Understanding Health Policy

Book Description

Already the number one text on health policy and rapidly becoming a classic, Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach 3E covers such fundamental topics as cost containment, health insurance, managed care, and physician and hospital payment. Extensive case histories, drawn from the authors' actual practice, bring to life important policy issues by pinpointing individual encounters within the healthcare system.

New to this Edition

* More information on 2-tier model of reimbursement
* Greater emphasis on defined contribution approach to controlling costs
* Includes comparative information on health care policy in Canada, the UK, and Germany
* "Questions & Discussion Topics" provided for each chapter to stimulate classroom discussion

Please consider this important new edition for your course. Your students will gain an engaging text, that according to a review by the Journal of Health, Politics, Policy, and Law of the prior edition, "goes a long way toward helping readers understand how the health care system has worked in the past, how it is changing, and how it might work under different scenarios in the future."

Customer Reviews:

Should health care be a right?.......2007-08-22

Beware: This is an highly ideological text that starts with the assumption that health care is a right! It than goes on to say that in order to fulfill that right it is necessary to control the costs of health care. Obviously, cost control is a very problematic economic proposition that calls for state intervention and that sometimes has consequences that are the opposite of what is desired.
In the UK, where health care is a right, cost control has led to shortages, waiting lists and an overall degradation of health care. The UK, currently, has the highest mortality rates for oncological problems of all the EU countries and British people got used to flying to France and India for medical care. Canadians also have shortages and Canadians resort to the US.
Sometimes a "right" can easily turn into a "wrong"!

Easy to read.......2007-07-15

I got this book for a graduate class that I am taking. This book uses clear language when presenting the material and has many mini "case studies" for examples, which makes it easy to read. Though I am required to read this book, it is not the standard, wall-of-text, that I am use to reading.

Outstanding overview of healthcare system in USA.......2007-07-05

This is probably the best single text I have read on healthcare policy issues in the USA. The books addresses every relevant aspect of our system. Unlike other excellent books, such as Dr. Arnold Relman's book, A Second Opinion, which analyzes the system, then makes recommendations on how to reform it, the authors here mainly explicate. The format of the book includes brief, usually fictitious, vignettes about physicians, patients or administrators that illustrate the points the authors present. That format - combined with the simply-presented, clear narrative and analysis - works very well. I also find the references to be excellent. Aside from Dr. Relman's book, I recommend any of the books by Prof. Victor Fuchs, in particular Who Shall Live?, books by Prof. Theodore Marmor and the classic by Prof. Paul Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine. There are many other excellent books and articles by a wide range of insightful analysts. These kinds of books are invaluable for understanding the issues in healthcare. So much of the information that filters through to the average person via news reports, propaganda issued by parties with vested interests to protect and superficial proposals from polticians is inaccurate and misleading, usually grossly so. Reading a book such as this goes a very long way towards cutting through that clutter regardless of one's personal experiences and prejudices.

Understanding Health Policy.......2007-01-09

This book is a great basic review of how health care is delivered. The format and information is most useful for people who are going into medicine. There isn't really anything about the politics behind health care policy; instead the book focuses on defining key terms and outlining the structure of relationships between payers, receivers, and providers. The book also covers the differences between different types of insurance policies, as well as different national health plans of countries with more socialized medicine.

This is a good book.......2006-11-10

We use this book in the Health Care Policy class for which I am a teaching assistant. It is a good, basic introduction to most of the important issues in health policy and the students give it high marks for clarity and comprehensiveness. It is easy to read and to understand.

Understanding Medical Information: A User's Guide to Informatics and Decision-Making

Average customer rating:

Helpful Gem

Understanding Medical Information: A User's Guide to Informatics and Decision-Making
Theresa J. Jordan
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Medical
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0838592724

Book Description

* A "first book" on how to access the vast and expanding array of medical information now available and how to critically evaluate it

Customer Reviews:

Helpful Gem.......2002-12-10

This is a gem of a book . It will be most helpful to those people who want to be an active participant in the healthcare decisions being made for them or for someone who they are close to and who needs an advocate. It does this by explaining, in layman's terms, how medical professionals arrive at conclusions about diagnoses and treatment. The book can be unsettling because it shows how much uncertainty is associated with medicine. But it will help anyone begin to understand the medical treatment they or a loved one might be undergoing. It does this not by being a medical textbook about diseases, though it contains many medical examples; instead it is a guide that helps the reader to ask questions and search for further information about what doctors say.

I was recently diagnosed with a medical problem. The book has helped me to think more actively about my treatment and to help me ask my doctor questions that I might not have thought about. Doctors are of ten not the all-knowing professionals you want them to be. In fact they should read this book as well.

The best way I can describe the contents of the book is to quote from the Preface, "This book sets the stage for understanding medical information in Chapters 1 and 2 .... Chapter 3 provides an overview of the types of medical research [and] the role of statistics in evaluating studies .... Chapters 4, 5, and 6 comprise a central core of knowledge about the high - as well as lower-tech processes by which we make diagnoses of individual patients, assess the health of populations, make decisions about treatments under conditions of uncertainty, and attempt to provide the best prognostic judgments possible given the great complexity and diversity among patients. The final sections of the book, Chapters 7 and 8, provide conceptual as well as practical guidelines for assessing the quality of medical information available on the Internet, explain the ways in which Internet resources might best be used to capture good information, and confront the current realities of what can and cannot be expected from "artificial intelligence."

Don't be put off by the statistical tables and terminology. They are explained remarkably well. You will learn how necessary statistics are to medicine without having to be a math whiz. I was amazed how the book made it easy to understand complex ideas in science, medicine and statistics. Reading this book is also a small intellectual adventure about how the science of medicine has evolved. The chapter on the Internet helps to grapple with the mass of information that can swamp you.

Book Description

The pharmaceutical industry is under increasing pressure to do more with less. Drug discovery, development, and clinical trial costs remain high and are subject to rampant inflation. Ever greater regulatory compliance forces manufacturing costs to rise despite social demands for more affordable health care. Traditional methodologies are failing and the industry needs to find new and innovative approaches for everything it does. Six Sigma in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Understanding, Reducing, and Controlling Variation in Pharmaceuticals and Biologics is the first book to focus on the building blocks of understanding and reducing variation using the Six Sigma method as applied specifically to the pharmaceutical industry. It introduces the fundamentals of Six Sigma, examines control chart theory and practice, and explains the concept of variation management and reduction. Describing the approaches and techniques responsible for their own significant success, the authors provide more than just a set of tools, but the basis of a complete operating philosophy. Allowing other references to cover the structural elements of Six Sigma, this book focuses on core concepts and their implementation to improve the existing products and processes in the pharmaceutical industry. The first half of the book uses simple models and descriptions of practical experiments to lay out a conceptual framework for understanding variation, while the second half introduces control chart theory and practice. Using case studies and statistics, the book illustrates the concepts and explains their application to actual workplace improvements. Designed primarily for the pharmaceutical industry, Six Sigma in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Understanding, Reducing, and Controlling Variation in Pharmaceuticals and Biologics provides the fundamentals of variation management and reduction in sufficient detail to assist in transforming established methodologies into new and efficient techniques.

Statistics at Square Two: Understanding Modern Statistical Applications in Medicine

Average customer rating:

A quick review

Statistics at Square Two: Understanding Modern Statistical Applications in Medicine
M. J. Campbell
Manufacturer: BMJ Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Statistics At Square One

ASIN: 0727913948

Book Description

A thought-provoking book about the future of bone and joint disorders. This is the Decade of Bone and Joint, a time where rapid developments in our understanding of these disorders contend with massive increases in these chronic conditions throughout the world. By drawing on current knowledge and expertise, the book considers future scenarios such as the development of scientific theories, technology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Customer Reviews:

A quick review.......2001-05-31

This text provides a quick, concise review of the pimary topics covered on emergency medicine exams. I found it to be a good way to prepare for inservice exams and the written boards.

Understanding Epidemiologic Methods (Monographs in epidemiology and biostatistics)

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Understanding Epidemiologic Methods (Monographs in epidemiology and biostatistics)
Harold A. Kahn
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195032608

Book Description

Handbook of Microalgal Culture is truly a landmark publication, drawing on some 50 years of worldwide experience in microalgal mass culture. This important book comprises comprehensive reviews of the current available information on microalgal culture, written by 40 contributing authors from around the globe.The book is divided into four parts, with Part I detailing biological and environmental aspects of microalgae with reference to microalgal biotechnology and Part II looking in depth at major theories and techniques of mass cultivation. Part III comprises chapters on the economic applications of microalgae, including coverage of industrial production, the use of microalgae in human and animal nutrition and in aquaculture, in nitrogen fixation, hydrogen and methane production, and in bioremediation of polluted water. Finally, Part IV looks at new frontiers and includes chapters on genetic engineering, microalgae as platforms for recombinant proteins, bioactive chemicals, heterotrophic production, microalgae as gene-delivery systems for expressing mosquitocidal toxins and the enhancement of marine productivity for climate stabilization and food security.Handbook of Microalgal Culture is an essential purchase for all phycologists and also those researching aquatic systems, aquaculture and plant sciences. There is also much of great use to researchers and those involved in product formulation within pharmaceutical, nutrition and food companies. Libraries in all universities and research establishments teaching and researching in chemistry, biological and pharmaceutical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, and aquaculture will need copies of this book on their shelves.Amos Richmond is at the Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Handbook of Phycological Methods: Developmental and Cytological Methods (Handbook of Phycological Methods)

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Handbook of Phycological Methods: Developmental and Cytological Methods (Handbook of Phycological Methods)

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521224667

Book Description

The contributors include some of the most eminent specialists in the field of phycology. This volume focuses on cytological and developmental methods, each method already has been applied successfully to algae, and practical examples are given.

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Handbook Of Symbiotic Cyanobacteria
AMAR, ED. RAI
Manufacturer: CRC Press
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 0849332753

Book Description

In one convenient source, this ready reference brings together for the first time, all the information available on various cyanobacterial symbioses/symbiotic cyanobacteria. Comprehensive data on structure, physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology of the cyanobiont in various cyanobacterial symbioses is included. Aplied aspects such as use of Azolla in rice cultivation and artificial symbioses are addressed, along with a chapter dedicated to methodology. This informative new text is useful to researchers, teachers, and students.

CRC Handbook of Antibiotic Compounds: Antibiotics from Higher Forms of Life : Lichens, Algae, and Animal Organisms

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CRC Handbook of Antibiotic Compounds: Antibiotics from Higher Forms of Life : Lichens, Algae, and Animal Organisms
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Guide to common seaweeds of British Columbia (Handbook)

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Guide to common seaweeds of British Columbia (Handbook)
Robert Francis Scagel
Manufacturer: British Columbia Provincial Museum
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Handbook of algae, (Contribution from the Botanical Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, n. ser)

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Handbook of algae, (Contribution from the Botanical Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, n. ser)
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Handbook of Blue-Green Algae of Rice Fields of South India

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Handbook of Blue-Green Algae of Rice Fields of South India
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Manufacturer: Lubrecht & Cramer Ltd
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Handbook of Phycological Methods: Ecological Field Methods: Macroalgae (Handbook of Phycological Methods)

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Handbook of Phycological Methods: Ecological Field Methods: Macroalgae (Handbook of Phycological Methods)

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This fourth volume of the Handbook of Phycological Methods, with its field oriented perspective, is the first comprehensive treatment of recently developed methodologies in the rapidly advancing field of marine benthic algal ecology. Both traditional and modern methods are presented along with the limitations of various projectspecific examples. References and discussions include how procedures may be adapted to suit different habitats, diverse algal systems, or other conditions. This book contains sufficient detail to be valuable to a wide audience, including both advanced and student researchers and educators throughout the academic and technical community.

Handbook of Protoctista: The Structure, Cultivation, Habitats and Life Histories of the Eukaryotic Microorganisms and their Descendants Exclusive of Animals, Plants, and Fungi. A guide to the algae, cilates, foraminifera, sporozoa, water molds, slime molds, and other protoctists.

Average customer rating:

Handbook of Protoctista: The Structure, Cultivation, Habitats and Life Histories of the Eukaryotic Microorganisms and their Descendants Exclusive of Animals, Plants, and Fungi. A guide to the algae, cilates, foraminifera, sporozoa, water molds, slime molds, and other protoctists.
Lynn, [et al., eds.] MARGULIS
Manufacturer: Jones and Bartlett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WGC11S

Average customer rating:

The definitive encyclopedia of life's most diverse kingdom!
A very thorough source of information

Handbook of Protoctista: The Structure, Cultivation, Habitats and Life Histories of the Eukaryotic, Microorganisms and Their Descendants Exclusive O (The Jones and Bartlett series in life sciences)
John O. Corliss
Manufacturer: Jones & Bartlett Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Microbiology | Basic Science | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

The definitive encyclopedia of life's most diverse kingdom!.......1997-12-31

It's an inexhaustible and wonder-filled resource for the serious student and the fascinated browser...yet it's out of print and unavailable!!! I want to echo Chelly Richard's comments and make a plea to the publisher that the book be reprinted, even if a "new edition" is not possible. In the meantime, fellow Amazonians, let me know if you find a used copy out there!

A very thorough source of information.......1997-12-17

This handbook is the perfect reference for students looking for information on a specific protoctist or this group of organisms as a whole. Each chapter pinpoints a different organism within the kingdom and is written by an authority. The book is very well organized, making information extremely easy to find - a must for a student just entering the field. My only complaints are that it is out-of-print and expensive. In order to attract young scientists to the field this information must be accessible.

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