A comprehensive guide to various important issues in managing a primary care budget. It helps GPs and other healthcare professionals to understand and to make the effective use of the prescribing allocation. It gives numerous examples of how savings can be made, and outlines the resources which are available.

Examines the pharmaceutical industry to expose how higher-priced drugs receive favorable treatment and patients are channeled toward the most expensive medicines.

This book addresses both the philosophical and more tangible actionable components of attaining financial well-being as a medical professional. In an engaging, narrative-driven format, it relays the importance of managing one’s finances—even with the high salary of a doctor. Money Matters in Medicine is an accessible, invaluable resource for early-career physicians who wish to incorporate intelligent money management skills in their development as medical professionals. Chapters include information on becoming financially literate, how to approach insurance, creating a savings rate, and the top mistakes most doctors make with their money. Though there are many financial self-help books in the market, this book stands out, as it rests on philosophies and core standards held by those in the medical community. It presents the strategies to promote financial well-being and ultimately help doctors become more effective physicians with financial freedom. The book includes easy-to-understand guidelines and intuitive steps for readers to take massive action in their lives to improve their financial well-being.

Marc A. Rodwin draws on his own experience as a health lawyer--and his research in health ethics, law, and policy--to reveal how financial conflicts of interest can and do negatively affect the quality of patient care. He shows that the problem has become worse over the last century and provides many actual examples of how doctors' decisions are influenced by financial considerations. We learn how two California physicians, for example, resumed referrals to Pasadena General Hospital only after the hospital started paying $70 per patient (their referrals grew from 14 in one month to 82 in the next). As Rodwin writes, incentives such as this can inhibit a doctor from taking action when a hospital fails to provide proper service, and may also lead to the unnecessary hospitalization of patients. We also learn of a Wyeth-Ayerst Labs promotion in which physicians who started patients on INDERAL (a drug for high blood pressure, angina, and migraines) received 1000 mileage points on American Airlines for each patient (studies show that promotions such as this have a direct effect on a doctor's choice of drug). Rodwin reveals why the medical community has failed to regulate conflicts of interest: peer review has little authority, state licensing boards are usually ignorant of abuses, and the AMA code of ethics has historically been recommended rather than required. He examines what can be learned from the way society has coped with the conflicts of interest of other professionals --lawyers, government officials, and businessmen--all of which are held to higher standards of accountability than doctors. And he recommends that efforts be made to prohibit and regulate certain kinds of activity (such as kickbacks and self-referrals), to monitor and regulate conduct, and to provide penalties for improper conduct. Our failure to face physicians' conflicts of interest has distorted the way medicine is practiced, compromised the loyalty of doctors to patients, and harmed society, the integrity of the medical profession, and patients. For those concerned with the quality of health care or medical ethics, Medicine, Money and Morals is a provocative look into the current health care crisis and a powerful prescription for change.

Essentials for the Improvement of Healthcare Using Lean & Six Sigma is all about real and immediate quality improvement. Written by D.H. Stamatis, a renowned expert in organizational development and quality, the book addresses concerns that can be ameliorated with minimal government intervention. Detailing immediate paths for improvement fundamental to primary care, hospitals, and managed care, the book: Introduces much-needed mechanics of change, including transitioning from hierarchical groups to interactive inclusionary teams Focuses on customer satisfaction as a key indicator of quality Explains how Lean and Six Sigma tools can be readily applied to healthcare Spotlights primary care, including how to define and redesign its process and develop better metrics Presents IT applications that will improve billing, documentation, and patient care Examines Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria as it applies to healthcare Illustrates quality improvements and best practices through real world case studies Includes a companion CD with Six Sigma forms and formulas, Lean improvement tools, and other quality tools and worksheets Whether you think advances in technology and medicine, coupled with freedom of choice, makes the U.S. healthcare system the best in the world, or whether you believe growing costs, regulatory morass, and a tort-obsessed culture drop it to the bottom; it is evident that the processes currently employed and the subsequent defensive medicine philosophy that has resulted will not be able to meet the future demands of our aging society. Through Six Sigma and Lean, this text moves the focus from reactive controls to the proactive efficiency required to implement real and sustainable quality improvements that will allow us to forge a system that is all about wellness.

Now updated: With more than a million copies sold, this comprehensive guide lets you quickly check symptoms, learn about treatments, and prevent illnesses. The information in this invaluable reference is easy-to-understand and organized into convenient sections: Injuries and Symptoms, Pregnancy and Healthy Children, Healthy Adults, Diseases and Disorders, Tests and Treatments. Also included is a forty-eight-page color section to help understand human anatomy. From infancy to old age, from prevention to treatment, from standard practices to alternative medicine, the comprehensive fifth edition of the Mayo Clinic Family Health Book is a must-have for every family, from a world leader in patient care and health information that employs more than 4,500 physicians, scientists and researchers advancing medical science.