The LSE Companion to Health Policy covers a wide range of conceptual and practical issues from a number of different perspectives introducing the reader to, and summarising, the vast literature that analyses the complexities of health policy. The Companion also assesses the current state of the art.

Contents: Introduction Alistair McGuire and Joan Costa-Font PART I: QUALITY, ACCESS AND INEQUALITIES 1. Inequalities in Health: Why Do We Care? How Do We Care? What Can We Do About Them? Cristina Hernández-Quevedo and Joan Costa-Font 2. Strengthening Community Participation in Primary Health Care: Experiences from South Africa Andrew Gibbs and Catherine Campbell 3. Socioeconomic Status and Access to Health Care: The Quandary of Transition Economies Heba A. Elgazzar 4. Quality of Ambulatory Care: Hospitalisations for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions Lucia Kossarova PART II: SUPPLY AND HEALTH CARE MARKETS 5. Choice in Health Care: Drivers and Consequences Valentina Zigante, Joan Costa-Font and Zack Cooper 6. A Million Years of Waiting: Competing Accounts and Comparative Experiences of Hospital Waiting-time Policy Alec Morton and R. Gwyn Bevan 7. Measuring Access to Health Care in Europe Sara Allin and Cristina Masseria PART III: INSURANCE AND EXPENDITURES 8. How are Rising Health Care Expenditures Explained? Alistair McGuire, Victoria Serra-Sastre and Maria Raikou 9. Providing Financial Incentives for Improved Quality and Efficiency: A Literature Review of the Effects of Payment for Performance (P4P) Policies Irene Papanicolas 10. Social Health Protection: Policy Options for Low- and Middle-income Countries Philipa Mladovsky PART IV: PHARMACEUTICALS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES 11. Technology Diffusion in Health Care: Conceptual Aspects and Evidence Victoria Serra-Sastre and Alistair McGuire 12. Do International Launch Strategies of Pharmaceutical Corporations Respond to Changes in the Regulatory Environment? Nebibe Varol, Joan Costa-Font and Alistair McGuire PART V: AGEING AND LONG-TERM CARE 13. Proximity to Death and Health Care Costs Michael Murphy 14. The Health and Social Care Divide in the United Kingdom Catherine Henderson 15. Barriers to and Opportunities for Private Long-term Care Insurance in England: What Can We Learn from Other Countries? Adelina Comas-Herrera, Rebecca Butterfield, José-Luis Fernández, Raphael Wittenberg and Joshua M. Wiener PART VI: BEHAVIOUR AND HEALTH PRODUCTION 16. Historical Trends of Mortality and its Implications for Health Policies in England and Wales: The Cause-of-Death Approach Mariachiara Di Cesare and Michael Murphy 17. Risk Research and Health-related Behaviours Caroline Rudisill 18. The Doctor–Patient Relationship: A Review of the Theory and Policy Implications Charitini Stavropoulou Index