Health care treatment

 

Healthcare treatment is the process of providing care to individuals to prevent, diagnose, or cure illness and injury through interventions like medicine, therapy, surgery, or other procedures. These treatments are delivered by health professionals across various services, including primary, secondary, and tertiary care, and can be aimed at maintaining health or alleviating symptoms. Examples range from receiving antibiotics to physical therapy, or more specialized fields like oncology and cardiology. 

Types of healthcare treatment

Medical interventions: This includes administering medications, performing surgery, or using devices like sutures, staples, or immobilization systems.

Therapies: Physical and occupational therapy are examples of treatments focused on rehabilitation and improving function.

Preventive care: This involves measures to prevent illness, such as vaccinations, screenings, and health education.

Diagnostic care: Services like laboratory tests and imaging are used to diagnose a patient's condition.

Specialty care: Treatment for specific conditions, such as cancer (oncology) or heart disease (cardiology), is provided by specialists. 

How healthcare treatment is delivered

Healthcare facilities: Treatments are delivered in various settings, including hospitals, clinics, and private offices.

Remote care: Telemedicine services, like e Sanjeevani in India, allow patients to receive consultations and care remotely from doctors and specialists.

Home care: Some treatments, like nursing care, can be provided in a patient's home. 

Key aspects of healthcare treatment

Cure vs. treatment: A treatment aims to control a problem or lessen its symptoms, while a cure makes the problem go away permanently.

Levels of care: Treatments are often categorized into different levels, such as primary care (first point of contact), secondary care (specialist care), and tertiary care (complex, specialized care).

Ethical considerations: Key ethical issues in treatment include obtaining informed consent, ensuring equitable access to care, and making difficult end-of-life decisions. 

In India, healthcare delivery is implemented at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Of these, primary health care is the essential health care and is the first point of care for the public across the country. The primary health care system caters to nearly 70% of the population by treating about 90% of the common and locally prevailing problems. One of the integral elements of primary health care is provision of essential medicines, which should be available at all times in adequate amounts in appropriate dosage forms and at an affordable cost. It has an important bearing on the medical, economical and social outcomes of the healthcare delivery system. This situation mandates the need for rational use of medicines by standardizing the treatment of commonly occurring illness at the primary health care level. Standard Treatment Guidelines (STG s) have been in vogue in India only since recent times and is gaining popularity among practitioners. STG s have many advantages for the patients, healthcare providers, drug manufacturers and marketing agencies, and above all, the policy makers and the legislative system of the country. The drawback in STG s lies in the difficulties in implementation on a large scale. With due efforts to prioritize the health needs, comprehensive coverage of national health programs involving all the stakeholders including professional organizations, undergraduate medical curriculum planners and medical practitioners, STG s can be implemented effectively and thereby we can ensure a quality health care at the primary care level at an affordable cost as part of the now redefined Universal Health Coverage. This article is intended as a guide to understand the concept of STG s, prepared with the aim of capacity building for medical professionals in rationally treating patients in their day-to-day clinical practice.