"Each experience described here has its own history, as can be seen in each one of the chapters. Yet, all of them are part of a single reform process with shared historical roots and influences ... As proved by the experiences included in this book, a great deal can be learned from mental health reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean. On the one hand, each initiative developed truly original and innovative solutions for some of the problems usually encountered in the reform processes. Obviously, many of the innovative solutions can be applied in those countries that are at a similar stage of development as the Latin American and Caribbean countries where the reported experiences took place. However, many of these innovations also can be useful to any country interested in reforming its mental health services, regardless of the country's degree of development. I also believe that the reform of mental health services in Latin America and the Caribbean--given specific aspects such as the dynamic following the Caracas Declaration and the impact of international cooperation--help us to better understand the real importance of some factors, such as social and political aspects and international cooperation, in implementing mental health service reforms."--p. iv.

A wave of new health care innovation and growing demand for health care, coupled with uncertain productivity improvements, could severely challenge efforts to control future health care costs. A committee of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine organized a conference to examine key health care trends and their impact on medical innovation. The conference addressed the following question: In an environment of renewed concern about rising health care costs, where can public policy stimulate or remove disincentives to the development, adoption and diffusion of high-value innovation in diagnostics, therapeutics, and devices?

In 1996, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report Telemedicine: A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care. In that report, the IOM Committee on Evaluating Clinical Applications of Telemedicine found telemedicine is similar in most respects to other technologies for which better evidence of effectiveness is also being demanded. Telemedicine, however, has some special characteristics-shared with information technologies generally-that warrant particular notice from evaluators and decision makers. Since that time, attention to telehealth has continued to grow in both the public and private sectors. Peer-reviewed journals and professional societies are devoted to telehealth, the federal government provides grant funding to promote the use of telehealth, and the private technology industry continues to develop new applications for telehealth. However, barriers remain to the use of telehealth modalities, including issues related to reimbursement, licensure, workforce, and costs. Also, some areas of telehealth have developed a stronger evidence base than others. The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) sponsored the IOM in holding a workshop in Washington, DC, on August 8-9 2012, to examine how the use of telehealth technology can fit into the U.S. health care system. HRSA asked the IOM to focus on the potential for telehealth to serve geographically isolated individuals and extend the reach of scarce resources while also emphasizing the quality and value in the delivery of health care services. This workshop summary discusses the evolution of telehealth since 1996, including the increasing role of the private sector, policies that have promoted or delayed the use of telehealth, and consumer acceptance of telehealth. The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment: Workshop Summary discusses the current evidence base for telehealth, including available data and gaps in data; discuss how technological developments, including mobile telehealth, electronic intensive care units, remote monitoring, social networking, and wearable devices, in conjunction with the push for electronic health records, is changing the delivery of health care in rural and urban environments. This report also summarizes actions that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can undertake to further the use of telehealth to improve health care outcomes while controlling costs in the current health care environment.

The need to promote academic activities in telehealth remains a high priority as the discipline expands into new areas of healthcare. Response during 2020 to the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an excellent example of the rapid diversification and impact attainable with telehealth, and may kindle a new momentum for accelerated service design and adoption processes in the future. This book, Telehealth Innovations in Remote Healthcare Services Delivery, is the tenth in the Global Telehealth series. Due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions placed on academic gatherings, the organizers issued a general call for contributions, with the intention of attracting a wide cross-section of contributions reflecting the breadth of different aspects of telehealth internationally. The resulting collection offers snapshots of research projects and studies of service experience from five continents, with an emphasis on delivering benefits in regional settings in keeping with the theme of the book’s title. Articles range from descriptions of telehealth networks and clinical-service instances such as cardiac health, mental health and pathology, several in Pacific-rim settings, to more generic papers on the evolution of such services, as well as commentaries on innovative considerations for telehealth such as the emergence of the concept of virtual care, the suitability of health apps, and the status of eHealth readiness in the developing world. This book is a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge on current telehealth research interests and trends, and will be of interest to all those working in the field.

Americans praise medical technology for saving lives and improving health. Yet, new technology is often cited as a key factor in skyrocketing medical costs. This volume, second in the Medical Innovation at the Crossroads series, examines how economic incentives for innovation are changing and what that means for the future of health care. Up-to-date with a wide variety of examples and case studies, this book explores how payment, patent, and regulatory policiesâ€"as well as the involvement of numerous government agenciesâ€"affect the introduction and use of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures. The volume also includes detailed comparisons of policies and patterns of technological innovation in Western Europe and Japan. This fact-filled and practical book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, health administrators, health care practitioners, and the concerned public.

Health-Care Solutions from a Distant Shore Health care in the United States and other nations is on a collision course with patient needs and economic reality. For more than a decade, leading thinkers, including Michael Porter and Clayton Christensen, have argued passionately for value-based health-care reform: replacing delivery based on volume and fee-for-service with competition based on value, as measured by patient outcomes per dollar spent. Though still a pipe dream here in the United States, this kind of value-based competition is already a reality--in India. Facing a giant population of poor, underserved people and a severe shortage of skills and capacity, some resourceful private enterprises have found a way to deliver high-quality health care, at ultra-low prices, to all patients who need it. This book shows how the innovations developed by these Indian exemplars are already being practiced by some far-sighted US providers--reversing the typical flow of innovation in the world. Govindarajan and Ramamurti, experts in the phenomenon of reverse innovation, reveal four pathways being used by health-care organizations in the United States to apply Indian-style principles to attack the exorbitant costs, uneven quality, and incomplete access to health care. With rich stories and detailed accounts of medical professionals who are putting these ideas into practice, this book shows how value-based delivery can be made to work in the United States. This "bottom-up" change doesn't require a grand plan out of Washington, DC, agreement between entrenched political parties, or coordination among all players in the health-care system. It needs entrepreneurs with innovative ideas about delivering value to patients. Reverse innovation has worked in other industries. We need it now in health care.