This book is an introduction to the research that has elucidated the reasons doctors practice the way they do and make the decisions they do. It reviews the complex array of motivations in medical practice. The book also reviews the programs that have been used to change physicians' prescription of medical services, including education, feedback, participation, administrative rules, incentives, and penalties.1: Understanding variations in physicians' practice patterns. 2: Changing physicians' practice patterns. 3: Directions for research on physician utilization

New York Times bestseller Business Book of the Year--Association of Business Journalists From the New York Times bestselling author comes an eye-opening, urgent look at America's broken health care system--and the people who are saving it--now with a new Afterword by the author. "A must-read for every American." --Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, FORBES One in five Americans now has medical debt in collections and rising health care costs today threaten every small business in America. Dr. Makary, one of the nation's leading health care experts, travels across America and details why health care has become a bubble. Drawing from on-the-ground stories, his research, and his own experience, The Price We Pay paints a vivid picture of the business of medicine and its elusive money games in need of a serious shake-up. Dr. Makary shows how so much of health care spending goes to things that have nothing to do with health and what you can do about it. Dr. Makary challenges the medical establishment to remember medicine's noble heritage of caring for people when they are vulnerable. The Price We Pay offers a road map for everyday Americans and business leaders to get a better deal on their health care, and profiles the disruptors who are innovating medical care. The movement to restore medicine to its mission, Makary argues, is alive and well--a mission that can rebuild the public trust and save our country from the crushing cost of health care.

Utilization management (UM) has become a strong trend in health care cost containment. Under UM, some decisions are not strictly made by the doctor and patient alone. Instead, they are now checked by a reviewer reporting to an employer or other paying party who asks whether or not the proposed type or location of care is medically necessary or appropriate. This book presents current findings about how UM is faring in practice and how it compares with other cost containment approaches, with recommendations for improving UM program administration and clinical protocols and for conducting further research.

Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1983-04 edition. Excerpt: ...compensated by hospitals are more often found in teaching hospitals than in nonteaching hospitals.20 They also are more common in for-profit hospitals than in voluntary hospitals.21 Systematic longitudinal data are not available, but a general reading of the literature and conversations with hospital administrators and medical staffs suggest that physician involvement in governing board activities, participation in committees, and hospital-based compensation arrangements is growing. For example, over the past five years a number of hospitals have added cost containment committees, medical equipment purchase committees, and strategic long-range planning committees, all with physician participation. Thus, there appears to be a growing trend toward the shared authority model of decision making described earlier or at least deliberate attempts to blur the clear demarcation suggested by the dual authority model. Some of the effects of these changes on the cost and quality of patient care are examined below. Hospital/Physician Decision Making and the Cost and Quality of Care The issue of hospital/physician decision making is important primarily as it affects the delivery of patient care services. The relevant question is whether certain patterns of decision making are associated with improvements in the cost-effectiveness of the care delivered. Present research does not provide a clear-cut answer in terms of cause and effect, but the majority of the existing evidence suggests consistent associations between greater physician involvement in hospital decision making and lower costs. Existing research also suggests consistent associations between greater physician participation and higher quality of care. There is little evidence that costs can be...

"[This book is] the most authoritative assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of recent trends toward the commercialization of health care," says Robert Pear of The New York Times. This major study by the Institute of Medicine examines virtually all aspects of for-profit health care in the United States, including the quality and availability of health care, the cost of medical care, access to financial capital, implications for education and research, and the fiduciary role of the physician. In addition to the report, the book contains 15 papers by experts in the field of for-profit health care covering a broad range of topicsâ€"from trends in the growth of major investor-owned hospital companies to the ethical issues in for-profit health care. "The report makes a lasting contribution to the health policy literature." â€"Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.

Introduction: The house of medicine and medical prices -- The enduring influence of the house of medicine over prices -- The science of work and payment reform -- How doctors get paid -- Conflicts of interest and problems of evidence -- Complexity, agency capture, and the game of codes -- Fixing medical prices