Fixing Medical Prices : How Physicians Are Paid / Miriam J. Laugesen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Laugesen, Miriam J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American Medical Association.

Medical economics--United States.

Medical economics.

Medical care--United States--Evaluation.

Medical care.

Medicare.

Health services administration--United States.

Health services administration.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (286 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Medical care prices in the United States are not only the most expensive in the world, but there are wide variations in what physicians are paid. Doctors at the frontlines of medical care who manage complex conditions argue that they receive disproportionately lower fees than physicians performing services such as minor surgeries and endoscopies. Fixing Medical Prices goes to the heart of the U.S. medical pricing process: to a largely unknown yet influential committee of medical organizations affiliated with the American Medical Association that advises Medicare. Medicare’s ready acceptance of this committee’s recommendations typically sets off a chain reaction across the entire American health care system. For decades, the U.S. policymaking structure for pricing has reflected the influence of physician organizations. What Miriam Laugesen’s rich analysis shows is how these organizations navigate the arcane and complex work of this advisory committee. Contradicting the story of a profession in political decline, Fixing Medical Prices demonstrates that the power of physician organizations has simply become more subtle. Laugesen’s investigation into the exorbitant cost of American medical care will be of interest to those who follow the politics of health care policy, the influence of interest groups on rate setting, and the medical profession’s past and future role in our health care system.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

1. Introduction: The House of Medicine and Medical Prices

2. The Enduring Influence of the House of Medicine over Prices

3. The Science of Work and Payment Reform

4. How Doctors Get Paid

5. Conflicts of Interest and Problems of Evidence

6. Complexity, Agency Capture, and the Game of Codes

7. Conclusion

Notes

References

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed Feb. 24, 2017)

ISBN:

9780674545373

0674545370

9780674545380

0674545389

OCLC:

984546144