361 Industry Overview Final Project

ECO/361 Industry Overview Final Project IntroductionOur team has chosen the healthcare industry, specifically medical laboratories, to write a Full Industry Overview. The purpose of this research analysis paper on the Full Industry Overview of the healthcare industry is to provide an overview of the industry that we have chosen, analyze Current Market Conditions, analyze Future Market Conditions, and also compile a list of final recommendations. The following it the results of our research analysis.Industry Overview: HealthcareLearning Team C chose the healthcare industry to research. In this Industry Overview Section, the team will discuss the history of the industry, the market in which it operates, the role of government regulations and the issues opportunities the industry faces.Representing about 20 percent of the US Gross Domestic Product and accounting for approximately $1.5 trillion in market revenue, the health care industry is the single largest market in the US today. In any business, especially one as prominen t and encompassing as healthcare, it is important and beneficial to understand its origins.World map showing countries by nominal GDP per cap...Although the healthcare industry is a commercial market today, it didn't start out that way. In fact, the origins of these plans resided with providers (doctors and hospitals) and their desire to protect and enhance revenues. Over the course of the twentieth century healthcare plans have evolved from being provider run, to adding plans that were employer run, to an all out commercial money making market.Continuous increases in the cost of health care, growing at rates far exceeding the rate of inflation in general, are overwhelming health consumers and payers of all types. Managed care providers continue to struggle to contain costs. Meanwhile, employers are hit hard by vast increases in the cost of providing coverage to employees and retirees. In 2005, employers saw health coverage cost increases of about 9.2%. This...