, genetic testing can help doctors choose the most suitable drugs and treatment plans for patients and improve treatment effects.

Building a comprehensive health service system

Life-cycle health management: Life-cycle health management refers to comprehensive health monitoring, assessment, intervention and management of individuals from the beginning to the end of life.

It covers multiple stages such as pre-pregnancy care, pregnancy care, child care, youth health management, adult health management, and elderly health management.

For example, in the child care stage, attention will be paid to children’s growth and development, nutritional status, vaccination, etc.; in the elderly health management stage, focus will be placed on chronic disease management, rehabilitation care, mental health, etc. of the elderly.

Health service model combining medical care and nursing care: Medical care and nursing care is to combine medical resources with elderly care resources to provide comprehensive services for the elderly that integrate medical care, rehabilitation, nursing, and elderly care.

Common models include cooperation between medical institutions and elderly care institutions, medical institutions within elderly care institutions, and medical institutions providing elderly care services.

For example, some large nursing homes have established cooperative relationships with nearby hospitals, so that when the elderly have sudden illnesses, they can receive professional medical treatment in time; some hospitals have opened geriatric and rehabilitation departments to provide long-term medical care and rehabilitation services for the elderly.

Summarize:

In summary, health services, as an important means of maintaining and promoting human health, are increasingly becoming an indispensable part of modern society.

Faced with multiple challenges such as aging, chronic diseases and public health events, health services have created huge value for individuals and society through their comprehensive and systematic classification, including health prevention, management of problem stages, long-term health management and rehabilitation support.

Author’s message:

Through the sharing of this article, we hope that every reader can have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of health services, so as to make more wise health choices in daily life.

We sincerely invite you to follow our channel and become a member of our health family. At the same time, you are welcome to order our mall products to make professional health services at your fingertips. Let us work together to start a healthy and beautiful life journey together!

Related references:

【1】Hacker K. The Burden of Chronic Disease. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2024 Jan 20;8(1):112-119. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2023.08.005. Erratum in: Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2024 Dec 13;9(1):100588. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2024.11.005. PMID: 38304166; PMCID: PMC10830426.

【2】Bodai BI, Nakata TE, Wong WT, Clark DR, Lawenda S, Tsou C, Liu R, Shiue L, Cooper N, Rehbein M, Ha BP, Mckeirnan A, Misquitta R, Vij P, Klonecke A, Mejia CS, Dionysian E, Hashmi S, Greger M, Stoll S, Campbell TM. Lifestyle Medicine: A Brief Review of Its Dramatic Impact on Health and Survival. Perm J. 2018;22:17-025. doi: 10.7812/TPP/17-025. PMID: 29035175; PMCID: PMC5638636.

【3】WHO remains firmly committed to the principles set out in the preamble to the Constitution