This chapter reviews the theory and empirical literature on physician market power, behavior, and motives, referred to collectively as the issue of physician agency. The chapter is organized around an increasingly complex view of the demand conditions facing a physician, beginning with the most...

This chapter summarizes the many aspects of public policy for health care. I first consider government policy affecting individual behaviors. Government intervention to change individual actions such as smoking and drinking is frequently justified on externality grounds. External costs of...

This chapter reviews topics related to the demand for health insurance, including the question of how choice of health insurance should be structured for consumers. After the first section summarizes some of the institutional features of health insurance in high- and middle-income countries, a...

Herbert F. Stähr analysiert die Möglichkeiten und Auswirkungen eines integrierten Versorgungsmodells für den Therapiebereich künstliche Ernährung. Ziel ist es, durch eine fachübergreifende Betreuung von Patienten die Behandlungsprozesse besser abzustimmen und dadurch die Qualität und...

Within the international discussion on the structure of healthcare systems, managed care is an increasingly important topic. Over more than twenty years managed care approaches have fundamentally influenced healthcare systems in terms of patient orientation, efficiency, and quality. Experts...