PRIMARY CARE PAYMENT REFORM: THE MISSING LINK

Systemwide cost control--the missing link in health care reform.

1 gains in insurance coverage. The reform legislation now before Congress , however, cannot be relied on to control spending. The Obama administration and others have emphasized the cost-saving potential of prevention, comparative-effectiveness research, disease management, and health information technology. But there is little evidence that these worthwhile measures would produce meaningful co...

The Missing Link in School Reform (PDF)

A Missing Link in Decentralization Reform in Japan:Trinity Reform Package

In June 2003, the Koizumi administration created the "Trinity Reform Package." In this context, "trinity" means the decentralization reform process that involves three factors: local tax, local allocation tax grant and national government disbursement. There is, however, a missing link in the reform. This is local bond, which is one of major revenue source for local governments. In particular, ...

The Missing Link: Human Interactive Security Protocols in Mobile Payment

A new family of protocols, based on communication over human-based side channels, permit secure pairing or group formation in ways that no party has to prove its name. These protocols are particularly suitable for authentication on mobile phones where PKI or trusted third party solutions are not practical to cover all scenarios. Rather, individuals are able to hook up devices in their possessio...

Reform of provider payment in ambulatory care

In 2009, the methods for paying SHI-affiliated physicians in ambulatory care were changed. The era of capitation fees and strict budgeting is over. GPs and specialists are now paid on a capped fee-for-service basis, with a payment ceiling that is set for each doctor and adjusted for specialization, the number of cases and patient age. Instead of a floating-point fee schedule, a fee schedule wit...