Evidence-based healthcare

Sample

Xingzhu Liu

This study is a result of trying to answer for the WHO the question, "Are there any policy tools that have been shown to improve the allocative efficiency of health care provision?" It does not simply tell policy-makers which tools to take up, but rather how to determine which ones are more likely to be feasible and effective, given particular circumstances of political and administrative capacity, knowledge on the part of both providers and consumers, and other factors which affect whether a policy tool can be used, and with what outcome.

Sample

Robert M. Veatch

Robert Veatch, one of the founding fathers of contemporary bioethics, sheds light on a fundamental change sweeping through the American health care system, a change that puts the patient in charge of treatment to an unprecedented extent. The change is in how we think about medical decision-making. Whereas medicine's core idea was that medical decisions should be based on the hard facts of science--the province of the doctor--the "new medicine" contends that medical decisions impose value judgments. Since physicians are not trained to make value judgments, the pendulum has swung greatly toward the patient in making decisions about their treatment. Veatch shows how this has been true only for value-loaded interventions (abortion, euthanasia, genetics) but is coming to be true for almost every routine procedure in medicine, and uses a range of examples to argue that this change is inevitable and a positive trend for patients.--From publisher description.

Sample

Diana B. Petitti

"Meta-analysis, decision analysis, and cost-effectiveness analysis are the cornerstones of evidence-based medicine. These related quantitative methods have become essential tools in the formulation of clinical and public policy based on the synthesis of evidence. All three methods are taught with increasing frequency in medical schools and schools of. Public health and in health policy courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. This book is a lucid introduction and will serve the needs of students taking introductory courses that cover these topics. It will also be useful to clinicians and policy-makers who need to understand the quantitative underpinnings of the methods in order to best apply the information that derives from them."--Jacket.

Sample

Bernadine Healy

This book is a personal odyssey, an intimate doctor-patient communication, and a prescriptive guide for patients and their families. Dr. Healy shares the insights that transformed her own struggle with a deadly cancer more than seven years ago, affirming her identity as patient and doctor. Medical advances have brought us to a turning point in the war on cancer. This quiet revolution is curing a growing number of cancers and transforming many others from a death sentence to a chronic illness, one that calls for vigilance but not despair. Beginning with her own story, Dr. Healy interweaves it with a lucid narrative of what cancer is, how it works, and how we can defeat it. She explains how new approaches are radically altering diagnosis and treatment, and offers ways for patients and their families to access the information and support they need to secure the best care.--From publisher description.