This book presents an international snapshot of the social organisation of healthcare.

• Papers describe major trends in healthcare in Australia, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, South America, UK and the USA
  
• Subjects addressed include new models of organisational governance, new medical technologies, and the promotion of private health insurance.
  
• Highlights convergence and divergence across national and international contexts
  
• Fosters links between organisational studies and medical sociology.
  
• Points to new research directions and developments.

Davina Allen is a Professor and Research Director at the School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, Cardiff University. Her research interests are concerned with the organization and delivery of health and social services and its relationship to clinical effectiveness, service quality and professional education and socialisation. She has published with David Hughes on Nursing and the Division of Labour in Healthcare (2002) and her recent work has focused on the co-ordination of complex care trajectories.

Alison Pilnick is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham. Her primary research interests are in the field of professional/client interaction, particularly the way in which changing professional roles are negotiated interactionally, and the impact of new technologies on work organization and practice. She is author of Genetics and Society (2002) and a co-editor of the journal Sociology of Health and Illness.