September 21, 2006
Formula Funding of Public Services
Author: Peter C. Smith, Centre for Health Economics,
University of York, UK.
Publisher: Routledge (Routledge Studies in Business
Organizations and Networks)
Price: £75.00 (list) hardcover; 176 pp
Publication date: 21 September 2006
ISBN: 9780415362894
ISBN-10: 041536289X
Contents:
- Setting the Scene
- Formula Funding within a Public Finance Framework
- The Elements of Formula Funding
- Formula Funding: A Production Function Perspective
- Empirical Capitation Methods
- Budgetary Risk and Formula Funding
- Paying for Quality: The Case of UK General Practitioners
- The Political Economy of Formula Funding
- Concluding Comments
Description: Policy makers have a central concern that the money spent on health care and other public services may not be being used to best effect, and they are seeking assurance that the methods they use to pay for such services are not wasting citizens’ money. To that end, public funders are seeking to more systematic and transparent approaches towards allocating public funds, in the form of mathematical funding formulae. Examples in health care include the development of increasingly elaborate payment mechanisms, in the form of capitation and case payments. In the broader public sector they include increased use of pupil case payment methods in schooling and specification of vouchers for users of services in fields as diverse as personal social services and schooling.
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice underlying the use of formulae as a basis for funding public services. The use of such formulae has become widespread in recent years across most developed countries. For example, in the UK a conservative estimate is that £150 billion of public service expenditure is distributed annually using formulae, in services such as health care, local government, social security and higher education. The philosophy, design and economic consequences of funding formulae have therefore become key policy issues worldwide. This text draws on the author’s wide experience of designing formulae and advising governments on their implementation, and brings together the economic, statistical and political issues underlying formula funding, with a particular emphasis on health care.
The book starts with a general discussion of systems of public finance, and the role of formula funding within those systems. It then introduces a general economic model with which to analyse the formula funding problem. A series of case studies from health care is presented to show how the theory can be turned into practice. There is also special treatment of the problem of budgetary risk in formula funding, and of integrating incentives for service quality into the funding mechanism. The book concludes with a discussion of the general political economy within which formula funding is implemented. Throughout, the author gives many examples of operational funding mechanisms, and he draws out priorities for future work – most notably the need to integrate the funding of public services with performance criteria.
Author Information: Peter C. Smith is Professor of Health Economics and Director of the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York, United Kingdom.
Website: Routledge web page for “Formula Funding of Public Services”
July 31, 2006
Economics of Health and Health Care, 5/E
Editors: Sherman Folland, Allen Goodman, Miron Stano
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2007
ISBN-10: 0132279428
ISBN-13: 9780132279420
Price: $140 Cloth; 648 pp
For courses in Health Economics, Public Health, and Health Care Policy. This clear, step-by-step best-selling introduction to the economics of health and health care thoroughly develops and explains economic ideas and models to reflect the full spectrum of the most current health economics literature. It uses core economic themes as basic as supply and demand, as venerable as technology or labor issues, and as modern as the economics of information.
- PART I: BASIC ECONOMICS TOOLS
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Microeconomic Tools for Health Economics
- Chapter 3 Statistical Tools for Health Economics
- Chapter 4 Economic Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness in Health Care
- PART II: SUPPLY AND DEMAND
- Chapter 5 The Production of Health
- Chapter 6 The Production, Cost, and Technology of Health Care
- Chapter 7 Demand for Health Capital
- Chapter 8 Demand and Supply of Health Insurance
- Chapter 9 Consumer Choice and Demand
PART III: INFORMATION AND INSURANCE MARKETS
- Chapter 10 Asymmetric Information and Agency
- Chapter 11 The Organization of Health Insurance Markets
- Chapter 12 Managed Care
PART IV: KEY PLAYERS IN THE HEALTH CARE SECTOR
- Chapter 13 Nonprofit Firms
- Chapter 14 Hospitals and Long-Term Care
- Chapter 15 The Physician’s Practice
- Chapter 16 Health Care Labor Markets and Professional Training
- Chapter 17 The Pharmaceutical Industry
- PART V: SOCIAL INSURANCE
- Chapter 18 Equity, Efficiency, and Need
- Chapter 19 Government Intervention in Health Care Markets
- Chapter 20 Government Regulation-Principal Regulatory Mechanisms
- Chapter 21 Social Insurance
- Chapter 22 Comparative Health Care Systems and Health System Reform
- PART VI: SPECIAL TOPICS
- Chapter 23 The Health Economics of Bads
- Chapter 24 Epidemiology and Economics: AIDS in Africa
June 14, 2006
Measuring Efficiency in Health Care: Analytic Techniques and Health Policy
Authors: Rowena Jacobs, Peter C. Smith, Andrew Street
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: May 2006
ISBN 0-521-85144-2
Price: £25 hardback
With the healthcare sector accounting for a sizeable proportion of national expenditures, the pursuit of efficiency has become a central objective of policymakers within most health systems. However, the analysis and measurement of efficiency is a complex undertaking, not least due to the multiple objectives of health care organizations and the many gaps in information systems. In response to this complexity, research in organizational efficiency analysis has flourished.
This book examines some of the most important techniques currently available to measure the efficiency of systems and organizations, including data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis, and also presents some promising new methodological approaches. Such techniques offer the prospect of many new and fruitful insights into health care performance. Nevertheless, they also pose many practical and methodological challenges. This is a timely critical assessment of the strengths and limitations of efficiency analysis applied to health and health care.
- Examines the relevance of efficiency analysis to health care
- Offers a constructive but critical perspective, often lacking in many efficiency analysis texts
- Examines the implications for policy of using efficiency models
Order information: http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521851440
Reviews
‘Many health efficiency researchers have locked themselves into becoming experts in a small set of methods, but this excellent book illustrates why everyone’s toolkit needs to be more expansive to answer the policy questions at hand. And more importantly, it explains how to choose the right model for the right policy question.’
- James F. Burgess, Jr., Boston University School of Public Health
‘The book is a valuable review of the state of the art in measuring efficiency in health care and it practical uses for policy. It is an essential reference guide for analysts and students alike. A major service provided by the authors has been to collate and review a large and growing theoretical and applied literature, providing an easy one-stop reference for analysts working in this area. The focus not just on methods, but also on practical policy implications, is invaluable to people seeking to improve the performance of health systems.’
- David B. Evans, Director of the Department of Health Systems Financing (HFS), World Health Organization
‘A book covering the mechanics and practice of efficiency measurement in health and health care is long overdue, with several hundred applications now published in this area. The authors are world leaders in this field and cover all the appropriate areas, from basic to complex techniques, through to practical applications. Their book will be of use to all those interested, at whatever level, in performance measurement in health service provision, as it clearly points out the advantages and pitfalls (an important point) of implementing such analyses. I highly recommend this text.’
- Bruce Hollingsworth, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
‘This introduction to the practice of measuring efficiency in health care is accessible to non-economists as well as to economists. Earlier textbooks on efficiency have not focused on health care organisations. Thus, an important feature of the book is the inclusion of practical examples and solutions related to empirical measurement of efficiency in a complex and unique sector. It is of great value to policymakers, administrators and researchers who wish to understand how to measure and analyze the performance of health care organisations.’
- Unto Häkkinen, Centre for Health Economics at Stakes (CHESS), Helsinki
March 15, 2006
The Elgar Companion To Health Economics
Editor: Andrew M Jones
ISBN: 1 84542 003 9
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
2006 584 pp Hardback 1 84542 003 9 £125.00 (£100 through the web page)
The aim of The Elgar Companion to Health Economics is to take readers to the frontier of research in health economics by providing short and easily readable introductions to key topics. The volume brings together 50 chapters written by more than 90 leading international contributors. The contributions to the Companion are concise and focus on specific concepts, methods and key evidence.
he Companion is a comprehensive and authoritative original reference volume covering theoretical and empirical issues in health economics with a balanced range of material on equity and efficiency in health care systems, health technology assessment and issues of concern for low and middle income countries. It is organised into two broad sections. The first deals with the economics of population health and of health care systems, analysed with both equity and efficiency goals in mind. The second covers the conceptual and practical issues that arise in the evaluation of health care technologies: most often applied to pharmaceuticals but also relevant for other interventions.
Many of the contributions address topical and policy-relevant issues including: the economic causes of the growth of obesity in the West, the link between illicit drug use and crime, the consequences of leaving people uninsured against the costs of health care, the impact of globalisation on the international trade in health care services, the role of informal payments in many health care systems, what ‘equal treatment for equal needs’ means in practice, whether direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals is desirable, and how economic evidence is influencing the way that new technologies are made available to patients. Other chapters stress the research done by health economists to develop theoretical models and empirical methods that illuminate the workings of health care systems.
Contents:
- Introduction Population Health and Health Care Systems
- Part I: Population Health
- Part II: Health Care Finance, Expenditure and Use
- Part III: Equity in Health and Health Care
- Part IV: Organization of Health Care Markets
- Part V: Provider Reimbursement, Incentives and Behaviour
- Part VI: Assessing the Performance of Health Care Organizations Evaluation of Health Care
- Part VII: Measuring Benefits
- Part VIII: Measuring Costs and Statistical Issues
- Part IX: Economic Evaluation and Decision Making Index
Further details are available at: http://www.e-elgar.co.uk/bookentry_main.lasso?id=3572
Contributors: T. Adam, M.C. Auld, P.P. Barros, A. Basu, S. Birch, D. Bishai, H. Bleichrodt, W.D. Bradford, J. Brazier, F. Breyer, A. Briggs, J.F. Burgess Jr, L. Burgess, M. Chalkley, D. Chisholm, K. Claxton, P. Contoyannis, R. Cookson, G. Currie, D. Dawson, P. Deb, P. Dolan, C. Donaldson, B. Dowd, M. Drummond, T.T.-T. Edejer, T. Ensor, S.L. Ettner, D.B. Evans, D. Feeny, R. Feldman, E. Fenwick, A. Gafni, P.-Y. Geoffard, K. Gerard, J. Glazer, D.C. Grabowski, H. Gravelle, P. Grootendorst, T. Iversen, A.M. Jones, D. Kenkel, A.N. Kleit, D. Lakdawalla, M. Lindeboom, J. Louviere, H. Lurås, A. McGuire, T.G. McGuire, W. Manning, X. Martinez-Giralt, H. Mason, D. Meltzer, A. Mills, S. Morris, J. Mullahy, E.C. Norton, J.A. Nyman, O. O’Donnell, T.A. Olmstead, N. Palmer, T.J. Philipson, J.L. Pinto, D. Polsky, C. Propper, M. Raikou, R. Rannan-Eliya, N. Rice, T. Rice, J. Roberts, C.J. Ruhm, M. Ryan, M. Schoenbaum, M.J. Sculpher, P. Shackley, J.L. Sindelar, P.C. Smith, R. Smith, A. Somanathan, A. Street, D.J. Street, M. Sutton, R. Thompson, P.K. Trivedi, A. Tsuchiya, E. van Doorslaer, D.J. Vanness, R. Viney, A. Wagstaff, M.C. Weinstein, D. Wilson, P. Zweifel
Elgar original reference Orders to:
Marston Book Services Limited
PO Box 269,
Abingdon Oxon OX14 4YN UK
Tel: + 44 1235 465500
Fax: + 44 1235 465555
June 02, 2005
Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes (Third Edition)
Contributors: Michael F. Drummond, Mark J. Sculpher, George W. Torrance, Bernie J. O’Brien, and Greg L. Stoddart
ISBN: 0-19-852945-7
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Price: £29.50 (Paperback)
2 June 2005, 379 pages, Paperback (216mm x 138mm)
Description
- Standard textbook in the field
- Clearly written, in a style accessible to a wide readership, with extensive references and boxes to highlight key issues
- Suitable for both students and practitioners
New to this edition
- Extensively updated and revised
- Discusses new methods for valuing health outcomes
- Expanded chapters on analysing patient-level data and decision-analytic modelling
- Discussion of new methodological approaches
- Expanded chapter on the use of economic evaluation
This highly successful textbook is now available in its third edition. Over the years it has become the standard textbook in the field world-wide. It mirrors the huge expansion of the field of economic evaluation in health care, since the last edition was published in 1997.
This new edition builds on the strengths of previous editions, being clearly written in a style accessible to a wide readership. Key methodological principles are outlined using a critical appraisal checklist that can be applied to any published study. The methodological features of the basic forms of analysis are then explained in more detail with special emphasis of the latest views on productivity costs, the characterisation of uncertainty and the concept of net benefit. The book has been greatly revised and expanded especially concerning analysing patient-level data and decision-analytic modelling. There is discussion of new methodological approaches, including cost effectiveness acceptability curves, net benefit regression, probalistic sensitivity analysis and value of information analysis. There is an expanded chapter on the use of economic evaluation, including discussion of the use of cost-effectiveness thresholds, equity considerations and the transferability of economic data.
This new edition is required reading for anyone commissioning, undertaking or using economic evaluations in health care, and will be popular with health service professionals, health economists, pharmacand health care decision makers. It is especially relevant for those taking pharmacoeconomics courses.
Readership: Students and practitioners in health economics, health care management, and health care professionals, economists, pharmacists and decision makers in medical and other health programmes
Contents
- How to use this book
- Basic types of economic evaluation
- Critical assessment of economic evaluation
- Cost analysis
- Cost-effectiveness analysis
- Cost-utility analysis
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Economic evaluation using patient-level data
- Economic evaluation using decision analytic modelling
- Presentation and use of economic evaluation results
- How to take matters further
Authors, editors, and contributor: Michael F. Drummond, Professor and Director, Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK, Mark J. Sculpher, Professor, Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK, George W. Torrance, Professor Emeritus, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, Bernie J. O’Brien, Formerly Director, Programme for Technology Assessment in Health and Professor, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, and Greg L. Stoddart, Professor, Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
January 20, 2005
The Dictionary of Health Economics
Authors: Anthony J Culyer
ISBN: 1 84376 208 0 (Hardback)
Publication Date: July 2005
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date: July 2005, c. 264pp, hardback, c. £59.95, Edward Elgar Publishing (sales@e-elgar.co.uk)
Orders to: Marston Book Services Ltd., PO Box 269, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4YN, UK (or direct.order@marston.co.uk)
10% discount on pre-paid orders (see www.e-elgar.com)
"At last a book that reveals in plain English the concepts and methods used by health economists. This book should make a major contribution to promoting multidisciplinary research on health and health services, and enable students to get through the undergrowth of jargon that commonly turns them back" --Nick Black, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
"The trouble with most dictionaries to my mind is that frequently the definitions are as difficult to understand as the words one is looking up. The Dictionary of Health Economics by Tony Culyer suffers far less from this problem than others and thus it is much more accessible to the non-specialist. I am particularly taken by Tony's personal examples and vignettes attached to many of the definitions. These improve the comprehension of the definitions for the reader and add a personal touch which makes the book much more readable and less dry than other dictionaries." --David Barnett, Chairman Appraisals Committee, national Institute for Clinical Excellence and Leicester University
July 23, 2004
Health Care Economics: 6th Edition
Author: Paul J. Feldstein
ISBN: 1401859798
publisher: Delmar Learning
The 6th edition of Paul Feldstein's Health Care Economics will be published July 2004. The entire text, including the numerous figures and tables, has been updated in this edition. In addition, two new sections have been added. The first is an Appendix to Chapter One providing a review of the basics of supply and demand analysis, equilibrium price, price elasticity, and competitive and monopoly markets. The second is a new, comprehensive, Chapter on the Pharmaceutical Industry. Topics included in the new Chapter are a discussion of the structure of the industry, the patent process, drug firm pricing, re-importation of drugs, and industry performance.
New subject material has also been included in existing Chapters, e.g., an extended discussion of the treatment approach for measuring the rise in medical prices, new material on quality of care, the insurance underwriting cycle, a new Appendix on a method for developing a risk-adjusted premium, and a new Appendix on cost-shifting. As in previous editions, chapters such as An Overview of the Medical Care Sector, The Demand for Health Insurance, and The Legislative Marketplace, provide a comprehensive discussion of their topics not found in other texts.
A similar distinguishing feature of the new edition is its in-depth discussion of topics. Various sections in the book also contain historical overviews of the evolution of certain issues to the present time.
Throughout the book basic economic concepts and diagrams are used to a much greater extent than other texts. Students are more readily able to see the applicability of economics to understanding the issues being discussed.
All the figures and tables in the book will be available in power point or as overheads for those instructors adopting the text.
For instructors to request a review copy go to http://www.delmarhealthcare.com/health/
Alternatively, instructors can call 1-800-477-3692 to order a review copy.
January 01, 2004
Health Economics: Fundamentals and Flow of Funds, Second Edition
Author: Thomas E. Getzen, Temple University
ISBN: 0-471-43203-2
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
A primer for the field, written by Professor Thomas Getzen, Executive Director of the International Health Economics Association. This text is comprehensive and accessible, providing a readable and rigorous conceptual framework for studying incentives, organizations and profits in medical care. Updated with new material on the calculation of payment rates (RBRVS and DRGS), flow of funds and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, and international contributions on health financing policy in Germany, Japan, Mexico, Poland and the Sudan.
For more information or to order visit:
Getzen Text
ISBN: 0-471-43203-2
Chapter List
- Terms of Trade: The Flow of Funds Through the Health Care System
- Demand
- Cost-Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
- Insurance
- Contracting
- Physicians, Licensure, Medical Education and Business Practices
- Hospitals and Cost Functions
- Managed Care, Risk, Capital and Competition
- Long-term Care
- Pharmaceuticals
- Macroeconomics, Government, Public Goods and Public Health
- Economic History: Income, Population Growth and Medical Care
- International Comparisons of Health Systems and Expenditures
- Dynamics of National Health Spending and Employment
- Value for Money in the Future of Medical Care
August 29, 2002
Health Economics
Authors: Barbara McPake, Lilani Kumaranayake, Charles
Normand
ISBN: 0415277361
PublisherRoutledge
HEALTH ECONOMICS begins by looking at simple models of supply and demand within health care, before moving on to techniques of cost-benefit analysis, and then compares differing health care systems around the world. With an array of case studies based on systems from all over the world, the book successfully bridges the divide between the insurance-based system employed in the United States, the publicly funded operations more common in Europe and Canada and the mixed arrangements characteristic of most developing countries.
This textbook will become required reading on the ever-growing number of health economics courses across the world. It should also be genuinely useful in other areas, such as public health studies, medicine and health science.
To order visit Routledge