Treating Health Care: How the Canadian System Works and How It Could Work Better

Treating Health Care • How the Canadian System Works and How It Could Work Better
By Raisa B. Deber
194 pages • ISBN 978-1487521493

Canada has been among the world leaders in recognizing the multiple factors that impact health. Focusing on Canada’s health care system, Raisa B. Deber provides brief descriptions of some key facts and concepts necessary to understand health care policy in Canada and place it in an international context.

An accessible guide, Treating Health Care unpacks key concepts to provide informed discussions that help us understand and diagnose Canada’s health care system and to clarify which proposed changes are likely to improve it – and which are not. This book provides background information to clarify such concepts as: determinants of health; how health systems are organized and financed (including international comparisons); health economics; health ethics; and roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, including government, providers, and patients. It then addresses some key issues, including equity, efficiency, access and wait times, quality improvement and patient safety, and coverage and payment models. Using analysis rather than advocacy, Deber provides a toolkit to help understand health care and health policy.

"Deber is a solid and well-respected health care scholar and Treating Health Care shows a deep knowledge of the relevant research literature and a sophisticated understanding of the current issues in Canada’s health care system." Allan Maslove, School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University

"Treating Health Care effectively provides a primer in the disciplines of policy analysis and health economics – and examines the Canadian health care system in this context. This is an important volume for university courses on the Canadian health system." Owen Adams, Chief Policy Advisor, Canadian Medical Association.