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I suggest this would depend on the scale of the battle and the degree of "fantasy" you introduce in the world.

In a huge battle (my idea of the NPC soldier masses and player commanders/heroes/specialists), the player-characters could be hardier than most (since they are exceptional compared to the NPC bulk of the population), and take quite a beating before they are killed. As for healing, in a fantasy setting I might envision a form of supernatural healing, but it might have to be applied OUTSIDE the actual combat itself. For instance, comrades carry the wounded commander's body behind the lines, where he is healed, or if dead, maybe even raised. Or perhaps the healer does go to the front rank, probably to be killed rather easily, in which case, you have one healer less and one problem more. Point is, healing should not be easy or done from a distance: it requires a measure of time, maybe even resources (mana shards, whatever) that only the healer can use, in the frontlines even risk. It has to COST and it should take EFFORT.

An alternative might be "temporary permanent death" for a player character, as long as the battle lasts, that is, he or she can't revive before the end of the battle. Such a thing would certainly be very annoying to players in the current "run-run-hit-hit-kill" kind of PvP combat systems. But in a system where combat is slower, more tactical and less (and at the same time, more) deadly? It might work in such a system, as long as the player feels that he had a hell of a fight after all, and it took effort to take him (or her) out. I would have peace with being "out of the battle" in such a case.
And it would certainly help in giving an individual battle a clear "end". Right now, open PvP in WoW, for instance, never really ends, it just...peters out, as one side disperses. Or perhaps a few return and keep on "sniping" lowbies or lone individuals in the area. It's impossible under these conditions to really "break" an enemy force.