The second in a series of three volumes presenting a selection of the best studies prepared for the Romanow Commission, this volume focuses on the problem of change in health care and health systems. Combining the talents of experienced health policy experts with innovative researchers, the resulting studies provide unique perspectives on the difficult issues under scrutiny, including complexity in health systems, management of human resources, organizational control and regulation, and public engagement. Commissioned and prepared with applicability as the foremost criteria, all of the studies presented in this volume offer solutions in managing obstacles to change. Each study also includes an appraisal of the most recent literature in the field.

Introduction -- Key trade treaty rules and health safeguards -- Examing recent reports on health care reform -- Hazardous mixture : trade treaties and helath care reform proposals -- Towards healthy health care reform.

The recent Chaoulli Supreme Court decision and health care proposals by Quebec and Alberta have led to renewed debate on how best to restructure the Canadian health care system. This volume offers a timely analysis of access and wait-times, alternative modes of health care delivery, and funding methods from the perspective of evidence-based policy making.

While Canadians are proud of their healthcare system, the reality is that it is fragmented and disorganized. Instead of a pan-Canadian system, it is a "system of systems" - thirteen provincial and territorial systems and a federal system. As a result, Canadian healthcare has not only become one of the costliest in the world, but is falling well behind many developed countries in terms of quality. Canadians increasingly realize that their healthcare system is no longer fiscally sustainable, yet change remains elusive. The standard claim is that Canada's multijurisdictional approach makes system-wide reform nearly impossible. Toward a Healthcare Strategy for Canadians disputes this reasoning, making the case for a comprehensive, system-wide, made-in-Canada healthcare strategy. It looks at the mechanics of change and suggests ways in which the various participants in the system - governments, healthcare professionals, the private sector, and patients - can work collaboratively to transform a second-rate system. Addressing critical issues of health human resources, electronic health records, integrated care, and pharmacare, Toward a Healthcare Strategy for Canadians shows how a system-wide strategic approach to this crucial policy area can make a difference in Canada’s healthcare system in the future.

Focusing on Canada's health care system, Raisa B. Deber introduces the reader to the facts and concepts necessary to understand health care policy in Canada and to evaluate how we might want to reform our health care system.

Just Medicare illustrates that legal scholars can also contribute to the issue of how to allocate scarce health resources by determining what constitutes fair processes for decision-making, and by challenging unjust processes.

Covering a wide range of issues, the 22 cases included in Case Studies in Canadian Health Policy and Management constitute an exceptional resource for bringing real-life policy questions into the classroom. Based on actual events, the cases have been developed with input from mid-career professionals with strong field experience and extensively tested in Raisa B. Deber’s graduate case study seminar at the University of Toronto. Each case features both a substantive health policy issue and a selection of key concepts and methods appropriate to examining public policy, public health, and health care management issues. In each case, the authors provide a summary of the case and the related policy issues, a description of events, suggested questions for discussion, supporting information, and both works cited and further reading. Suitable for graduate and undergraduate classrooms in programs in a variety of fields, Case Studies in Canadian Health Policy and Management is an exceptional educational resource. This second edition features all new cases, as well as adding an introductory chapter that provides a framework and tools for health policy analysis in Canada.