Supply of Health Care: Manpower y The Philippines produces considerable number of medical and allied health manpower, and

is one of the major exporter of physicians, nurses, and dentists, causing shortages of these professionals in many areas in the country.

To address issues on the correspondence between the medical and nursing curricula with the requirement of health care delivery system, the legal aspects of professional practice and task delegation, the development of career paths, appropriate incentives to attract manpower in the rural areas, and the optimum number of health manpower exports taking into consideration the countrys needs. Supply of Health Care: Drugs and other Health Products The National Drug Policy the use of generic names in the prescriptions, sale and dispensation of drugs. The Health Product Development Group (HPDG) organized since August 1989, reviews the consumption of these products, and the possibility of manufacturing locally; obtain information on the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of local manufacture of specific health products. Provide guidance on how health care technologies can be developed, selected and rationally allocated to improved quality of care.

y y

Supply of Health Care: Medical Equipment y All sophisticated equipment in the Philippines are imported.

y y

No policies govern their importation, distribution, and use. Its high cost has establish a capacity for the determination of needs, as well as for technology assessment, allocation, monitoring and operation of these capital resources. Business entities have shown interest in providing medical equipment to government and private hospitals through a variety of new arrangements, e.g. capital lease, operating lease, and per use basis.

A Forecasting Model for Nursing Workforce Decisions regarding the supply of and demand for nurses could be grounded within the context of the economic theories of supply and demand. Understanding the economics of market forces, "the rules" and their effect on nurse supply, can help to anticipate what to expect regarding demand for nurses (Brewer, 1997). The macroeconomic model of aggregate supply and demand portrays the market forces of an economy and the interrelationships between these forces that affect supply of and demand for a good (Samuelson & Nordhaus, 1985). According to this model, demand is influenced by price, the size of the market, availability of substitutes, tastes or preferences, technology, and regulatory factors. When the price of a good is raised and all the other variables are held constant, less of that good is demanded. Supply is influenced primarily by the market price for a good or service, but is also affected by technology, other goods that may act as substitutes, and market monopolies. The supply of a resource or commodity is determined by the current market price of a good and the amount of that good those producers are willing to produce at that price (Samuelson & Nordhaus, 1985). Market equilibrium is achieved when the supply of a good or service is matched to the demand of that good or service. Nursing services are a commodity; these services are bought and sold. Realizing that the consumption of these services may be subject to the forces of the market as described by macroeconomic theory of aggregate supply and demand would guide those who make the decisions about the provision and consumption of nursing services. Initial research findings have shown that wages paid for nursing services affect the supply of nurses. As wages (prices) increase, the number of nurses employed (supply) also increases (Brewer, 1996; Buerhaus, 1991). Without question the economic forces that affect hospitals directly influences the decisions regarding the demand for nursing services (Buerhaus, 1995b). The forecasting model of Nursing Workforce (see Figure 1) integrates the market forces concepts that influence the supply of and demand for a commodity. It has been derived from the macroeconomic theory of aggregate supply and demand (Samuelson &

Nordhaus, 1985) and incorporates the recommendations of Prescott (1991). Walker and Avant's (1995) process of theory derivation was used to develop the Forecasting Model of Nursing Workforce. Table 1 illustrates the modifications made to the concepts of the macroeconomic theory to derive the Forecasting Model of Nursing Workforce. The unique contribution of this model is the integration of the essential influences that may influence the supply of and demand for nursing workforce.