Controlling costs in health care is rarely something that can be tackled in isolation. Cost control invariably interacts with issues of quality and health care access. Thus, this diverse collection of papers is concerned not just with costs but more importantly with value. Both macro and micro concerns are covered. At the macro level, health care reforms (and especially the a marketisationa of health care systems) receive some attention. Papers explore how policy prescriptions get translated and modified during implementation, and assess how these prescriptions impact on both the incentive...

First published in 1999, this eclectic collection of papers examines quality management in health care from a variety of standpoints. Managers, health care professionals and patients all have valid - but often differing - perspectives on the nature of quality, its creation and maintenance. This book explores these perspectives, beginning by asking such fundamental questions as `Is health care a business?', `How should health services be designed?' and `What is quality of care?'. Subsequent chapters then address the practicalities of measuring and improving health care quality. The chequered...