Some of you might find the link to the following new article in Time Magazine quite interesting:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376238,00.html
The VHA is, organizationally, America's 'little NHS'. I've looked at the system for the last year, and like all health care systems I think it has its problems (which are a little overlooked in the Time Magazine article). Nonetheless, the system's performance over the last ten years has on the whole in my view shown an impressive turnaround, which I think shows that the attraction for market-systems and demand-side competition is more ideological-driven than anything else (I guess this won't surprise many of you), but some healthy supply-side competition can be beneficial in this type of organizational structure. Those responsible for formulating policy in the UK's 'big NHS' might find the VHA story quite instructive.
Enjoy.
Adam
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