This volume looks at three issues high on the health policy agendas of most industrialized countries, including current and ongoing health policy challenges of an aging society; recent developments in pharmaceutical policy; and human resources policies to cope with existing and projected shortfalls of professionals and quality issues.
Common threads across countries—independent of the health system or policymaking style—are the public call for accountability in health policy decisionmaking, as well as debates over the most appropriate level of competencies and service delivery cuts. The contributors, health economists and health policy experts from 16 industrialized countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States), offer a range of ideas and approaches for overcoming obstacles in the policy process.
The book focuses on policies that are of systemic impact, have generated considerable controversy and media attention, and appear transferable to other health policy settings. It aims to narrow the gap between health services research and health policy.