title: Policy challenges for the Australian health care system.
abstract: In contrast to the regular media reports decrying the so-called crisis in the health system, a number of academic commentators have identified areas in which the Australian health care system could improve. George Palmer has been one of those, and over the years has published a body of work identifying areas for improvement. This paper reviews the performance of the Australian health care system against the criteria of equity, efficiency and acceptability, and explicates the contemporary problem areas associated with each criterion.
authors.affiliation: La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duckett
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006302:Health Services Research; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012935:Social Justice