New methods in immunocytochemistry and hybridization techniques enable the pathologist active in diagnosis to clarify more effectively problems in the classification and prognosis of tumors. By adopting these methods into his diagnostic repertoire it will be possible to create a closer, more productive connection between morphological diagnosis and clinical work. This volume gives the reader an up-to-date general survey from international experts of the method, technique and practical application of these new procedures.

This book brings together presentations of some of the fundamental new research that has begun to appear in the areas of dynamic structural modeling, nonlinear structural modeling, time series modeling, nonparametric inference, and chaotic attractor inference. The contents of this volume comprise the proceedings of the third of a conference series entitled International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics. This conference was held at the IC;s2 (Innovation, Creativity and Capital) Institute at the University of Texas at Austin on May 22-23, l986.

This book brings together presentations of some of the fundamental new research that has begun to appear in the areas of dynamic structural modeling, nonlinear structural modeling, time series modeling, nonparametric inference, and chaotic attractor inference. The contents of this volume comprise the proceedings of the third of a conference series entitled International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics. This conference was held at the IC;s2 (Innovation, Creativity and Capital) Institute at the University of Texas at Austin on May 22-23, l986.

Health care costs represent a nearly 18% of U.S. gross domestic product and 20% of government spending. While there is detailed information on where these health care dollars are spent, there is much less evidence on how this spending affects health. The research in Measuring and Modeling Health Care Costs seeks to connect our knowledge of expenditures with what we are able to measure of results, probing questions of methodology, changes in the pharmaceutical industry, and the shifting landscape of physician practice. The research in this volume investigates, for example, obesity's effect on health care spending, the effect of generic pharmaceutical releases on the market, and the disparity between disease-based and population-based spending measures. This vast and varied volume applies a range of economic tools to the analysis of health care and health outcomes. Practical and descriptive, this new volume in the Studies in Income and Wealth series is full of insights relevant to health policy students and specialists alike.

Personalized and precision medicine (PPM)—the targeting of therapies according to an individual’s genetic, environmental, or lifestyle characteristics—is becoming an increasingly important approach in health care treatment and prevention. The advancement of PPM is a challenge in traditional clinical, reimbursement, and regulatory landscapes because it is costly to develop and introduces a wide range of scientific, clinical, ethical, and socioeconomic issues. PPM raises a multitude of economic issues, including how information on accurate diagnosis and treatment success will be disseminated and who will bear the cost; changes to physician training to incorporate genetics, probability and statistics, and economic considerations; questions about whether the benefits of PPM will be confined to developed countries or will diffuse to emerging economies with less developed health care systems; the effects of patient heterogeneity on cost-effectiveness analysis; and opportunities for PPM’s growth beyond treatment of acute illness, such as prevention and reversal of chronic conditions. This volume explores the intersection of the scientific, clinical, and economic factors affecting the development of PPM, including its effects on the drug pipeline, on reimbursement of PPM diagnostics and treatments, and on funding of the requisite underlying research; and it examines recent empirical applications of PPM.

There is intense interest among scholars and the public about the risks, benefits, and pricing of pharmaceuticals but relatively little attention has been devoted to vaccine markets and the political, economic, and regulatory factors that influence their development. In this important new study, Ernst R. Berndt, Rena N. Denoncourt, and Anjli C. Warner investigate the key business drivers and challenges of vaccine markets, the complex interactions among their important stakeholders, and the emerging opportunities for growth. U.S. Markets for Vaccines: Characteristics, Case Studies, and Controversies examines several case studies including vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, seasonal influenza, chicken pox, and shingles that demonstrate the diverse dynamics of vaccine markets. The authors consider the role of intellectual property protection in the discovery process, preclinical and clinical development issues, manufacturing and cost characteristics, and the challenges of marketing, product differentiation, pricing, and distribution. They also explore the process of obtaining regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and earning a spot on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccination schedules for pediatric and adult populations. Finally, the authors address the controversial debate over an alleged link between childhood vaccinations and autism. Drawing upon extensive interviews with representatives from industry, insurance providers, government agencies, health-care providers, and academia, U.S. Markets for Vaccines offers a balanced and comprehensive snapshot of the changing landscape for vaccine markets.

With the United States and other developed nations spending as much as 14 percent of their GDP on medical care, economists and policy analysts are asking what these countries are getting in return. Yet it remains frustrating and difficult to measure the productivity of the medical care service industries.
This volume takes aim at that problem, while taking stock of where we are in our attempts to solve it. Much of this analysis focuses on the capacity to measure the value of technological change and other health care innovations. A key finding suggests that growth in health care spending has coincided with an increase in products and services that together reduce mortality rates and promote additional health gains. Concerns over the apparent increase in unit prices of medical care may thus understate positive impacts on consumer welfare. When appropriately adjusted for such quality improvements, health care prices may actually have fallen.
Provocative and compelling, this volume not only clarifies one of the more nebulous issues in health care analysis, but in so doing addresses an area of pressing public policy concern.