Applied Healthcare Economics

'In his wide-ranging tour of the field of health economics, Mark Pauly packages decades of economic theory and evidence into practical insights for today's healthcare managers. Rather than telling managers what to do, he lays out the economic underpinnings of the core concepts in healthcare markets, providing managers with a framework for decision-making as well as guidance for how to manage in the face of uncertainty and imperfect information. The text provides new insights on perennial challenges in healthcare markets, including understanding the difference between cost and value, the tradeoffs facing health insurers in designing products, the challenges in organizing healthcare delivery, and how to make sense of our complex system of buying and selling pharmaceuticals. This is essential reading for the managers and policymakers whose decisions shape our healthcare system.' Kate Bundorf, J. Alexander McMahon Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management, Duke University 'How healthcare's leaders make decisions shouldn't be a subject of concern, because we naively assume they make key decisions based on the evidence. That is not always the case. Often leaders make decisions based on what they see others doing. Mark Pauly's Applied Healthcare Economics is written for senior leaders in the health industry. Pauly rigorously examines what health economists know about how the health system actually works and why evidence matters in healthcare management. His book is a thoughtful, unsparing, and well-reasoned plea for rational, evidence-based decision-making in healthcare.' Jeff Goldsmith, President, Health Futures, Inc. 'This book is a valuable guide for managers and policymakers seeking to understand what health economics can - and can't - tell them. It demystifies complex topics with careful analysis that engages as much as it informs.' Daniel P. Kessler, Professor of Political Economy, Stanford Graduate School of Business 'Like many in my profession, I've read, learned from, and been inspired by Mark Pauly my entire career. In Applied Healthcare Economics, Mark takes the manager's perspective to make the sometimes unexpected lessons from health economics accessible, sensible, and lively with no sacrifice of rigor.' Thomas G. McGuire, Professor of Health Economics, Harvard Medical School