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  • © 2020

Understanding Hospitals in Changing Health Systems

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Argues that the health policy community has for decades opposed the roles of primary care and population health against those of hospitals, blinding us about how to govern and resource our health sectors properly
  • Suggests that gathering together expensive people and pieces of equipment in hospitals enables a delivery of care now and in the future which complements yet goes beyond what simpler settings can offer
  • Develops a vision of hospitals, opening the potential to take more sensible decisions on what they should do, how big they should be and how much they should cost

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxv
  2. Introduction: Why This Book?

    • Antonio Durán, Stephen Wright, Paolo Belli, Tata Chanturidze, Patrick Jeurissen, Richard B. Saltman
    Pages 1-24
  3. Hospital Governance

    • Antonio Durán, Richard B. Saltman
    Pages 25-47
  4. Models of Care and Hospitals

    • Antonio Durán, Stephen Wright
    Pages 49-73
  5. Business Models and Hospitals

    • Stephen Wright, Antonio Durán
    Pages 75-101
  6. Hospital Care: Private Assets for-a-Profit?

    • Patrick Jeurissen, Hans Maarse
    Pages 103-119
  7. Hospital Payment Systems

    • Paolo Belli, Patrick Jeurissen
    Pages 121-138
  8. Hospitals in Different Environments: A Messy Reality

    • Tata Chanturidze, Richard B. Saltman
    Pages 139-165
  9. Why Is Reform of Hospitals So Difficult?

    • Richard B. Saltman, Tata Chanturidze
    Pages 167-192
  10. Decision Analysis

    • Stephen Wright, Antonio Durán
    Pages 193-220
  11. Conclusions

    • Antonio Durán, Stephen Wright, Paolo Belli, Tata Chanturidze, Patrick Jeurissen, Richard B. Saltman
    Pages 221-238
  12. Back Matter

    Pages 239-242

About this book

“This timely book provides insight into the changing role of the ‘hospital’ in the face of technological, organizational innovation and ever-tightening health budgets.”
James Barlow, Imperial College Business School, UK


“This book covers various relevant aspects of the hospital in different states and contexts. Underlining the importance of business models for future hospitals, this publication presents models of care from a historic and a current perspective.  All authors possess a deep insight into different health care systems, not only as scholars but as experts working for world-renowned health policy institutions such as the World Health Organization, the World Bank or the European Observatory for Health Systems.”
Siegfried Walch, Management Center Innsbruck, Austria


“For an organisation like mine, representing those involved in the strategic planning of healthcare infrastructure, this book provides invaluable insights into what really matters – now and for the future – in the complex and contentious field of hospital development.”
Jonathan Erskine, European Health Property Network, Netherlands



This book seeks to reframe current policy discussions on hospitals. Healthcare services turn expensive economic resources—people, capital, pharmaceuticals, energy, materials—into care and cure. Hospitals concentrate the use and the cost of these resources, particularly highly-trained people, expensive capital, and embedded technologies. But other areas of health, such as public health and primary care, seem to attract more attention and affection, at least within the health policy community. How to make sense of this paradox? Hospitals choose, or are assigned, to deliver certain parts of care packages. They are organised to do this via “business models”. These necessarily incorporate models of care – the processes of dealing with patients. The activity needs to be governed, in the widest senses. Rational decisions need to be taken about both the care and the resources to be used. This book pulls these elements together, to stimulate a debate.

Editors and Affiliations

  • ALLDMHEALTH, Seville, Spain

    Antonio Durán

  • Independent Consultant, Ingleton, UK

    Stephen Wright

About the editors

Antonio Durán is Alldmh Consultancy director, senior consultant for WHO, WB, EU and DfID, and Technical Adviser for the European Observatory on Health Systems. A frequent lecturer and speaker, he has recently published peer-reviewed articles, and edited a book on governing public hospitals.


Stephen Wright is a freelance consultant in health policies, macroeconomics, social investment, and health finance and investment, for EU Member States, European Commission, EIB, WB and WHO. He has co-edited a number of books, and publishes and presents frequently.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access