The United States spends greatly more per person on health care than any other country but the evidence shows that care is often poor and inappropriate. Despite expenditures of 1.7 trillion dollars ...in 2003, and growing substantially each year, services remain fragmented and poorly coordinated, and more than 46 million people are uninsured. Why can't America, with its vast array of resources, sophisticated technologies, superior medical research and educational institutions, and talented health care professionals, produce higher quality care and better outcomes?In The Truth about Health Care, David Mechanic explains how health care in America has evolved in ways that favor a myriad of economic, professional, and political interests over those of patients. While money has always had a place in medical care, "big money" and the quest for profits has become dominant, making meaningful reforms difficult to achieve. Mechanic acknowledges that railing against these influences, which are here to stay, can achieve only so much. Instead, he asks whether it is possible to convert what is best about health care in America into a well functioning system that better serves the entire population.Bringing decades of experience as an active health policy participant, researcher, teacher, and consultant to the public and private sectors, Mechanic examines the strengths and weaknesses of our system and how it has evolved. He pays special attention to areas often neglected in policy discussions, such as the loss of public trust in medicine, the tragic state of long-term care, and the relationship of mental health to health care.For anyone who has been frustrated by uncoordinated health networks, insurance denials, and other obstacles to obtaining appropriate care, this book will provide a refreshing and frank look at the system's current and future dilemmas. Mechanic's thoughtful roadmap describes how health plans, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and consumer groups can work together to improve access, quality, fairness, and health outcomes in America.About the Author:
Inside national health reform McDonough, John E
2011., 20110813, 2011, 2011-09-12, 20110101, 20110901, Letnik:
22
eBook
This indispensable guide to the Affordable Care Act, our new national health care law, lends an insider's deep understanding of policy to a lively and absorbing account of the extraordinary—and ...extraordinarily ambitious—legislative effort to reform the nation's health care system. Dr. John E. McDonough, DPH, a health policy expert who served as an advisor to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, provides a vivid picture of the intense effort required to bring this legislation into law. McDonough clearly explains the ACA's inner workings, revealing the rich landscape of the issues, policies, and controversies embedded in the law yet unknown to most Americans. In his account of these historic events, McDonough takes us through the process from the 2008 presidential campaign to the moment in 2010 when President Obama signed the bill into law. At a time when the nation is taking a second look at the ACA, Inside National Health Reform provides the essential information for Americans to make informed judgments about this landmark law.
Seeking Value Sowers, Wesley E; Ranz, Jules M; Psychiatry, Group for the Advancement of
2020, 2020-11-13
eBook
This comprehensive volume examines the myriad factors that have led to the current state of health care in the United States -- starting with an analysis of the meaning and history of value ...measurement -- but it does not stop there. It offers a holistic vision for health care reform, one in which psychiatric professionals play a pivotal role.
`This is an excellent textbook for which there is currently a niche in the market. It will be invaluable to students of health policy, health studies and health service research′ - Professor Michael ...Calnan, University of Bristol Written by leading academics in their field this book provides a clear and considered overview of the politics of health care in Britain. Bringing together a wide range of material on both past events and recent developments, the chapters cover issues such as the politics of health professionalism, clinical knowledge and organisation and management. Each chapter offers a a unique combination of theory, historical detail and analysis of contemporary events. It features case studies to illustrate how policy has evolved and developed in recent years, and the implications these changes have for practice. Written in an accessible style the chapters also include comprehensive introductions, summaries and further reading sections.
Over the period 1987–1991 an inter-disciplinary five-country group developed the EuroQol instrument, a five-dimensional three-level generic measure subsequently termed the ‘EQ-5D’. It was designed to ...measure and value health status. The salient features of its development and its consolidation and expansion are discussed. Initial expansion came, in particular, in the form of new language versions. Their development raised translation and semantic issues, experience with which helped feed into the design of two further instruments, the EQ-5D-5L and the youth version EQ-5D-Y. The expanded usage across clinical programmes, disease and condition areas, population surveys, patient-reported outcomes, and value sets is outlined. Valuation has been of continued relevance for the Group as this has allowed its instruments to be utilised as part of the economic appraisal of health programmes and their incorporation into health technology assessments. The future of the Group is considered in the context of: (1) its scientific strategy, (2) changes in the external environment affecting the demand for EQ-5D, and (3) a variety of issues it is facing in the context of the design of the instrument, its use in health technology assessment, and potential new uses for EQ-5D outside of clinical trials and technology appraisal.
The relationship between undocumented immigrants and law enforcement officials continues to be a politically contentious topic in the United States. Nolan Kline focuses on the hidden, health-related ...impacts of immigrant policing to examine the role of policy in shaping health inequality in the U.S., and responds to fundamental questions regarding biopolitics, especially how policy can reinforce 'race' as a vehicle of social division. He argues that immigration enforcement policy results in a shadow medical system, shapes immigrants' health and interpersonal relationships, and has health-related impacts that extend beyond immigrants to affect health providers, immigrant rights groups, hospitals, and the overall health system. Pathogenic Policing follows current immigrant policing regimes in Georgia and contextualizes contemporary legislation and law enforcement practices against a backdrop of historical forms of political exclusion from health and social services for all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. For anyone concerned about the health of the most vulnerable among us, and those who interact with the overall health safety net, this will be an eye-opening read.
Taking a political economic approach, Schneider examines the conditions under which community-based health groups are emerging and explores the ways different constituencies address health dilemmas. ...She delineates future roles for new participants in health care, new models of community health, and a new medical pluralism.
Context: During the 1980s and 1990s, innovations in the organization, funding, and delivery of primary health care in Canada were at the periphery of the system rather than at its core. In the early ...2000s, a new policy environment emerged. Methods: This policy analysis examines primary health care reform efforts in Canada during the last decade, drawing on descriptive information from published and gray literature and from a series of semistructured interviews with informed observers of primary health care in Canada. Findings: Primary health care in Canada has entered a period of potentially transformative change. Key initiatives include support for interprofessional primary health care teams, group practices and networks, patient enrollment with a primary care provider, financial incentives and blended-payment schemes, development of primary health care governance mechanisms, expansion of the primary health care provider pool, implementation of electronic medical records, and quality improvement training and support. Conclusions: Canada's experience suggests that primary health care transformation can be achieved voluntarily in a pluralistic system of private health care delivery, given strong government and professional leadership working in concert.
Revitalizing Health for All Labonté, Ronald; Sanders, David; Packer, Corinne ...
2017, 2017-06-19, 2017-06-30
eBook
The concept of Comprehensive Primary Health Care focuses on health system efforts to improve equity in health care access, community empowerment, participation of marginalized groups, and actions on ...the social determinants of health. Despite its existence since the late 1970s very few studies have been able to highlight the outcomes of this concept, until now.
Revitalizing Health for All examines thirteen cases of efforts to implement CPHC reforms from around the globe including Australia, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, South Africa, and more. The findings presented in this volume originate from an international action-research set of studies that utilized triads of senior and junior researchers and knowledge users from each country’s public health system. Primary health care reform is an important policy discourse both at the national level in these countries and in the global conversations, and this volume reveals the similarities among CPHC projects in diverse national contexts. These similarities provide a rich evidence base from which future CPHC reform initiatives can draw, regardless of their country.
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