Health care is a vital service that touches the lives of millions of individuals globally each and every day. The health care sector is positioned in a highly competitive environment, with local or domestic as well as international players literally functioning as rivals for the "market" (Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice, 2004). At issue in this brief analysis is a comparison of local and international competition in the field. It will be demonstrated that locally, competition in the sector may be based on access and quality issues, while internationally it is likely to be derived from a combination of quality and cost issues.
The Federal trade Commission/Department of Justice (FTC/DOJ) (2004) reported that in the United States, health care quality varies widely, even after controlling for costs, source of payment, and patient preferences. Access is a major issue impacting upon competitive status, with local and readily available services often perceived as presenting consumers of health care with a reason to use local services rather than seeking services elsewhere. Americans are interested, according to this set of analysts, in easily accessed and affordable care that will be reimbursed by a third party payer; market competition does exist, but it often takes the form of an insurance provider determining which hospital, physician, or practice group will be reimbursed for services and the rates at which reimbursement may occur. Competition is, therefore, often a factor of insurance choices rather than direct competition between providers of actual health services.
Internationally, many specialty health care providers compete on quality and cost factors (Klink, 2009). Many well-known international health care providers seek clients from a global population. In other countries, unlike the United States, competition between providers for local clients or patients may be determined by government-sponso...