Can Epidemiology Provide Benefits to Healthcare?
Healthcare in the United States, US, is a complex topic. It would be ignorant to have a one-cut solution to health care, like a chaos equation, any input into the system will result in an unexpected outcome. Using effective research methods effective treatments can be given to patients.
Epidemiology yields promising results in providing such effective medical care to patients. The Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information defines epidemiology as the practice of conducting health research such as analyzing past and future causes of diseases. Recalde et al, a team of joint researchers from various Spanish universities, claims obtaining quality health records is required for epidemiology research. The National Cancer Institute has set up a series of “information grids” allowing for information transfer locations. Some countries acquire data from regulations mandated by the government. Denmark’s Hip Arthroplasty Registry (DHR) requires data input. According to Gundtoft et al, researchers from different Department of Orthopedics in Denmark, the DHR has 92% to 98% completion since 1995, including around 140,000 cases of hip arthroplasty. With an immense number of cases, researchers were able to identify unknown risk factors. Having a sizable database can lead to developments in healthcare.
