The Truth About Health Care

by Mechanic, David

• ISBN13: 9780813543529
• ISBN10: 0813543525
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-30
• Publisher: Rutgers Univ Pr

Summary

Drawing on decades of experience as an active health policy participant, researcher, teacher, and consultant to the public and private sectors, David Mechanic examines the strengths and weaknesses of health care in the United States. He explains how it has evolved in ways that favor economic, professional, and political interests over those of patients. Yet, he also acknowledges that railing against these influences can achieve only so much. Instead, Mechanic suggests changes that may make it possible to convert what is best about health care in America into a well-functioning system that better serves the entire population. Book jacket.

Author Biography

David Mechanic is director of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research at Rutgers University and the national program director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Our Health Dilemma	p. 17
Is Reform Possible? The Need for Change and the Forces Against It	p. 19
What Is Disease and What Should We Treat?	p. 39
Saving Lives Individually or in Populations	p. 51
The Murky Challenge of Mental Health	p. 67
The Activated Patient and the Doctors' Dilemma	p. 84
The Neglect of Long-Term Care	p. 100
The Struggle for Solutions	p. 113
The Quest for Quality	p. 115
Setting Fair Limits	p. 130
Restoring Trust in the Health System	p. 143
The Fork in the Road	p. 159
The Challenge of Change	p. 161
Steps in Our Health Future	p. 179
Notes	p. 189
Index	p. 211
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