Health Care Market

Running head: HEALTH CARE MARKET

Health Care Market

Gloria Bailey,

University of Phoenix

ECO/HC561

John Lindvall

September 13, 2010

In order for individuals to appreciate the purpose of organ donation, it is important to understand the reason why there are donors. It is quite simple yet a hard decision to make for some. Individuals should keep in mind that “organ transplantation remains the only life-saving therapy for many patients with organ failure” (Tutle-Newhall, Krishnan, Levy, McBride, Orlowski & Sung, 2009, p.879). The following information will provide a brief overview of organ donation.

Various Stakeholders

Stakeholders play an important role in this specific market. Stakeholders in the organ donation market may have responsibilities such as informing the public of the importance of organ donors. Stakeholders may include hospitals, institutions, health departments, state governments, tissue banks, research laboratories, and transplant facilities.

Scarcity

“Scarcity restricts options and demands choices” (McConnell & Bruce, 2008, p.4) which is why scarcity influences this market in several ways. Because there is a waiting list for organs, the scarce resources are becoming more and more limited each day. “In the United States, more than 93,000 people are currently waiting to receive organs; on average, five people are added to the national transplant waiting list every hour; and the current unmet need for organs results in eighteen people dying each day due to a lack of available organs” (Clarke, 2007, p.190). These numbers seem to certainly reflect scarcity within the organ donation market. In light of scarcity, stakeholders must make major decisions. These decisions may include deciding upon a qualified recipient. There are other deciding factors such as the donor being an exact match to a recipient. There could be cost issues and/or insurance choices, for example one person’s insurance may cover the procedure...