Application of economics in the healthcare area is relatively new. Until recently, the public health scene has not understood the importance that the application of well-established economic concepts could have in this field. Fortunately, it is now well recognized that the introduction of economics in health (health economics) is of great importance. While other disciplines contribute to the understanding of factors that determine the health of an individual, health economics contributes to a better understanding of an individual's behavior that would ultimately have a strong influence on his health condition. A health economist explains individual behavior as a process in which an individual makes decisions by comparing current health condition, time and financial costs on one side and future health contributions such as a decrease of the probability of getting a disease or death, on the other side. Clarification of this issue, as well as numerous other issues concerning health economics applications are the central challenges for this field of research.
Keywords: Health; efficiency; health care; health economics.