From Advocacy to Allocation: The Evolving American Health Care System

"The American health care system is in the midst of a political, social, and economic revolution, characterized by allocations, conscious decision making, and rationing rather than by unrestrained advocacy for doing everything possible. David Mechanic, one of the foremost medical sociologists in the United States, examines emerging trends in health care and probes the vast, complex issues in policy and practice confronting legistlators, healthcare progessionals, and patients. Analyzing the broad factors affecting health and responses to illness, he also explores how physicians, nurses, and other heatlh practicioners are adapting to new restraints, challenges, and opportunities, and reviews major inpending social, economic, and ethical dilemmas that relate to adolescents, the elderly, and the mentally ill." David Mechanic, editor of Handbook fo Health, Health Care, and the Health Professions, is University Professor and Rene Dubos Professor of Behavioral Sciences at Rutgers University...