Competitive Managed Care: The Emerging Health Care System » (1st Edition)

JOHN D. WILKERSON Kelly J. Devers, and Ruth S. Given collaborated on this book while they were Robert Wood Johnson Scholars in the Health Policy Research Program at the University of California, Berkeley. John D. Wilkerson is assistant professor of political science at the University of Washington, Seattle. Kelly J. Devers is an expert appointee at the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Center for Organization and Delivery. Ruth S. Given is director of the Department of Health Care Policy at the California Medical Association.

The Emerging U.S. Health Care System

The first comprehensive assessment of the new managed care and its potential for addressing the health delivery problems facing the nation.
—Stephen M. Shortell, A. C. Buehler, Distinguished Professor of Health Services Management and professor of organization behavior, J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

A distinguished group of sixteen health care experts identify and assess the challenges and opportunities raised by the U.S.'s emerging competitive health care system. This timely book looks at the managed forms of care that are thriving in today's competitive bottom line
environment. A thoughtful commentary on the major trAnds in health care, this book provides a much needed resource for health care providers and government policymakers.

Bruce J. Fried

This book deals with managed care and market competition based healthcare reforms. The chapters are divided into three major sections dealing with the rationale behind competitive managed care, private sector initiatives, and public sector initiatives. A final chapter projects the future potential and limits of competitive managed care. The purpose is to apply economic theory to the analysis of competitive managed care. The book attempts to review many of the popular arguments extolling the virtues of the marketplace in healthcare and to examine critically the use of a purely economic approach to health system design. The book is appropriately targeted to healthcare practitioners, purchasers, and consumers of healthcare services, policymakers and analysts, and graduate students in health policy, public health, and health services management. The editors and contributing authors are well recognized for their expertise. The chapters in the book are consistent in writing style and sophistication. Although each could stand on its own as a strong commentary on the health system, there is reasonable continuity among chapters. The major organizing framework, besides economic theory, is the distinction between public and private initiatives. Given the many ways that one could organize a group of nonsequential chapters, this is an acceptable organizing framework for the book. The references are current and relevant. A major strength of this book is its accessibility to many audiences. Economic approaches are described simply and accurately for the noneconomist. The book is well researched and in largely empirically based, but it is also quite readable for practitioners and healthprofessionals. Another important strength of the book is its coverage of fundamental issues, such as the economics of managed care, as well as specific initiatives, such as Medicaid managed care.