The paper studies the incentive for providers to invest in new health care technologies under alternative payment systems, when the patients' benefits are uncertain. If the reimbursement by the purchaser includes both a variable (per patient) and a lump-sum component, efficiency can be ensured...

Definitions of health and illness -- Public health : defining determinants of health -- Health status indicators -- Role of culture in the organization of health care systems -- Political and philosophical values that influence the US health care system -- Do we have as system? -- People who...