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| Tables and Figures | p. xi |
| Foreword | p. xv |
| Organization of This Book | p. xix |
| Contributors | p. xxi |
| Perspectives | |
| Overview: The State of Health Care Delivery in the United States | p. 2 |
| Defining Characteristics of the U.S. Health Care System | p. 4 |
| Major Issues and Concerns | p. 7 |
| Prospects for Change and Improvement | p. 9 |
| ... MORE | p. 10 |
| Supplement: Key Charts | p. 13 |
| Good News About the U.S. Health Care System | p. 14 |
| Influences on Health | p. 16 |
| Getting the Preventive Care We Need | p. 18 |
| The Changing U.S. Population | p. 22 |
| Quality Versus Costs of Care | p. 24 |
| Oral Health Care | p. 26 |
| The Impact of Mental Disorders | p. 28 |
| Costly Medical Conditions | p. 30 |
| Dissatisfaction With the U.S. Health Care System | p. 32 |
| Measuring Health Status | p. 34 |
| Quantitative Perspectives | p. 37 |
| Understanding Numbers and Rates | p. 40 |
| Census Data | p. 41 |
| Vital Statistics | p. 42 |
| Morbidity | p. 46 |
| Health Status and Health-Related Behavior | p. 49 |
| Utilization and Cost of Health Care Services | p. 50 |
| Conclusion | p. 53 |
| Financing Health Care | p. 56 |
| What the Money Buys | p. 59 |
| How We Pay for Health Care | p. 61 |
| Reimbursement Approaches | p. 73 |
| Current Policy Issues | p. 76 |
| Conclusion | p. 79 |
| Public Health: Policy, Practice, and Perceptions | p. 84 |
| Public Health Every Day | p. 86 |
| Who Is in Charge of Public Health? | p. 90 |
| Defining Characteristics of Public Health | p. 91 |
| Core Functions of Public Health | p. 99 |
| Governmental Authority for Public Health | p. 103 |
| Challenges and Opportunities | p. 113 |
| The Role of Government in U.S. Health Care | p. 126 |
| The Government as Payer: The Health Insurance Safety Net | p. 129 |
| The Government as Regulator | p. 140 |
| The Government as Health Care Provider | p. 144 |
| Key Issues on the Health Care Agenda | p. 148 |
| Comparative Analysis of Health Systems Among Wealthy Nations | p. 152 |
| The Evolution of Health Systems and Policy in Wealthy Nations | p. 154 |
| Overview of Health System Models | p. 156 |
| Comparative Analysis of Health Systems | p. 159 |
| Common Problems of Health Care Organization and Policy in Three Nations | p. 164 |
| The U.S. Health System in Comparative Perspective | p. 174 |
| New Approaches to Comparing Health Systems | p. 179 |
| Conclusion | p. 183 |
| Providing Health Care | |
| Acute Care | p. 190 |
| The History of Acute Care | p. 192 |
| Kinds of Acute Care Today | p. 194 |
| Hospitals in the United States | p. 200 |
| Current Issues in Acute Care | p. 212 |
| Future Challenges | p. 217 |
| Chronic Care | p. 220 |
| Definition of and Prevalence of Chronic Conditions | p. 223 |
| Chronic Conditions and Activity Limitations | p. 225 |
| Paying for Chronic Care | p. 226 |
| Dissatisfaction With the Current System | p. 227 |
| The Evolving Health Care System | p. 230 |
| International Trends | p. 236 |
| Conclusion | p. 237 |
| Long-Term Care | p. 238 |
| Long-Term Care Needs and Demands | p. 241 |
| Costs and Financing of Long-Term Care | p. 242 |
| The Goals of Long-Term Care | p. 246 |
| Providers of Long-Term Care | p. 246 |
| Challenging Issues | p. 255 |
| Conclusion | p. 263 |
| Health-Related Behavior | p. 266 |
| Behavioral Risk Factors: Overview and National Goals | p. 269 |
| Changing Health Behavior | p. 274 |
| Changing Provider Behavior | p. 287 |
| Conclusion | p. 294 |
| Pharmaceuticals | p. 298 |
| Pharmaceuticals | p. 300 |
| Biologic Products | p. 313 |
| Medical Devices: Brief Overview | p. 313 |
| Conclusion | p. 317 |
| The Health Care Workforce | p. 320 |
| Supply and Demand Factors | p. 324 |
| Types of Health Care Workers | p. 335 |
| Medical Practice | p. 336 |
| Nursing Practice | p. 339 |
| Mid-Level Professionals | p. 342 |
| Other Health Care Workers | p. 344 |
| Allied Health Professionals | p. 346 |
| Health Care Workforce Issues | p. 348 |
| Conclusion | p. 351 |
| Information Management | p. 356 |
| Improving Clinical Quality Through Information Technology | p. 361 |
| Information Technology's Benefits for Patients | p. 368 |
| Information Technology's Role in Controlling Health Care Costs | p. 370 |
| Speeding Adoption of Health Care Information Technology | p. 373 |
| Conclusion | p. 379 |
| System Performance | |
| Governance, Management, and Accountability | p. 382 |
| Governance as a Process for Decision Making | p. 384 |
| Measuring Organizational Performance | p. 386 |
| Ownership of Health Care Organizations | p. 387 |
| Current Governance Issues | p. 392 |
| Management | p. 394 |
| Managerial Work in Health Care Organizations | p. 397 |
| Current Management Issues | p. 399 |
| Accountability | p. 402 |
| Conclusion | p. 405 |
| The Complexity of Health Care Quality | p. 408 |
| Health Care Quality: Fundamentals | p. 411 |
| Complexity and the Health Care Quality Challenge | p. 412 |
| Defining Quality of Health Care: Patients Versus Populations | p. 414 |
| Pay for Performance (P4P): Make the Business Case for Quality | p. 423 |
| Risk-Adjusted Quality Outcomes | p. 427 |
| Trends in Quality Assessment | p. 429 |
| Strategies for Managing Quality in the Health Care Zone of Complexity | p. 433 |
| Access to Care | p. 444 |
| Economic Barriers to Care | p. 448 |
| Noneconomic and Quasi-Economic Barriers to Care | p. 454 |
| Noneconomic and Quasi-Economic Barriers: Preventable Hospitalizations | p. 460 |
| Health Care Reform: Improving Access | p. 464 |
| The Future: Continuing and Emerging Issues | p. 470 |
| Costs and Value | p. 478 |
| The Problem: Rising Costs | p. 480 |
| Why Do Costs Rise? | p. 483 |
| Cost to Whom and for What? | p. 488 |
| Potential Solutions to Rising Health Care Costs | p. 491 |
| Dilemmas: Spending Is a Political Act | p. 502 |
| Conclusion | p. 504 |
| The Future | |
| The Future of Health Care Delivery in the United States | p. 508 |
| Forecasting: Definition and Approaches | p. 510 |
| Forecasting Methods | p. 513 |
| Drivers of Change in the New Millennium | p. 513 |
| Where Change Is Likely to Occur | p. 517 |
| Conclusion | p. 522 |
| Appendices | |
| Glossary | p. 527 |
| A Guide to Sources of Data | p. 541 |
| Useful Health Care Web Sites | p. 557 |
| Index | p. 571 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |