The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics

Sherry Glied · Peter C. Smith

May 2013 · Oxford University Press

About this ebook

The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics provides an accessible and authoritative guide to health economics, intended for scholars and students in the field, as well as those in adjacent disciplines including health policy and clinical medicine. The chapters stress the direct impact of health economics reasoning on policy and practice, offering readers an introduction to the potential reach of the discipline. Contributions come from internationally-recognized leaders in health economics and reflect the worldwide reach of the discipline. Authoritative, but non-technical, the chapters place great emphasis on the connections between theory and policy-making, and develop the contributions of health economics to problems arising in a variety of institutional contexts, from primary care to the operations of health insurers. The volume addresses policy concerns relevant to health systems in both developed and developing countries. It takes a broad perspective, with relevance to systems with single or multi-payer health insurance arrangements, and to those relying predominantly on user charges; contributions are also included that focus both on medical care and on non-medical factors that affect health. Each chapter provides a succinct summary of the current state of economic thinking in a given area, as well as the author's unique perspective on issues that remain open to debate. The volume presents a view of health economics as a vibrant and continually advancing field, highlighting ongoing challenges and pointing to new directions for further progress.

About the author

Sherry Glied served as chair of the Health Policy and Management Department at Columbia University's Mailman School from 1998-2009, and as Senior Economist to the President's Council of Economic Advisers, under Presidents Bush and Clinton from 1992-93. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a member of the board of Academy Health, a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. She has been nominated by President Obama to serve as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation to the US Department of Health and Human Services and is currently awaiting Senate confirmation. Peter C. Smith is Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College London. He is a mathematics graduate from the University of Oxford, and started his academic career in the public health department at the University of Cambridge. In recent years his main research has been in the economics of health, and he was formerly Director of the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York. He has acted in numerous governmental advisory capacities, and advised many international agencies, including the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Commission, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.