This book represents a valuable interdisciplinary contribution created to fill an existing gap in the field of health economics and healthcare systems. The book brings the latest insights from the growing field of health economics and healthcare systems. It deals with various economic, technological, sociological, ethical, legal and philosophical implications and questions arising from the development and implementation of personalized medicine. It is unprecedented in combining practical guidelines for the use of economic tools and techniques with an analysis of the current process of decision-making in the health service sector. The book also provides several insights into the factors that determine human health, the socioeconomic aspects of population aging and the social implications of the evolving burden of disease. Some contributions are highly innovative and cover extremely relevant branches of medicine such as oncology, neurology and endocrinology. In addition, in a brave, yet professional and sovereign manner, the book covers the issue of biological predictors of health outcomes; though they are currently mainly used as global analytical methods, they are yet to be applied or have only recently been applied in clinical medicine. Further, it provides an example from traditional Korean medicine, a proven and valuable tool for personalized medical healthcare. This edition is unique in the sense that 30 chapters were written by 41 authors, all of them experts in their respective fields of research. The authors hail from Croatia, Hungary, South Korea and the United States. The volume is intended to serve as valuable teaching material for university students, as well as a reference book for research scholars, policymakers, business executives, health managers, physicians and freelance readers.
