Health care and its costs /

Each year the American Assembly, an educational institution affiliated with Columbia University, sponsors conferences and publishes books dealing with vital public issues. This volume presents the results of an assembly held to discuss the costs of health care. Chapters include discussions of trends in health care delivery in the 1980s (e.g., hospitals efforts to continue to join forces; the spread of enterprises for profit; an excess of hospitals and physicians that will affect cohesiveness), and financial concerns (e.g., relief for uncompensated care, expanding insurances, and a new revenue system). In a chapter entitled ``The Changing Role of the Physician,'' R. Ebert explains how the problem of excess physicians and cost containment are affecting physican income and interests of medical students. He notes inevitable and threatening changes, especially the profound change for the role of the physician. An additional chapter provides evidence and insights into health transitions in later years and interactions in the aging process. The volume concludes with an excellent five-page Final Report of the Assembly which contains concerns and items of agreement of the 57 participants. Students as well as health care providers and the general public will find this book a must for better understanding health care and its costs.-D.J. Mase, University of Florida