W ith the heal thcare reform debate intensifying, public discourse on the issue has begun to focus more on the mechanics of various proposals and less on the broad goals and principles that inform different plans. But as Rev. Kevin D. O'Rourke, O P , JCD, reminded the audience at a March conference sponsored by the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, those goals and principles must remai...

• he nation's healthcare crisis can be T U summed up in one sentence: O u r I healthcare system serves too few and • J K costs too much. Because of these two fundamental problems—lack of access and rising costs—healthcare reform has moved to the center of American political life. I am concerned that our politicians have been promising and our people have been expecting painless reform. American...

During the last decade, debate about the nation's ailing healthcare system has moved to the forefront. In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed into law. This groundbreaking piece of legislation impacts every aspect of the health industry, affecting everyone from doctors and health-care facilities to insurers and benefits consultants to business owners and pati...

G iven the amount of frenetic healthcare reform preparation occurring with accountable care organizations (ACOs), patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), and bundling demonstrations, are we overlooking—or quietly ignoring— medical and surgical specialists and subspecialists in our planning? It may seem to specialists that they are off the healthcare radar screen for now. Yes, a few medical home...

More than 100 years ago, a young girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to Santa Claus. 1 A newspaper reporter, impressed by the girl's innocence, edi-torialized this quest to believe in a fantasy representing good in the world by penning the famous line, " Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. " This story came to mind a few weeks ago, when I was having breakfast with my daughter-in-law ...

India presents a classic paradox. At one end patients receive the best of advanced medical care, and at the other millions lack access to basic services. The public health sector is neglected, and patients have to rely on a private sector that is commercialised and unregulated (box). Corruption is pervasive, resulting in exploitation of patients and irrational care.Yogesh Jain, a public health ...

The study Improving Hong Kong's Health Care System: Why and For Whom? (the "Harvard Report") published earlier this year makes it clear that the Hong Kong health system and its financing require reform. The Report also identifies many of the reasons which in my view deserve to be taken seriously why this is necessary and should not be delayed. The Harvard Report proposes a new approach to finan...