Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Course Instructor
John F. McCracken office: SOM 1.704
phone: (972) 883-6252 email: jfm@utdallas.edu
Course Objective:
This course is an introduction to the structure, operation, current state and future direction of the
American healthcare system. It examines the ways in which services are organized, financed and
delivered; the factors that determine the allocation of care and the establishment of priorities; and
the forces that impact health policy decisions. Some of the key issues that will be discussed
include:
♦ Who are the major industry participants and how do they interact?
♦ How is healthcare financed?
♦ How are health services allocated ?
♦ What happens to those who fall through the cracks in the system?
♦ What is the future of healthcare technology?
♦ Why does healthcare cost so much?
♦ What is the outlook for healthcare reform?
Resources
Text: Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System, L. Shi and D. Singh, Jones & Bartlett
Publishers, 2005, available for purchase in the UTD Bookstore.
Articles: Several current articles are assigned for this course. Six of them are bound and
available for purchase in the UTD Bookstore. The rest are posted on Web CT.
Web CT: All articles (except those required to be purchased) are available on WebCT at
http://webct.utdallas.edu/webct/public/home.pl Go to “The American Healthcare
System” to download both the syllabus and the articles.
Class participation includes diligent preparation of required readings, active contribution to class
discussion and a minimum of two in-class reports on key articles included in the syllabus. The
final written research project will address structural change and reform of the current healthcare
system. Criteria for both the in-class reports and final research paper will be distributed on the
first day of class.
This course is still evolving, and we may spend more time on some topics and less on others.
Please stay flexible. I’ll let you know as early as I can if/when we plan to deviate from the
schedule below.
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THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
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HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS
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THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
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THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
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SPECIAL TOPICS
HEALTHCARE R EFORM
♦ D. Altman, The Sad History of Health Care Cost Containment as Told in One Chart,”
Health Affairs, January 2002.
♦ H. Aaron, “The Unsurprising Surprise of Renewed Health Care Cost Inflation,”
Health Affairs, January 2002.
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THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
MAS 6VO2 501 - Spring 2006 – SOM 1.117
Recommended Reading
♦ G. Anderson, “It’s the Prices, Stupid: Why the United States is so Different from
Other Countries,” Health Affairs, May/June, 2003.
♦ S. Altman, “Escalating Health Care Spending: Is it Desirable or Inevitable,” Health
Affairs, January 2003.