Economics for Healthcare Managers 4th Edition

Book Preface

A fourth edition of Economics for Healthcare Managers was needed for three main reasons. The principal reason is the dramatic changes underway. Health insurance and healthcare have already changed, partly because of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and partly because of the increasing ability of insurers and sponsors to identify efficient and inef-ficient providers of care. Providers have begun to respond to these changes in insurance; the full extent of provider responses is impossible to forecast. Nonetheless, change is in the wind, and everyone in healthcare must be pre-pared. The radical idea that success requires offering customers exceptional value is becoming more common in healthcare. While challenging, this classic prescription for managing turbulent times is one of the most useful ideas that economics has to offer.
Second, the purview of healthcare managers has expanded signifi-cantly. Improving a population’s health, not just its healthcare, has become a challenge for managers. A population health approach adds genetics, indi-vidual behavior, public health interventions, and social determinants of health to the concerns of working managers.
Third, the fourth edition expands opportunities for active learning. The number of cases has been expanded, and the instructor resources offer multiple activities that allow students to engage with the thorny economic issues that healthcare managers must address. With study questions and at least one case for discussion in each chapter, this text and its online instructor resources are designed to facilitate discussion and learning.
The fourth edition remains firmly focused on the economics that healthcare managers must understand to be effective, but it updates the ref-erences and offers students a glimpse into contemporary research. Although many classic citations remain vital, research has exploded in the last five years. The fourth edition shares some of this new work with students in an acces-sible way.

BRIEF CONTENTS
List of Cases ………………………………………………………………………………….xv
Preface to the Fourth Edition ………………………………………………………….xvii
Chapter 1. Why Health Economics? ……………………………………………1
Chapter 2. An Overview of the US Healthcare System …………………17
Chapter 3. An Overview of the Healthcare Financing System ………..37
Chapter 4. Describing, Evaluating, and Managing Risk…………………55
Chapter 5. Understanding Costs ……………………………………………….73
Chapter 6. Realizing the Triple Aim ………………………………………….89
Chapter 7. The Demand for Healthcare Products ………………………109
Chapter 8. Elasticities ……………………………………………………………125
Chapter 9. Forecasting…………………………………………………………..137
Chapter 10. Supply and Demand Analysis …………………………………..153
Chapter 11. Maximizing Profits ………………………………………………..169
Chapter 12. Pricing ………………………………………………………………..185
Chapter 13. Asymmetric Information and Incentives ……………………199
Chapter 14. Economic Analysis of Clinical and Managerial
Interventions………………………………………………………..219
Chapter 15. Profits, Market Structure, and Market Power …………….237
Chapter 16. Government Intervention in Healthcare Markets ……….257
Chapter 17. Regulation …………………………………………………………..277
Chapter 18. Behavioral Economics ……………………………………………293
Answers to Select Chapter Exercises ………………………………………………….309
Glossary …………………………………………………………………………………….313
Index ………………………………………………………………………………………..323
About the Author ………………………………………………………………………..341