Medicare at the Crossroads

Medicare at the Crossroads PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Aging. Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Medicare at the Crossroads

Medicare at the Crossroads PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Aging. Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description


Emergency Medical Services

Emergency Medical Services PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309101743
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a critical component of our nation's emergency and trauma care system, providing response and medical transport to millions of sick and injured Americans each year. At its best, EMS is a crucial link to survival in the chain of care, but within the last several years, complex problems facing the emergency care system have emerged. Press coverage has highlighted instances of slow EMS response times, ambulance diversions, trauma center closures, and ground and air medical crashes. This heightened public awareness of problems that have been building over time has underscored the need for a review of the U.S. emergency care system. Emergency Medical Services provides the first comprehensive study on this topic. This new book examines the operational structure of EMS by presenting an in-depth analysis of the current organization, delivery, and financing of these types of services and systems. By addressing its strengths, limitations, and future challenges this book draws upon a range of concerns: • The evolving role of EMS as an integral component of the overall health care system. • EMS system planning, preparedness, and coordination at the federal, state, and local levels. • EMS funding and infrastructure investments. • EMS workforce trends and professional education. • EMS research priorities and funding. Emergency Medical Services is one of three books in the Future of Emergency Care series. This book will be of particular interest to emergency care providers, professional organizations, and policy makers looking to address the deficiencies in emergency care systems.

Parting at the Crossroads

Parting at the Crossroads PDF Author: Antonia Maioni
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691221286
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
As almost all newspaper or magazine readers know, Canada figured prominently in the turbulent U.S. debates over health care reform in the early Clinton presidency. Furthermore, future news analysts and policymakers will undoubtedly again use Canada to cite the "good" and the "bad" aspects of single-payer national health insurance. Beyond the debate about the desirability of Canadian-style health care reforms, Antonia Maioni sees another question: Why did the United States and Canada, alike in so many ways, part "at the crossroads" to produce such different systems of health insurance? She answers this previously neglected query so interestingly that her book will hold the attention of anyone concerned with health care in either country or both. The author explores the development of health insurance in the United States and Canada, from the emergence of health care as a political issue in the 1930s to the passage of federal health insurance legislation in the 1960s. Focusing on how political institutions influence policy development, she shows that Canada's federal structure and its parliamentary institutions encouraged a social-democratic third party that became pivotal in demonstrating the feasibility of universal, public health insurance. Meanwhile, the constraints of the U.S. political system forced health care reformers to temper their own ideas to appeal to a wide coalition within the Democratic party. Even readers previously unfamiliar with Canadian politics will find in this book important clues about the "realm of the possible" in the uncertain future of U.S. health care.

False Premise, False Promise

False Premise, False Promise PDF Author: Sally C. Pipes
Publisher: Encounter Books
ISBN: 1641770732
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 121

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Book Description
American health care is at a crossroads. Health spending reached $3.5 trillion in 2017. Yet more than 27 million people remain uninsured. And it's unclear if all that spending is buying higher-quality care. Patients, doctors, insurers, and the government acknowledge that the healthcare status quo is unsustainable. America's last attempt at health reform -- Obamacare -- didn't work. Nearly a decade after its passage in 2010, Democrats are calling for a government takeover of the nation's healthcare system -- Medicare for All. The idea's supporters assert that health care is a right. They promise generous, universal, high-quality care to all Americans, with no referrals, copays, deductibles, or coinsurance. With a sales pitch like that, it's no wonder that seven in ten people now support Medicare for All. Doctors, especially young ones, are coming around to the idea of single-payer, too. Democrats, led by the progressive wing of the party, hope to capitalize on this enthusiasm. In 2017, they introduced companion legislation in the House and Senate that would establish Medicare for All. They have already promised to do the same when the next Congress convenes in 2019. More than 70 House Democrats have joined a new Medicare for All Caucus. Senator Bernie Sanders is effectively already on the presidential campaign trail, making his case for single-payer. If Democrats take the White House and Senate in 2020, and hold onto the House, a Medicare for All bill could be among the first pieces of legislation presented to the new president for a signature. In this book, Sally C. Pipes, a Canadian native, will make the case against Medicare for All. She'll explain why health care is not a right -- and how progressives pressing for single-payer are making a litany of promises they can't possibly keep. Evidence from government-run systems in Canada, the United Kingdom, and other developed countries proves that single-payer forces patients to withstand long waits for poor care at high cost. First, she'll unpack the Medicare for All plans under consideration in Congress. She'll explain how radical they truly are. Medicare for All will not save $5 trillion, as some of its proponents claim. It will cost about $32 trillion over 10 years, according to analyses from the Urban Institute and the Mercatus Center. It will outlaw private health insurance. It will raise taxes by trillions of dollars. It will cut pay for doctors to the rates paid by Medicare and thereby exacerbate our nation's shortage of physicians. And it will ration care. Then, Sally will detail the horrors of single-payer. She'll start in Canada, whose single-payer system most closely resembles the one progressives have in mind for the United States. Analyses of the government-run systems in the United Kingdom and a few other developed countries will follow, with particular focus on the problems that these systems pose for patients and doctors. To substantiate her indictment of single-payer, Sally will marshal both quantitative and qualitative evidence. She'll highlight how Americans fare better than their peers in Canada and the United Kingdom on the health outcomes that are directly linked to the quality of a healthcare system, including survival rates for patients with cancer and cardiovascular issues. She'll also explain why the health outcomes where the United States performs poorly relative to other nations, like infant mortality and life expectancy, tell us little about our healthcare system. Sally will pepper her text with heart-wrenching stories of the human costs of single-payer -- of people who were injured, were forced to remain in pain, or even died because their government-run healthcare system delayed or denied care. Too often, evangelists for free markets limit their arguments to facts and statistics -- and fail to appeal to the public's emotions. Sally will feature the stories of individuals and families who have been victims of single-payer systems. These vignettes will help drive home the truth about single-payer -- and why it must not come to the United States. She'll conclude with her vision for delivering the affordable, accessible, quality care the American people are looking for.

Dental Education at the Crossroads

Dental Education at the Crossroads PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309176395
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
Six dental schools have closed in the last decade and others are in jeopardy. Facing this uncertainty about the status of dental education and the continued tension between educators and practitioners, leaders in the profession have recognized the need for purpose and direction. This comprehensive volumeâ€"the first to cover the education, research, and patient care missions of dental schoolsâ€"offers specific recommendations on oral health assessment, access to dental care, dental school curricula, financing for education, research priorities, examinations and licensing, workforce planning, and other key areas. Well organized and accessible, the book: Recaps the evolution of dental practice and education. Reviews key indicators of oral health status, outlines oral health goals, and discusses implications for education. Addresses major curriculum concerns. Examines health services that dental schools provide to patients and communities. Looks at faculty and student involvement in research. Explores the relationship of dental education to the university, the dental profession, and society at large. Accreditation, the dental workforce, and other critical policy issues are highlighted as well. Of greatest interest to deans, faculty, administrators, and students at dental schools, as well as to academic health centers and universities, this book also will be informative for health policymakers, dental professionals, and dental researchers.

The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment

The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309262011
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
In 1996, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report Telemedicine: A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care. In that report, the IOM Committee on Evaluating Clinical Applications of Telemedicine found telemedicine is similar in most respects to other technologies for which better evidence of effectiveness is also being demanded. Telemedicine, however, has some special characteristics-shared with information technologies generally-that warrant particular notice from evaluators and decision makers. Since that time, attention to telehealth has continued to grow in both the public and private sectors. Peer-reviewed journals and professional societies are devoted to telehealth, the federal government provides grant funding to promote the use of telehealth, and the private technology industry continues to develop new applications for telehealth. However, barriers remain to the use of telehealth modalities, including issues related to reimbursement, licensure, workforce, and costs. Also, some areas of telehealth have developed a stronger evidence base than others. The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) sponsored the IOM in holding a workshop in Washington, DC, on August 8-9 2012, to examine how the use of telehealth technology can fit into the U.S. health care system. HRSA asked the IOM to focus on the potential for telehealth to serve geographically isolated individuals and extend the reach of scarce resources while also emphasizing the quality and value in the delivery of health care services. This workshop summary discusses the evolution of telehealth since 1996, including the increasing role of the private sector, policies that have promoted or delayed the use of telehealth, and consumer acceptance of telehealth. The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment: Workshop Summary discusses the current evidence base for telehealth, including available data and gaps in data; discuss how technological developments, including mobile telehealth, electronic intensive care units, remote monitoring, social networking, and wearable devices, in conjunction with the push for electronic health records, is changing the delivery of health care in rural and urban environments. This report also summarizes actions that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can undertake to further the use of telehealth to improve health care outcomes while controlling costs in the current health care environment.

The Changing Economics of Medical Technology

The Changing Economics of Medical Technology PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030904491X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Americans praise medical technology for saving lives and improving health. Yet, new technology is often cited as a key factor in skyrocketing medical costs. This volume, second in the Medical Innovation at the Crossroads series, examines how economic incentives for innovation are changing and what that means for the future of health care. Up-to-date with a wide variety of examples and case studies, this book explores how payment, patent, and regulatory policiesâ€"as well as the involvement of numerous government agenciesâ€"affect the introduction and use of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures. The volume also includes detailed comparisons of policies and patterns of technological innovation in Western Europe and Japan. This fact-filled and practical book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, health administrators, health care practitioners, and the concerned public.

How Medicaid Fails the Poor

How Medicaid Fails the Poor PDF Author: Avik Roy
Publisher: Encounter Books
ISBN: 1594037531
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
Medicaid, America’s government-run health insurance program for the poor, should be a lifeline that provides needed health care to Americans with no other options. Surprisingly, however, it doesn’t. The medical literature reveals a $450 billion-a-year scandal: that people on Medicaid have far worse health outcomes than those with private insurance, and no better outcomes than those with no insurance at all. Why is this so? In How Medicaid Fails the Poor, Avik Roy explains how Medicaid’s clumsy design and perverse incentives make it hard for people on Medicaid to get the medical care they need. Medicaid doesn’t reimburse doctors or hospitals for the cost of caring for Medicaid enrollees, forcing many doctors to opt out of the program. The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, doubles down on this broken system. Roy shows us that there are better ways, using private insurance, to provide needed care to our poorest citizens.

Emergency Care for Children

Emergency Care for Children PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309133769
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
Children represent a special challenge for emergency care providers, because they have unique medical needs in comparison to adults. For decades, policy makers and providers have recognized the special needs of children, but the system has been slow to develop an adequate response to their needs. This is in part due to inadequacies within the broader emergency care system. Emergency Care for Children examines the challenges associated with the provision of emergency services to children and families and evaluates progress since the publication of the Institute of Medicine report Emergency Medical Services for Children (1993), the first comprehensive look at pediatric emergency care in the United States. This new book offers an analysis of: • The role of pediatric emergency services as an integrated component of the overall health system. • System-wide pediatric emergency care planning, preparedness, coordination, and funding. • Pediatric training in professional education. • Research in pediatric emergency care. Emergency Care for Children is one of three books in the Future of Emergency Care series. This book will be of particular interest to emergency health care providers, professional organizations, and policy makers looking to address the pediatric deficiencies within their emergency care systems.

Hospital-Based Emergency Care

Hospital-Based Emergency Care PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309133777
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Today our emergency care system faces an epidemic of crowded emergency departments, patients boarding in hallways waiting to be admitted, and daily ambulance diversions. Hospital-Based Emergency Care addresses the difficulty of balancing the roles of hospital-based emergency and trauma care, not simply urgent and lifesaving care, but also safety net care for uninsured patients, public health surveillance, disaster preparation, and adjunct care in the face of increasing patient volume and limited resources. This new book considers the multiple aspects to the emergency care system in the United States by exploring its strengths, limitations, and future challenges. The wide range of issues covered includes: • The role and impact of the emergency department within the larger hospital and health care system. • Patient flow and information technology. • Workforce issues across multiple disciplines. • Patient safety and the quality and efficiency of emergency care services. • Basic, clinical, and health services research relevant to emergency care. • Special challenges of emergency care in rural settings. Hospital-Based Emergency Care is one of three books in the Future of Emergency Care series. This book will be of particular interest to emergency care providers, professional organizations, and policy makers looking to address the deficiencies in emergency care systems.