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...

In this commentary, we discuss our thoughts on the future of healthcare reform in the United States. While public discourse on healthcare reform still focuses on the federal government and the Affordable Care Act, including the possibility of repeal, we argue that states are poised to continue the momentum started by the federal government. Implementation of Medicaid expansion, Delivery System ...

Cost-containment in healthcare spending has become a central issue in public policy and healthcare reform, especially as the affordable care act adds millions of people to public and private insurance rolls. In this climate, longstanding criticism of pharmaceutical pricing has grown sharper, and many in both policy and medicine have characterized the costs of newly developed drugs as both exorb...

Primary healthcare nurse practitioners (PHCNPs), also known as family or all-ages nurse practitioners, are the fastest growing advanced practice nursing role in Canada. All 10 provinces and three territories now have legislation that authorizes their role. Their introduction is linked to countrywide health reform efforts to improve the accessibility and quality of primary healthcare.