Jonas’ Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System

Abstract

This book is intended primarily for use in undergraduate courses on the U.S. health care delivery system; in graduate survey courses; for teaching the subject to medical, nursing, and other clinical students; and for the practicing health professional who simply wants a relatively brief overview of the system. The first part of the book describes the present state of the U.S. health care system. It covers the settings for health care delivery hospitals, long-term care, and ambulatory care. The first part then discusses the professions and training of people who deliver health care and describes the role of government in the health care system. The review of financing and cost of health care and the principles and practices of performance improvement and quality assurance are also presented in the first part. The second part of the book describes the U.S. health care system’s transitions; it investigates how we got here and where we are going. It presents a history of the “piecemeal” approach to solving problems within the health care system, from 1900 to the present and explains the history of efforts to establish comprehensive reform, ending with passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the most recent challenges to this legislation.