Palgrave International Handbook of Health Care Policy and Governance

Healthcare policy is one of contemporary society's most dynamic policy arenas. Heightened pressures for action and reform, such as the global economic crisis, demographic changes, and inequity, have increased interest in international, transnational, and global health policy and this, in turn, has fuelled comparative research. Yet, new concepts of healthcare may create diverse and contradictory results in different parts of the world that call for careful empirical investigation and for a systematic approach that brings the complexity of governing healthcare into perspective. Starting with more general issues of healthcare policy and governance in a global perspective and using the lens of national case studies of healthcare reform, this international handbook addresses key themes in the debates over changing healthcare policy. This includes future health human resources needs and planning, major concepts of management and leadership in healthcare, traditional and new emergent areas of new governance, and the challenges of equity and equality in the development, provision of and access to healthcare services for diverse groups of citizens. With a focus on connections, including interactions between healthcare policy and governance, international comparison and global policy, global and local perspectives, and macro- and micro-level policy using a multi-level governance approach, this handbook provides nuanced research that illuminates the intricate issues in healthcare policy and governance across the globe.