Performance Measurement
Performance Measurement

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-07-09

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 0309100070

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Performance Measurement is the first in a new series of an ongoing effort by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to improve health care quality. Performance Measurement offers a comprehensive review of available measures and introduces a new framework to examine these measures against the six aims of the health care system: health care should be safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable. This new book also addresses the gaps in performance measurement and introduces the need for measures that are longitudinal, comprehensive, population-based, and patient-centered. This book is directed toward all concerned with improving the quality and performance of the nation's health care system in its multiple dimensions and in both the public and private sectors.

The Rising Cost of Hospital Care
The Rising Cost of Hospital Care

Author: Martin S. Feldstein

Publisher: Information Resources Press

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13:

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The course of hospital cost inflation from 1950 to 1970 is surveyed and analyzed. It emphasized that a day of hospital care is a product that has been continually changing. The rising cost of hospital care is therefor not comparable to price increases for other goods and services, and should not be interpreted as evidence of inefficiency or a low rate of technical progress. Increasing demand is identified as the primary reason for the unusually rapid rate of cost increase. It is concluded that the current high cost of care does not actually correspond to the basic preferences of consumers, that it imposes a substantial direct and indirect financial burden, and that it may lead to inappropriate changes in the financing and organisation of hospital care.

Moral Hazard in Health Insurance
Moral Hazard in Health Insurance

Author: Amy Finkelstein

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2014-12-02

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0231538685

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Addressing the challenge of covering heath care expenses—while minimizing economic risks. Moral hazard—the tendency to change behavior when the cost of that behavior will be borne by others—is a particularly tricky question when considering health care. Kenneth J. Arrow’s seminal 1963 paper on this topic (included in this volume) was one of the first to explore the implication of moral hazard for health care, and Amy Finkelstein—recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic—here examines this issue in the context of contemporary American health care policy. Drawing on research from both the original RAND Health Insurance Experiment and her own research, including a 2008 Health Insurance Experiment in Oregon, Finkelstein presents compelling evidence that health insurance does indeed affect medical spending and encourages policy solutions that acknowledge and account for this. The volume also features commentaries and insights from other renowned economists, including an introduction by Joseph P. Newhouse that provides context for the discussion, a commentary from Jonathan Gruber that considers provider-side moral hazard, and reflections from Joseph E. Stiglitz and Kenneth J. Arrow. “Reads like a fireside chat among a group of distinguished, articulate health economists.” —Choice