Comparative Health Policy 5th edition by Robert Blank, Viola Burau, Ellen Kuhlmann ISBN 113754497X 9781137544971

1 Comparative Health Policy: An Introduction

Health care as public policy

Comparative health policy

Classifications of health care systems

Countries selected for study

Growing problems in health policy

Ageing populations

Medical technology and health policy

Rising public expectations and demands

Policy convergence?

Conclusions

2 The Context of Health Care

Institutionalist explanations: contrasting political systems

Legal systems

Cultural explanations: cultural/historical factors shaping health care

Different approaches to defining health

Culture and traditional medicine

Functionalist explanations: population, wealth and economics

Social and economic determinants of health

The context of health care

3 Funding, Provision and Governance

Comparing funding of health systems

Models of funding health services

Control of funding and pressures for reform

Health care settings and patient choice

Welfare mixes in the provision of health care

Medical payment and governance

Health governance between centre and locality

Health systems, governance and policy

4 Setting Priorities and Allocating Resources

The goals of health policy

Equity and access: continuing problems

Quality care: what is it?

Cost containment: strategies of constraint

Demand-side strategies

Supply-side strategies

The government and the marketplace

Allocation and rationing: the need to set priorities

Rationing by lifestyle and age

Efforts to control new technologies

Information technologies in medical practice

Trends in priority setting

5 The Health Workforce

Who doctors are

Doctors as health policy players

Professional self-regulation of medical work

The health workforce composition

Skills mix and task shifting

Geographical imbalances and health workforce mobility

Governing the health workforce

6 Health Care Beyond the Hospital

Types and settings of medical practice

Primary health care as reform model

Integration and coordination in primary health care

Long-term care

Policy, funding and provision of home care

The interface between formal and informal care

Policy trends and developments

7 Public Health

Global public health

Global health challenges

Framing a public health policy

Public health responsibility and funding

Health promotion policies

Obesity and health

Tobacco policy

Homelessness and inadequate housing

Environmental health

Public health: putting the medical model in perspective

8 Understanding Health Policy Comparatively

Health systems and explaining health policies

Possibilities and limitations for cross-national learning

Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA)

Determining the ‘best’ health system

Contribution to the comparative study of health policy

Glossary

Guide to Further Reading

Guide to Websites

Bibliography

Index