The country then made changes to strengthen the quality and availability of outpatient primary-care services (including payments to encourage physicians to provide e-mail access, off-hours consultation, and nurse managers for complex care).

NEWYORKER: The Hot Spotters

Insurer Aetna began using nurse-care managers to help manage both Medicare and commercially insured patients with terminal illness in 2004, using telephone consultations with patients, doctors and families to, among other things, ensure advance directives are in place and complied with.

WSJ: New Efforts to Simplify End-of-Life-Care Wishes

If dementia is confirmed, the center's nurse practitioners, social workers and care managers work closely with family caregivers and primary-care physicians to customize care plans, reviewing medications to reduce the use of drugs that can be harmful to older brains.

WSJ: New Push For Early Testing, Treatment For Dementia

On the latest list of the 20 best-paying jobs for women, nine are in health care, including nurse practitioners (No. 4), occupational therapists (No. 12), and medical and health services managers (No. 13).

FORBES: The Best-Paying Jobs For Women In 2013