The impact of financial reform on the quality and delivery of health care now forms a central part of health services research. This book reviews the current studies in this field from the USA, UK and Europe, and looks at possible future developments.

The impact of financial reform on the quality and delivery of health care now forms a central part of health services research and this book reviews the current studies in this field from the USA, UK and Europe. Its purpose is to establish the future directions of research, to discuss management training required to implement new accounting systems, and to examine how economic reform will affect health policy as a whole.

System Level Issues: Thinking About Planned Markets
Efficiency of Spending Under Fixed Budgets
Regulation, Competition and Equity with Fixed Budgets
Fixed Budgets in the In-patient Sector: The Case of the Netherlands
Fixed Budgets in the Ambulatory Care Sector: The German Experience
Fixed Budgets in the Pharmaceutical Sector I Germany: Effects of Costs and Quality
Federal and Provincial Roles in Canadian Health Care Budgets
Swedish Experiences with Regional Fixed Budgets
Setting Regional Allocations in the UK
Institutional Issues: German Sickness Funds Under Fixed Budgets
The Possible Effects of a New Hospital Financing System in Austria
Fixed Budgets for Fundholding General Practitioners in the UK.