The Political Context of Health Service Regulation

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliott A. Krause
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Service ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Regulatory Processes ◽  
Care Field ◽  
Systems Quality

Can regulation work in health services, given the present political context? General issues in the regulatory process are discussed, followed by a consideration of the relevance of these issues to the health care field. Regulatory processes are reviewed for the United States in four areas: credentialling of people, surveillance of delivery systems, quality of materials and technology, and rate-setting or cost control. It is concluded that the process cannot work. Four alternatives are presented and briefly evaluated: tinkering, centralized regulation, national health service, and general nationalization of most major economic sectors.

What is Happening in the United States? How Social Classes Influence the Political Life of the Country and its Health and Quality of Life

2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142199484
Author(s):  
Vicente Navarro
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
United States ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Race And Gender

This article analyses the political changes that have been occurring in the United States (including the elections for the presidency of the country) and their consequences for the health and quality of life of the population. A major thesis of this article is that there is a need to analyse, besides race and gender, other categories of power - such as social class - in order to understand what happens in the country. While the class structure of the United States is similar to that of major Western European countries, the political context is very different. The U.S. political context has resulted in the very limited power of its working class, which explains the scarcity of labor, political and social rights in the country, such as universal access to health care.

Health Care in Poland: From Crisis to Crisis

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Frances Millard
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
The Political ◽  
Heavy Industry ◽  
Access To Treatment ◽  
Organizational Reform ◽  
Political Tension

During its first twenty years the Polish health service represented a neglected sector of government activity, as the development of heavy industry remained the predominant economic goal, with social policy regarded as a “nonproductive” sphere. When Edward Gierek came to power in 1970, the promise of reform extended throughout society to include health. However, despite a fundamental organizational reform, the health service has remained in a state of crisis, currently worsening as a result of mounting economic dislocation and political tension. Inadequate access to treatment, lack of continuity of care, poor quality of care, profound shortages of drugs and supplies, and the absence of preventive medicine are some of the manifestations of this crisis. Its main causes lie in the political weakness of the Ministry of Health, with consequent underfunding and the nonfulfillment of its plans. This situation is exacerbated by continuing organizational fragmentation, the neglect of primary care, the existence of conflicting aims in health policy, and the dominance of an ideology of clinical specialism.

Depressions Plural

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
K W M (Bill) Fulford ◽  
David Crepaz-Keay ◽  
Giovanni Stanghellini
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
The Political ◽  
Medical Law ◽  
Isaiah Berlin ◽  
Political Philosopher

This chapter examines how values influence the heterogeneity of depression. The plurality of values is increasingly significant for contemporary person-centred mental health care with its emphasis on quality of life and development of self-manvnagement skills. Values-based practice is a partner with medical law invn working with the plurality of personal values. The chapter explains what values are, shows how the plurality of values influences the heterogeneity of depression at several levels, and provides an overview of values-based practice. It looks at the resources available for combining values-based practice with medical law in contemporary person-centred care and indicates some of the challenges this raises. It concludes with a brief reflection on these challenges understood as an instance of what the political philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the challenge of pluralism.

scholarly journals Patient Suffering in Chronic Digestive Diseases: Will Primary Care-Specialist Collaboration With Effective Interactive Communication and Integrative Medicine in the Plan of Care Improve Quality of Life?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 989-993
Author(s):  
Andrew Thomas ◽  
Annie Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Physician Visits ◽  
Digestive Diseases ◽  
Care Specialist

Acute and chronic digestive diseases are causing increased burden to patients and are increasing the United States health care spending. The purpose of this case report was to present how nonconfirmatory and conflicting diagnoses led to increased burden and suffering for a patient thus affecting quality of life. There were many physician visits and multiple tests performed on the patient. However, the primary care physician and specialists could not reach a confirmatory diagnosis. The treatment plans did not offer relief of symptoms, and the patient continues to experience digestive symptoms, enduring this burden for over 2 years. The central theme of this paper is to inform health care providers the importance of utilizing evidence-based primary care specialist collaboration models for better digestive disease outcomes. Consistent with patient’s experience, the authors propose to pilot/adopt the integrative health care approaches that are proven effective for treating digestive diseases.

The Turn Away from Government and the Need to Revive the Civic Purpose of Higher Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine J. Cramer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political

Higher education in the United States has proud roots in the mission to enable people to engage in self-governance. The current political context is pushing us in another direction. I discuss the context in Wisconsin in particular, and use the challenges there as a reason to consider the civic purposes of political science. Rather than allow the political winds to blow us further into elitism, I argue that we should renew our commitment to educating people for citizenship.

Quality of Care: Performance Measurement and Quality Improvement in Clinical Practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonali P. Desai ◽  
Allen Kachalia
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Clinical Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Care Performance

Attention to the quality of care within the United States health care system has grown tremendously over the past decade. We have witnessed a significant change in how quality improvement and clinical performance measurement are approached. The current focus on quality and safety stems in part from the increasingly clear realization that more services and technological advancement are not automatically equivalent to high-quality care. Much of the discussion about cost and quality in health care is shifting towards the concept of value. Value is defined as health outcomes achieved per dollar spent (in other words, an assessment of the quality of care per cost). This chapter reviews the current state of quality improvement in health care and, because improvement cannot be determined without measurement, reviews several aspects of effective clinical performance measurement. Since many measures are already in place, the chapter describes some of the organizations involved in quality measurement and improvement, as well the approaches they utilize. It looks at the multiple strategies in place to improve quality, from process management to collaboration, from financial incentives to transparency, and reviews newer models of care delivery that may materialize in the near future. Tables list types of quality measures, characteristics to consider when developing a quality measure, and organizations involved in quality improvement and performance measurement. A figure shows strategies used by the federal government to spur performance measurement and quality improvement. This review contains 1 figure, 3 tables, and 56 references Keywords: Quality of care, performance measure, quality improvement, clinical practice, sigma six, transparency

DAY CARE: 3. SERVING PRESCHOOL CHILDREN. By Donald J. Cohen, M.D., and Ada S. Brandagee. U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Publication No. (OHD) 74-1057, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-488
Author(s):  
Paul C. Young
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Day Care ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The United States ◽  
Government Printing ◽  
Introductory Statement ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Care Field ◽  
Broad Overview

This book is one of a series of handbooks being published by the Office of Child Development to "promote discussion and to improve the quality of day care in the United States," according to an introductory statement by Saul Rosoff, Acting Director, Office of Child Development. It was written by Donald J. Cohen, M.D., psychiatrist and pediatrician at Yale, in collaboration with Ada S. Brandagee, M.A. Dr. Cohen attempts "to provide a broad overview of the day care field, a basic state-of-the-art guidebook for those seriously concerned about preschool day care.

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