The brave new world of health care

Economic Analysis of the Mediterranean Lifestyle Program for Postmenopausal Women With Diabetes

“…CEAs are relevant in behavioral medicine because policy makers are increasingly demanding data about effectiveness of behavioral interventions relative to associated costs. 1,2 Clinical and behavioral interventions targeting diabetes patients have been shown to be effective in improving clinical outcomes. [3][4][5] Several studies, particularly the Diabetes and Prevention Program (DPP) group, have demonstrated cost-effectiveness for a variety of interventions targeting diabetes or prediabetes patients.…”

Ethical dilemmas in the practice of nursing

“…A June 2013 Fiscal Times essay makes a global comparison, suggesting alternative ways for reducing health-care costs. Haseltine (2013) argues that Singapore has been able to create a most efficient, high-quality health-care system (thus with lower costs), suggesting that perhaps the USA should follow Singapore’s footsteps to be able to create an efficient and a highly efficient health-care system. This author, being aware that the health-care system in Singapore is tremendously different from that of the USA, believes there is no harm summarizing Haseltine’s discussion and his suggestions that reflect his understanding of Singapore universal health-care system where the government ensures affordability of health care within the public health system, largely through a system of compulsory savings, subsidies and price controls.…”

“…Singapore has recognized that the demands for an aging population on the health-care system, which is on the rise, require a shift from hospital to home and community hospitals (Haseltine, 2013).…”

Can, Should, Ought, Must

“…First, there are public officials, such as the former governor of Colorado, Richard Lamm, who have been alarmed by the escalating costs of health care and offered rationing of resources as a viable strategy to control medical expenditures. In addition to advocating a utilitarian hierarchy of health conditions to guide coverage by medical insurance, they make the public policy argument that it is wasteful for a society with limited means to provide high cost care to patients who are certain to have poor outcomes, such as severely malformed infants (Lamm 2003). Second, there are philosophers, such as Peter Singer, whose point of departure is the idea of human dignity.…”