In the United States, the soaring cost of health care has become an economic drag and a political flashpoint. Moreover, although the country's medical spending is higher than that of any other nation, health outcomes are no better than elsewhere, and in some cases are even worse. In The Quality Cure, renowned health care economist and former Obama advisor David Cutler offers an accessible and incisive account of the issues and their causes, as well as a road map for the future of health care reformÑone that shows how information technology, realigned payment systems, and value-focused organizations together have the power to resolve this seemingly intractable problem and transform the US health care system into one that is affordable, efficient, and effective.
This book discusses oxidative stress and hormesis from the perspective of an evolutionary ecologist or physiologist. In the first of ten chapters, general historical information, definitions, and background of research on oxidative stress physiology, hormesis, and life history are provided. Chapters 2-10 highlight the different solutions that organisms have evolved to cope with the oxidative threats posed by their environments and lifestyles. The author illustrates how oxidative stress and hormesis have shaped diversity in organism life-histories, behavioral profiles, morphological phenotypes, and aging mechanisms. The book offers fascinating insights into how organisms work and how they evolve to sustain their physiological functions under a vast array of environmental conditions.
The first text to integrate behavioral and cognitive approaches to learning and memory, this engaging textbook emphasizes human research, reflecting the field's evolution. Learning and Memory also recognizes the vital contribution of animal research, covering all historically important studies. Written in a lively and conversational style, this second edition encourages students to think critically. One example is its exploration of the Rescorla-Wagner model, the most important theory of conditioning, now further streamlined to improve student comprehension. Another is the addition of critical-thinking questions, which encourage students to evaluate their reactions to the material they've read, and relate findings to their own lives. Research includes an emphasis on practical applications such as treatments for phobias, addictions, and autism; the arguments for and against corporal punishment; whether recovered memories and eyewitness testimony should be believed; and effective techniques for studying. The text concludes with an overview of neural networks and deep learning.
This book is a comprehensive overview of the ever-captivating field of glaciation from the perspective of glacial landsystems. This approach models the many processes, forms and interactions that can be found in glaciated landscapes throughout the world. Landsystems models allow the glacial geologist and geomorphologist to evaluate these landscapes in relation to the dynamics of glaciation and to climate and geology. Glacial Landsystems brings together the expertise of an international range of specialists to provide an up-to-date summary of landsystems relevant to both modern and ancient glacier systems and also in the reconstruction and interpretation of former glacial environments. The models are applicable at all scales from ice sheets to small valley glaciers. This book is an essential reference for anyone embarking upon research or engineering surveys in glaciated basins and provides a wide-ranging handbook of glacial landsystem types for students of glaciation.
Now in four convenient volumes, Field’s Virology remains the most authoritative reference in this fast-changing field, providing definitive coverage of virology, including virus biology as well as replication and medical aspects of specific virus families. This volume of Field’s Virology: RNA Viruses, Seventh Edition covers the latest information on RNA viruses, how they cause disease, how they can cause epidemics and pandemics, new therapeutics and vaccine approaches, as provided in new or extensively revised chapters that reflect these advances in this dynamic field. Bundled with the eBook, which will be updated regularly as new information about each virus is available, this text serves as the authoritative, up-to-date reference book for virologists, infectious disease specialists, microbiologists, and physicians, as well as medical students pursuing a career in infectious diseases.
PRAISE FOR EDUCATING PHYSICIANS "Educating Physicians provides a masterful analysis of undergraduate and graduate medical education in the United States today. It represents a major educational document, based firmly on educational psychology, learning theory, empirical studies, and careful personal observations of many individual programs. It also recognizes the importance of financing, regulation, and institutional culture on the learning environment, which suffuses its recommendations for reform with cogency and power. Most important, like Abraham Flexner's classic study a century ago, the report recognizes that medical education and practice, at their core, are profoundly moral enterprises. This is a landmark volume that merits attention from anyone even peripherally involved with medical education." —Kenneth M. Ludmerer, author, Time to Heal: American Medical Education from the Turn of the Century to the Era of Managed Care "This is a very important book that comes at a critical time in our nation's history. We will not have enduring health care reform in this country unless we rethink our medical education paradigms. This book is a call to arms for doing just that." —George E. Thibault, president, Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation "The authors provide us with the evidence-based model for physician education with associated changes in infrastructure, policy, and our roles as educators. Whether you agree or not with their conclusions, if you are a teacher this book is a must-read as it will frame both what and how we discuss medical education throughout the current century." —Deborah Simpson, associate dean for educational support and evaluation, Medical College of Wisconsin "A provocative book that provides us with a creative vision for medical education. Using in-depth case studies of innovative educational practices illustrating what is actually possible, the authors provide sage advice for transforming medical education on the basis of learning theories and educational research." —Judith L. Bowen, professor of medicine, Oregon Health & Science University
Discusses the basic physical principles underlying Biomedical Photonics, spectroscopy and microscopy This volume discusses biomedical photonics, spectroscopy and microscopy, the basic physical principles underlying the technology and its applications. The topics discussed in this volume are: Biophotonics; Fluorescence and Phosphorescence; Medical Photonics; Microscopy; Nonlinear Optics; Ophthalmic Technology; Optical Tomography; Optofluidics; Photodynamic Therapy; Image Processing; Imaging Systems; Sensors; Single Molecule Detection; Futurology in Photonics. Comprehensive and accessible coverage of the whole of modern photonics Emphasizes processes and applications that specifically exploit photon attributes of light Deals with the rapidly advancing area of modern optics Chapters are written by top scientists in their field Written for the graduate level student in physical sciences; Industrial and academic researchers in photonics, graduate students in the area; College lecturers, educators, policymakers, consultants, Scientific and technical libraries, government laboratories, NIH.
The United States spends greatly more per person on health care than any other country but the evidence shows that care is often poor and inappropriate. Despite expenditures of 1.7 trillion dollars in 2003, and growing substantially each year, services remain fragmented and poorly coordinated, and more than 46 million people are uninsured. Why can't America, with its vast array of resources, sophisticated technologies, superior medical research and educational institutions, and talented health care professionals, produce higher quality care and better outcomes? In The Truth about Health Care, David Mechanic explains how health care in America has evolved in ways that favor a myriad of economic, professional, and political interests over those of patients. While money has always had a place in medical care, "big money" and the quest for profits has become dominant, making meaningful reforms difficult to achieve. Mechanic acknowledges that railing against these influences, which are here to stay, can achieve only so much. Instead, he asks whether it is possible to convert what is best about health care in America into a well functioning system that better serves the entire population. Bringing decades of experience as an active health policy participant, researcher, teacher, and consultant to the public and private sectors, Mechanic examines the strengths and weaknesses of our system and how it has evolved. He pays special attention to areas often neglected in policy discussions, such as the loss of public trust in medicine, the tragic state of long-term care, and the relationship of mental health to health care. For anyone who has been frustrated by uncoordinated health networks, insurance denials, and other obstacles to obtaining appropriate care, this book will provide a refreshing and frank look at the system's current and future dilemmas. Mechanic's thoughtful roadmap describes how health plans, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and consumer groups can work together to improve access, quality, fairness, and health outcomes in America. About the Author:
This book offers health care leaders the necessary tools to both map their current stakeholder relationships and fashion concrete steps to produce greater stakeholder engagement, collaboration, and cooperative competition.
For many years, we have been warned that our nation is on an imprudent & unsustainable fiscal path. During the past three years, the Comptroller General has traveled to 25 states as part of the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour. Members of this diverse group of policy experts agree that finding solutions to the nation¿s long-term fiscal challenge will require bipartisan cooperation, a willingness to discuss all options, & the courage to make tough choices. In this testimony, the Comptroller General discusses the long-term fiscal outlook, our nation¿s huge health care challenge, & the shrinking window of opportunity for action. Illustrations.
Why does US health care have such high costs and poor outcomes? Dr. David S. Guzick offers this critique of the American health care industry and argues that it could work more effectively by rebalancing care, cost, and access. For decades, the United States has been faced with a puzzling problem: Despite spending much more money per capita on health care than any other developed nation, its population suffers from notoriously poorer health. In comparison with 10 other high-income nations, in fact, the US has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest rates of infant and neonatal mortality, and the most inequitable access to physicians when adjusted for need. In An Introduction to the US Health Care Industry, Dr. David S. Guzick takes an in-depth look at this troubling issue. Bringing to bear his unique background as a physician, economist, former University of Rochester medical school dean, and former president of the University of Florida Health System, Dr. Guzick shows that what we commonly refer to as the US health care "system" is actually an industry forged by a unique collection of self-interested and disjointed stakeholders. He argues that the assumptions underlying well-functioning markets do not align with health care. The resulting market imperfections, combined with entrenched industry stakeholders, have led to a significant imbalance of care, cost, and access. Using a nontechnical framework, Dr. Guzick introduces readers to the economic principles behind the function—and dysfunction—of our health care industry. He shows how the market-based approach could be expected to remedy these problems while detailing the realities of imperfections, regulations, and wealth inequality on those functions. He also analyzes how this industry developed, presenting the conceptual underpinnings of the health care industry while detailing its history and tracing the creation and entrenchment of the current federation of key stakeholders—government, insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, employers, and drug and device manufacturers. In the final section of the book, Dr. Guzick looks to the future, describing the prevention, innovation, and alternative financing models that could help to rebalance the priorities of care, cost, and access that Americans need. An online supplement on COVID-19 is available, as is a discussion guide for instructors. To access this supplemental material, please visit www.jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu.
There is little debate that health care in the United States is in need of reform. But where should those improvements begin? With insurers? Drug makers? The doctors themselves? In Big Med, David Dranove and Lawton Robert Burns argue that we’re overlooking the most ubiquitous cause of our costly and underperforming system: megaproviders, the expansive health care organizations that have become the face of American medicine. Your local hospital is likely part of one. Your doctors, too. And the megaproviders are bad news for your health and your wallet. Drawing on decades of combined expertise in health care consolidation, Dranove and Burns trace Big Med’s emergence in the 1990s, followed by its swift rise amid false promises of scale economies and organizational collaboration. In the decades since, megaproviders have gobbled up market share and turned independent physicians into salaried employees of big bureaucracies, while delivering on none of their early promises. For patients this means higher costs and lesser care. Meanwhile, physicians report increasingly low morale, making it all but impossible for most systems to implement meaningful reforms. In Big Med, Dranove and Burns combine their respective skills in economics and management to provide a nuanced explanation of how the provision of health care has been corrupted and submerged under consolidation. They offer practical recommendations for improving competition policies that would reform megaproviders to actually achieve the efficiencies and quality improvements they have long promised. This is an essential read for understanding the current state of the health care system in America—and the steps urgently needed to create an environment of better care for all of us.
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