This book provides a concise synthesis of leading edge research in the theory and practise of efficiency measurement in health and health care. Whilst much of the literature in this area is confusing and impregnable, Hollingsworth and Peacock show the logical links between the economic theory underlying efficiency, the methods used in analysis and practical application of measurement techniques including Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontiers Analysis.

The book outlines which methods are most suitable in which setting, how to specify valid models, and how to undertake a...

Although economics is a relative newcomer to research into the determinants of good health, its significance should not be under-estimated. This work poses the important question of whether economic theory can be developed to explain why people engage in activities that are obviously a danger to their long-term health. In looking first at the individual's own decisions that affect his or her health, and then at the impact of other agent's decisions for the individual's health, the authors provide an exhaustive account of the important issues to be faced to ensure the best future for public...

Evidence-based medicine is defined as the conscientious explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. This superb collection will take a critical view of this concept and examine the economic implications of its imposition.

This book analyses the wave of competition-oriented reform by comparing "internal market reform" (proposed in publicly-funded health care systems) with "managed competition reform" (proposed in systems with a mixture of public/private financing) and the role of "managed care" in each of these reform theories.
International Health Care Reform clearly explains the arguments in economics and justice for intervention by governments in health care markets; the structure and dynamics of health care systems; and the features of competition-oriented reform models. The book will appeal to...

Since the late 1980s many US states have sought to incrementally reform their health insurance markets. The intent of such reform has been quite straightforward: to ensure access to affordable health insurance by addressing insurer practices perceived to be exclusionary. In the light of this, a compelling public policy issue is whether these efforts to address disparities in the population's access to health insurance have been successful. This volume provides a critical assessment of the current state of knowledge on insurance market reforms that is accessible to both policymakers and...

Increasing prescription drug cost-sharing by patients - in the form of increasing copayments - is one of the most striking, and controversial, developments in the health sector over recent years. Debate over the exact nature and use of copayments by health care insurers continues to be hotly debated by experts in the private and public sectors.
Differential copayments for medically equivalent alternatives is one strategy insurers use to affect the choice of one drug over another when they face different prices for each drug. This book's results suggest that differences in copayments...

Looks at the experiences of different latecomer countries in promoting sustainable health innovation systems to cater to local needs, presenting empirical findings from India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria.

As a book on public policy, this book is unique in addressing explicitly the role of human nature. Only with a good understanding of human nature can policy makers address their foremost needs and anticipate how people may respond to specific designs in policy.

Despite the huge social, economic and emotional effects of HIV/AIDS worldwide, economics has largely failed so far to provide useful insights on the pandemic. This study shows how a political economy approach can bring meaningful insights to our understanding of the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS.

In this volume, leading American health economists provide a critical assessment of the current state of knowledge of insurance market reform that is accessible to both policy-makers and researchers.