The effective delivery of healthcare services is vital to the general welfare and well-being of a country’s citizens. Financial infrastructure and policy reform can play a significant role in optimizing existing healthcare programs. Health Economics and Healthcare Reform: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice is a comprehensive source of academic material on the importance of economic structures and policy reform initiatives in modern healthcare systems. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as clinical costing, patient engagement, and e-health, this book is ideally designed for medical practitioners, researchers, professionals, and students interested in the optimization of healthcare delivery.
In the realm of health care, privacy protections are needed to preserve patients' dignity and prevent possible harms. Ten years ago, to address these concerns as well as set guidelines for ethical health research, Congress called for a set of federal standards now known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule. In its 2009 report, Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health Through Research, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information concludes that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not protect privacy as well as it should, and that it impedes important health research.
The Institute of Medicine study Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001) recommended that an interdisciplinary summit be held to further reform of health professions education in order to enhance quality and patient safety. Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality is the follow up to that summit, held in June 2002, where 150 participants across disciplines and occupations developed ideas about how to integrate a core set of competencies into health professions education. These core competencies include patient-centered care, interdisciplinary teams, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics. This book recommends a mix of approaches to health education improvement, including those related to oversight processes, the training environment, research, public reporting, and leadership. Educators, administrators, and health professionals can use this book to help achieve an approach to education that better prepares clinicians to meet both the needs of patients and the requirements of a changing health care system.
Drawing on the work of the Roundtable on Evidence-Based Medicine, the 2007 IOM Annual Meeting assessed some of the rapidly occurring changes in health care related to new diagnostic and treatment tools, emerging genetic insights, the developments in information technology, and healthcare costs, and discussed the need for a stronger focus on evidence to ensure that the promise of scientific discovery and technological innovation is efficiently captured to provide the right care for the right patient at the right time. As new discoveries continue to expand the universe of medical interventions, treatments, and methods of care, the need for a more systematic approach to evidence development and application becomes increasingly critical. Without better information about the effectiveness of different treatment options, the resulting uncertainty can lead to the delivery of services that may be unnecessary, unproven, or even harmful. Improving the evidence-base for medicine holds great potential to increase the quality and efficiency of medical care. The Annual Meeting, held on October 8, 2007, brought together many of the nation's leading authorities on various aspects of the issues - both challenges and opportunities - to present their perspectives and engage in discussion with the IOM membership.
The complexities of health care finance, economics, and policy today are inextricably intertwined with traditional nursing practice. This undergraduate nursing text distills these challenging topics into an engaging, easy-to-read format that facilitates ready application to any practice setting. Written specifically for RN to BSN and second-degree nursing programs, the book is the only such text grounded in nurses’ own understanding and experience. Concise and practical, it supports foundational concepts with real-life case studies and clinical applications and reinforces information with interactive quizzes and multimedia materials. The book’s content fulfills one of the AACN’s key Essentials of Baccalaureate Education. Written by a health economics and policy expert, former dean, and award-winning teacher, the text synthesizes the vast scope of health economics to create an easily understandable guide for nursing action from bedside to boardroom. The text describes the relationship between nursing and health care economics and traces the history of our health care system from the early 1900s through today. It contrasts the economics of health care with that of classic free markets and discusses the intersection of ethics and economics, providing nurses with the ethical tools to thoughtfully consider dilemmas arising from today’s focus on the bottom line. The book describes how to use economic principles to shape organizations and public policy and includes a step-by-step, skillbuilding guide to enhancing professional influence through participation on governing boards. Complex financial principles are broken down to facilitate understanding for nurses with no prior knowledge of this discipline. The book also includes relevant information on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and is compatible with online teaching and coursework. Faculty resources include PowerPoint slides, a test bank, comprehensive review questions, and sample syllabi. KEY FEATURES: Fulfills one of the key Essentials of Baccalaureate Education Addresses the specific needs of RN to BSN courses with a concise, easy-to-read format Illuminates complex principles with specific, engaging case examples relevant to nursing practice Authored by a leading nurse expert, health policy leader, former dean, and award-winning teacher Guides readers in using economic principles to shape organizations and public policy
The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.
Based on careful analysis of burden of disease and the costs ofinterventions, this second edition of 'Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd edition' highlights achievable priorities; measures progresstoward providing efficient, equitable care; promotes cost-effectiveinterventions to targeted populations; and encourages integrated effortsto optimize health. Nearly 500 experts - scientists, epidemiologists, health economists,academicians, and public health practitioners - from around the worldcontributed to the data sources and methodologies, and identifiedchallenges and priorities, resulting in this integrated, comprehensivereference volume on the state of health in developing countries.
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Using cross-country analysis and case studies, this book provides new insights and potential policy responses for the key fiscal policy challenges that both advanced and emerging economies will be facing.
Different levels in health sciences, in particular public health, have acknowledged the significant role of epidemiology methods for early detection of emerging infections, alert systems, and preparedness interventions. Therefore, it is important to understand how epidemiological research is conducted and how it can be used at various levels to make exposure or incidence data on a general population available. In this, epidemiological research connected to both human and technology interactions is of primary importance. Epidemiological Research Applications for Public Health Measurement and Intervention provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the field of epidemiology. The chapters within this essential reference source enhance the knowledge of epidemiological research and measurement to investigate, detect, and monitor emerging pathological infections. While highlighting topics that include the history of epidemiology; the applications of epidemiology; and also the uses, principles, and roles of epidemiology, this book is ideally intended for professionals and researchers working in the field of health sciences in various disciplines and government officials, policymakers, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in epidemiological research and measurement for increasing the effectiveness of public health practice.
