Personal Health Services Health Article

SUMMARY

Substantial organizational, technical, scientific, economic, and cultural forces have shaped the nature and content of personal health care, and for sick and disabled individuals, the sources of care have increased in breadth and sophistication. At the heart of clinical care, however, there remains a well-established process that has not materially changed, characterized by communication, education, compassion, empathy, and dignity. Successful health systems must preserve these elements as they evolve and grow.

ROBERT B. WALLACE

(SEE ALSO: Access to Health Services; Alternative, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine; Economics of Health; Evidence-Based Medicine; Health; Health Care Financing; Inequalities in Health; Managed Care; Medicaid; Medicare; National Health Insurance; National Health Systems; Nurse; Physician; Preventive Medicine; Primary Care; Psychology, Health; Theories of Health and Illness; Uninsurance)

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