Explains how to assess and select insurance options and plans; what questions to ask HMOs, insurance companies, and doctors before enrolling in a plan; how to act as a partner with your doctor; understand medical billing and insurance reimbursement; and communicate effectively with health insurers and providers. Includes HMOs, Medicare, Medicaid, Medigap, and other insurance plans.

Every year, thousands of people in the United States die needlessly because they were not prepared to deal with a serious health crisis. Author Felix Kolb, MD wants to change those statistics with his new book, which tells readers how to prepare for a medical emergency, as well as what to expect and how to cope when such a crisis occurs. He explains how you can make advance preparations that will increase your chances of surviving a medical crisis. Then he takes you step-by-step through common life-threatening events, following the process from the emergency room through getting a correct diagnosis, the right treatment and proper follow-up care.

A comprehensive guide to effective strategic management of health care organizations. Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations provides essential guidance for leading health care organizations through strategic management. This structured approach to strategic management examines the processes of strategic thinking, consensus building and documentation of that thinking into a strategic plan, and creating and maintaining strategic momentum – all essential for coping with the rapidly evolving health care industry. Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations fully explains how strategic managers must become strategic thinkers with the ability to evaluate a changing industry, analyze data, question assumptions, and develop new ideas. The book guides readers through the strategic planning process demonstrating how to incorporate strategic thinking and create and document a clear and coherent plan of action. In addition, the all-important processes of creating and maintaining the strategic momentum of the organization are fully described. Finally, the text demonstrates how strategic managers in carrying out the strategic plan, must evaluate its success, learn more about what works, and incorporate new strategic thinking into operations and subsequent planning. This strategic management approach has become the de facto standard for health care management as leadership and strategic management are more critical than ever in coping with an industry in flux. This book provides heath care management students as well as health care administrators with foundational guidance on strategic management concepts and practices, tailored to the unique needs of the health care industry. Included are a clear discussion of health services external analysis, organizational internal analysis, the development of directional strategies, strategy alternative identification and evaluation, and the development and management of implementation strategies providing an informative and insightful resource for anyone in the field. This new eighth edition has been fully updated to reflect new insights into strategic thinking, new methods to conceptualize and document critical environmental issues, practical steps for carrying out each of the strategic management processes, industry and management essentials for strategic thinkers , and new case studies for applying the strategic management processes. More specifically, readers of this edition will be able to: Create a process for developing a strategic plan for a health care organization. Map and analyze external issues, trends, and events in the general environment, the health care system, and the service area. Conduct a comprehensive service area competitor analysis. Perform an internal analysis and determine the competitive advantages and competitive disadvantages. Develop directional strategies. Identify strategic alternatives and make rational strategic decisions for a health care organization. Develop a comprehensive strategy for a health care organization. Create effective value-adding service delivery and support strategies. Translate service delivery and support plans into specific action plans. The health care industry’s revolutionary change remains ongoing and organizational success depends on leadership. Strategic management has become the single clearest manifestation of effective leadership of health care organizations and the strategic management framework’s strengths are needed now more than ever. The Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations provides comprehensive guidance and up-to-date practices to help leaders keep their organizations on track.

Explains various methodologies and analyses of the design of research in health science, emphasizing applications rather than theory. Addressed to students who need to design and complete a research project in order to obtain a degree, to instructors of such students, and to new researchers in any of the various health sciences. Focuses on key elements in writing research proposals, interpreting resource data based on analysis, and reporting research findings. Includes many examples. Acidic paper. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Written by an internationally-recognized expert in the field of quality management, this text is an essential guide for understanding how to plan and implement a successful quality measurement program in your healthcare facility. It begins by presenting an overview of the context for quality measurement, the forces influencing the demand for quality reform, how to listen to the voice of the customer, and the characteristics of quality that customers value most. Students will also learn how to select and define indicators to collect data and how to organize data into a dashboard that can provide feedback on progress toward quality measurement. Finally, this book explores how to analyze the data by detailing how variation lives in your data, and whether this variation is acceptable. Case studies are provided to demonstrate how quality measurement can be applied to clinical as well as operational aspects of healthcare delivery.

Under the direction of lead editors, Leiyu Shi and James A. Johnson, the Fourth Edition of Public Health Administration: Principles for Population-Based Management examines the many events, advances, and challenges in the United States and the world since the publication of the prior edition. With contributions from experts in areas ranging from workforce to community-based prevention to emergency preparedness, this timely and thorough revision offers detailed, comprehensive coverage of current, relevant issues for students as well as practicing public health administrators. This edition also addresses new perspectives of evidence-based public health, systems thinking, accountable care organizations, social entrepreneurship, integrated information management, disaster preparedness and response, and social media.

Some issues accompanied by supplements.