Our Parents, Ourselves

Our Parents, Ourselves

Author: Judith Steinberg Turiel

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2005-11-09

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9780520938915

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The prospect of caring for elderly relatives who may be too old, fragile, or forgetful to manage on their own looms large for millions of women and men who are unprepared for the difficulties such an experience can bring. Written by a daughter of aging parents, this book takes an honest, unflinching look at aging in America, weaving together personal stories with current medical information to trace exactly how social and health care policies are affecting daily lives. Judith Steinberg Turiel addresses such topics as healthy aging and independent living; mental impairment brought on by Alzheimer's, other dementias, and depression; women as caregivers; health care rationing; the power of prescription drug makers; end-of-life care; and prospects for Medicare. Her book clearly demonstrates the pressing need for quality health care for people of all ages—through universal, publicly funded health insurance.


Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform

Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform

Author: Richard (Buz) Cooper

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Published: 2019-03-05

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1421429055

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Proof that high health care spending is linked directly to poverty. In Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform, Dr. Richard (Buz) Cooper argues that US poverty and high health care spending are inextricably entwined. Our nation's health care system bears a financial burden that is greater than in any other developed country in large part because impoverished patients use more health care, driving up costs across the board. Drawing on decades of research, Dr. Cooper illuminates the geographic patterns of poverty, wealth, and health care utilization that exist across neighborhoods, regions, and states—and among countries. He chronicles the historical threads that have led to such differences, examines the approaches that have been taken to combat poverty throughout US history, and analyzes the impact that structural changes now envisioned for clinical practice are likely to have. His research reveals that ignoring the impact of low income on health care utilization while blaming rising costs on waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary care has led policy makers to reshape clinical practice in ways that impede providers who care for the poor. The first book to address the fundamental nexus that binds poverty and income inequality to soaring health care utilization and spending, Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform is a must-read for medical professionals, public health scholars, politicians, and anyone concerned with the heavy burden of inequality on the health of Americans.


The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

Author: Dartmouth Medical School. Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781556481772

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The nine regional Atlases provide the data and analysis for specific hospital service areas with which these and other questions can be addressed. Strategies to address the question of the appropriate levels of supply must be developed in the absence of detailed understanding of the nature of health care needs, medical care outcomes, and what patients want. One such strategy begins by examining individual communities and comparing them to others. Such comparisons lead naturally to a search for "efficiently" operated health plans or communities--those with an adequate but not excessive supply of resources.


The Demography of Health and Health Care (second edition)

The Demography of Health and Health Care (second edition)

Author: Louis G. Pol

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2005-12-27

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 0306473763

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This is a thoroughgoing revision of the first edition of this classic text and reference, published by Plenum in 1992. The authors convey the general principles that underlie this applied subdiscipline and demonstrate how the merging of demography and health care impacts on the planning processes of a range of health care organizations.


The Healthcare Imperative

The Healthcare Imperative

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-01-17

Total Pages: 852

ISBN-13: 0309144337

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The United States has the highest per capita spending on health care of any industrialized nation but continually lags behind other nations in health care outcomes including life expectancy and infant mortality. National health expenditures are projected to exceed $2.5 trillion in 2009. Given healthcare's direct impact on the economy, there is a critical need to control health care spending. According to The Health Imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes, the costs of health care have strained the federal budget, and negatively affected state governments, the private sector and individuals. Healthcare expenditures have restricted the ability of state and local governments to fund other priorities and have contributed to slowing growth in wages and jobs in the private sector. Moreover, the number of uninsured has risen from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008. The Health Imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes identifies a number of factors driving expenditure growth including scientific uncertainty, perverse economic and practice incentives, system fragmentation, lack of patient involvement, and under-investment in population health. Experts discussed key levers for catalyzing transformation of the delivery system. A few included streamlined health insurance regulation, administrative simplification and clarification and quality and consistency in treatment. The book is an excellent guide for policymakers at all levels of government, as well as private sector healthcare workers.


Tracking Medicine

Tracking Medicine

Author: John E. Wennberg

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-08-26

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 0199830851

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Written by a groundbreaking figure of modern medical study, Tracking Medicine is an eye-opening introduction to the science of health care delivery, as well as a powerful argument for its relevance in shaping the future of our country. An indispensable resource for those involved in public health and health policy, this book uses Dr. Wennberg's pioneering research to provide a framework for understanding the health care crisis; and outlines a roadmap for real change in the future. It is also a useful tool for anyone interested in understanding and forming their own opinion on the current debate.


The Learning Healthcare System

The Learning Healthcare System

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-06-01

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 0309133939

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As our nation enters a new era of medical science that offers the real prospect of personalized health care, we will be confronted by an increasingly complex array of health care options and decisions. The Learning Healthcare System considers how health care is structured to develop and to apply evidence-from health profession training and infrastructure development to advances in research methodology, patient engagement, payment schemes, and measurement-and highlights opportunities for the creation of a sustainable learning health care system that gets the right care to people when they need it and then captures the results for improvement. This book will be of primary interest to hospital and insurance industry administrators, health care providers, those who train and educate health workers, researchers, and policymakers. The Learning Healthcare System is the first in a series that will focus on issues important to improving the development and application of evidence in health care decision making. The Roundtable on Evidence-Based Medicine serves as a neutral venue for cooperative work among key stakeholders on several dimensions: to help transform the availability and use of the best evidence for the collaborative health care choices of each patient and provider; to drive the process of discovery as a natural outgrowth of patient care; and, ultimately, to ensure innovation, quality, safety, and value in health care.


Health-Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination

Health-Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2018-04-02

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 030946921X

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two programs that provide benefits based on disability: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This report analyzes health care utilizations as they relate to impairment severity and SSA's definition of disability. Health Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination identifies types of utilizations that might be good proxies for "listing-level" severity; that is, what represents an impairment, or combination of impairments, that are severe enough to prevent a person from doing any gainful activity, regardless of age, education, or work experience.