Rationalization of Health Services: Political and Social Assumptions

1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Battistella
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Economy ◽  
Market Values ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness

Confronted with deep—seated problems of spiralling health care costs, the United States is actively considering rationalization as a means for improving efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of health services. The application of managerial and organizational principles characteristic of large—scale business and industry, i.e. quantification of decision—making, consolidation of production, money rewards for cost savings, and economies of scale, is increasingly seen as the key to successful control of the health economy. The drive for rationalization is assessed in terms of its probable impact on the following issues: (a) the scope of health—field boundaries and program responsibilities; (b) the influence of health professionals in policy and planning; (c) the role of altruistic ideals as compared to market values in conditioning provider behavior; and (d) the relationship of health services to larger social and philosophic aims. Because of the tendency toward convergence in the problems governments face in the financing and delivery of health care, it is suggested that developments in the United States may be relevant to other countries in similarly advanced stages of economic growth.

scholarly journals Mental health services in Nicaragua: Ten years of revolution

1990 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 346-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Harris ◽  
Tammy Shefer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Society ◽  
A Priority

Nicaragua is celebrating ten years of revolution since the overthrow of the 45 year long Somoza dictatorship∗. In this time, the Sandinista government has attempted to construct a more democratic society with considerable achievements in the area of health, welfare and education. Indeed, health care has been a priority in spite of severe economic difficulties caused by the United States economic blockade and by the need for defence against the war waged by the counter-revolutionaries (the Contra).

Challenge of Hospital Emergency Preparedness: Analysis and Recommendations

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (S1) ◽  
pp. S74-S82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Barbera ◽  
Dale J. Yeatts ◽  
Anthony G. Macintyre
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Medical Emergency

ABSTRACTIn the United States, recent large-scale emergencies and disasters display some element of organized medical emergency response, and hospitals have played prominent roles in many of these incidents. These and other well-publicized incidents have captured the attention of government authorities, regulators, and the public. Health care has assumed a more prominent role as an integral component of any community emergency response. This has resulted in increased funding for hospital preparedness, along with a plethora of new preparedness guidance.Methods to objectively measure the results of these initiatives are only now being developed. It is clear that hospital readiness remains uneven across the United States. Without significant disaster experience, many hospitals remain unprepared for natural disasters. They may be even less ready to accept and care for patient surge from chemical or biological attacks, conventional or nuclear explosive detonations, unusual natural disasters, or novel infectious disease outbreaks.This article explores potential reasons for inconsistent emergency preparedness across the hospital industry. It identifies and discusses potential motivational factors that encourage effective emergency management and the obstacles that may impede it. Strategies are proposed to promote consistent, reproducible, and objectively measured preparedness across the US health care industry. The article also identifies issues requiring research. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2009;3(Suppl 1):S74–S82)

scholarly journals The future of internal medicine in the United States and Poland

2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
Candace M. Wilson ◽  
Olusegun Taylor ◽  
Andrzej Prystupa ◽  
Wojciech Załuska
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Future ◽  
Holistic Manner

Abstract Internal medicine physicians are critical to the health of the population. Internal medicine doctors also bring cost savings in health care because they treat many systems in the body and treat the patients in a holistic manner. However, the popularity of the specialty of internal medicine is declining. This is due to the decreased compensation that internal medicine doctors obtain when compared to their colleagues who specialize in other fields. The decline in number of physicians specializing in internal medicine causes a decrease in the health of the population. Governments and policy makers must look for ways to reverse the trend of doctors not specializing in internal medicine

MISSION AND MANPOWER

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-196
Author(s):  
ALEX J. STEIGMAN
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Health Services ◽  
Child Health Care ◽  
Long Term Trends

THE SPECIAL ARTICLE by Stewart and Pennell, "Pediatric Manpower in the United States and Its Implications," is interesting and timely. It will be viewed differently by various readers, by some as seen from their personal perch, by others in terms of the broad reaches past and present of pediatrics as a discipline. The purposes of the Special Article are to highlight the manpower situation and to point out long-term trends and implications in the light of the growing responsibility of pediatrics. The authors say that one requires a "delineation of the role of the specialty of pediatrics in child health care," and "while this role may be shared by other types of physicians, the responsibility for the development, maintenance, and improvement of child health services was clearly assumed by pediatrics when, as a specialty, it adopted as its objectives the protection and promotion of the health of children."

Science and Medicine in the United States of America

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund Ramsden
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Democratic State

This article begins with great optimism expressed by Tocqueville for America's future as the embodiment of the democratic state. It discusses the opportunity to express the liberal political ideals, arguing that its success was based on a community of common sensibility. An understanding of society and politics endowed the historian with the power to help remake health care. This article explores and compares the ways in which medicine is developed and applied in a number of different social, cultural, and physical contexts. It shows rapid growth, from a period in which European ideas, methods, and structures were adapted to the American context, to one in which the United States is at the forefront of large-scale initiatives in public health, disease control, and innovation in the biomedical sciences. Finally, it mentions the contradiction, most notably between profound faith in the technical capacities of medical science and equally profound dissatisfaction with the provision of health care.

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