Handbook of Research on Healthcare Standards, Policies, and Reform

Healthcare emerging from the turbulent 1990s presented itself to the new century without the markets that the rhetoric had initially promised and without the return to the hierarchy that many had feared. The development of the corporatization process has moved the arena of health policies to the local level, but spending power has remained firmly at the central level, where the state continues to determine annually the needs and standards of health care. The most important element of the new national health policies was their progressive absorption in the context of budgetary policies in the context of relations dominated by the Ministry of Economy both towards local authorities and the Ministry of Health. The increase in the complexity of the organization and functioning of healthcare has strengthened the perception of an in-depth gap in the area in terms of skills, professionalism and management tools which has also manifested itself in terms of political direction and management skills administrative.

In the light of all the above, it is necessary to rethink a new system of assistance to which standards and a variety of objectives should be attributed:: attracting new private financial resources to expand total healthcare spending and reduce public spending; favor the emergence of organized forms of civil society for the community management of territorial funds according to a new model of community welfare-mix; promote the freedom of choice of the consumer citizen not only of the place of treatment, but also of the subject to whom to entrust the protection of his own welfare coverage; improve production efficiency and supply diversification through competition on the demand and supply side of services. As can be easily understood, these problems have repercussions from the point of view of health policies and reforms, with an economic, social, statistical, demographic and regulatory impact.

The book focuses on health and on its applications, highlighting both the opportunities and the risks ahead. This book brings together chapters that consider different areas of research to allow a wider understanding of health and of its applications through an interplay between different approaches:: economic, legal, ethical, industrial and more. It contributes to the understanding of health and its several fields of relevance in different areas of knowledge and culture.