Healthcare Reform And Interest Groups ─ The Case of Rural Australia

In this case study of rural health service reform in the Australian state of Victoria, Evans (director of nursing, Upper Murray Health & Community Services, Australia), Han (School of Arts and Sciences, Monash U., Malaysia), and Madison (School of Health, U. of New England, US) examine the ability of structural interest groups--the bureaucracy and health service management, the medical profession, and the community--to influence the nature of reform. In many ways, their findings echo those of Alford in 1975's Health Care Politics, Ideology and Interest Group Barriers to Reform. They generally find that the distribution of health services is determined by the conflict between corporate rationalists in the bureaucracy and elsewhere, on the one hand, and doctors and other medical monopolists on the other, with community interests largely repressed. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Frank Evans is Chief Executive and Director of Nursing at Upper Murray Health & Community Services and the Chief Executive of UMHCS Learning Services where he teaches business management. Dr Evans has managed rural health services in NSW and Victoria since 1992. Gil-Soo Han is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the School of Arts and Sciences at Monash University Malaysia. Dr Han is a sociologist and has previously taught at the University of New England and Monash University, Australia. His past publications include Social Sources of Church Growth (1994) and Health and Medicine under Capitalism (2000). Jeanne Madison is the Head of School of Health at the University of New England, Australia. Dr Madison's research interests are in the areas of health management, nursing, equity, diversity, leadership and human resource management.