We argue that the field of Health Policy and Management (HPAM) ought to confront the gap between theory, policy, and practice. Although there are perennial efforts to reform healthcare systems, the conceptual barriers are considerable and reflect the theory-policy-practice gap. We highlight four dimensions of the gap: 1) the dominance of microeconomic thinking in health policy analysis and desi...

We have been asked to write a commentary on the articles on market reform appearing in this volume. Since we are economists, we concentrate on the articles by Evans and Rice, which directly address the application of economics to health policy. The Evans article attacks marketoriented reforms of health care systems. There are four elements to his argument: (1) A redistributive “rent-seeking” ag...

background health insurance has been acknowledged by researchers as a valuable tool in health financing. in spite of its significance, a subscription paralysis has been observed in india for this product. people who can afford health insurance are also found to be either ignorant or aversive towards it. this study is designed to investigate into the socio-economic factors, individuals’ health i...

this study aimed to explore the effects of national targeted subsidies policy on health behavior of iranian households.in this qualitative study, data were collected between january 2012 and december 2013 through face-to-face interviews (23 experts in national and provincial levels of health system and 18 household heads) and through a comprehensive and purposive document analysis. the data was...

According to the prevailing discourse in health policy circles, America's medical system is in the grips of two "crises": one of health care spending and one of medical malpractice liability. Although this crisis mentality may result in part from uncritical acceptance of interest group dogma, to the extent that a crisis is in fact widely perceived, it has the quality of a selffulfilling prophes...

Health systems are inherently relational and so many of the most critical challenges for health systems are relationship and behaviour problems. Yet the disciplinary perspectives that underlie traditional health policy analysis offer only limited and partial insights into human behaviour and relationships. The health sector, therefore, has much to learn from the wider literature on behaviour an...

The previous part of the series (part II)' was concerned with the questions of choice in the context of financing systems. This and the next two parts are again concerned with choice, the central issue of economics. Here (part III) we discuss some of the ways in which economics has been and can be used within the National Health Service to assist in developing health care policy. How to plan th...

The health status of immigrants is of vital interest to health policy planners as the number of immigrants in the United States increases. This report has shown that, overall, foreign-born persons had better health than the U.S.-born population, although this health advantage varied by length of residence in the United States. In virtually every measure of health status, and with regard to almo...

Emancipation is a process that offers adolescents a solution to serve in the role of an adult in circumstances that warrant the need for more autonomy. The process and definitions of emancipation are often ambiguous for adolescents, nurses, and other health care providers that provide services for these individuals. Emancipation can be additionally perplexing with the lack of overarching federa...