Main description:

Canada has been among the world leaders in recognizing the multiple factors that impact health. Focusing on Canada's health care system, Raisa B. Deber provides brief descriptions of some key facts and concepts necessary to understand health care policy in Canada and place it in an international context.

An accessible guide, Treating Health Care unpacks key concepts to provide informed discussions that help us understand and diagnose Canada's health care system and to clarify which proposed changes are likely to improve it - and which are not. This book provides background information to clarify such concepts as: determinants of health; how health systems are organized and financed (including international comparisons); health economics; health ethics; and roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, including government, providers, and patients. It then addresses some key issues, including equity, efficiency, access and wait times, quality improvement and patient safety, and coverage and payment models. Using analysis rather than advocacy, Deber provides a toolkit to help understand health care and health policy.

Contents:

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Health Care in Canada: What Works? What Needs to Be Done?
1 Defining Our Terms: What Is Health Policy? What Is Health?
2 What Is Health Care?
3 How Is Health Care Paid For and Delivered?
4 How Does Canada Do It?
5 Health Care in Canada: International Comparisons
6 How Should We Decide What Is Worth Paying For?
7 Pressing Issues
8 Treating Health Care: How Can We Make It Better? What Might Make It Worse?
Notes
Index