The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

Author: Dartmouth Medical School. Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781556481772

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The nine regional Atlases provide the data and analysis for specific hospital service areas with which these and other questions can be addressed. Strategies to address the question of the appropriate levels of supply must be developed in the absence of detailed understanding of the nature of health care needs, medical care outcomes, and what patients want. One such strategy begins by examining individual communities and comparing them to others. Such comparisons lead naturally to a search for "efficiently" operated health plans or communities--those with an adequate but not excessive supply of resources.


Our Parents, Ourselves

Our Parents, Ourselves

Author: Judith Steinberg Turiel

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2005-11-09

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9780520938915

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The prospect of caring for elderly relatives who may be too old, fragile, or forgetful to manage on their own looms large for millions of women and men who are unprepared for the difficulties such an experience can bring. Written by a daughter of aging parents, this book takes an honest, unflinching look at aging in America, weaving together personal stories with current medical information to trace exactly how social and health care policies are affecting daily lives. Judith Steinberg Turiel addresses such topics as healthy aging and independent living; mental impairment brought on by Alzheimer's, other dementias, and depression; women as caregivers; health care rationing; the power of prescription drug makers; end-of-life care; and prospects for Medicare. Her book clearly demonstrates the pressing need for quality health care for people of all ages—through universal, publicly funded health insurance.


The Myths of Modern Medicine

The Myths of Modern Medicine

Author: John Leifer

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2014-09-11

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1442225963

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The American health care system is terminally ill. It is astonishingly expensive, remarkably variable in quality, and incapable of stemming the rising tide of chronic illness in our population. Yet, the majority of Americans believe it is the best system in the world and cling to the belief that, far from ailing, it delivers care superior to those of countries across the globe. The system has obliged us by providing an elaborate set of myths and misconceptions about American health care that significantly shape our beliefs. These myths keep us blissfully ignorant about the true quality, safety, and value of the care we receive. This ignorance has a price: it leads us to draw erroneous conclusions about our conditions, fail to properly evaluate potential treatment options, and rarely question our providers’ competency. The Myths of Modern Medicine looks at the real issues contributing to the dysfunction of our healthcare system and how these issues affect the care we receive. The book, based upon John Leifer’s 30 years of immersion in the healthcare industry, challenges some of our most commonly held misperceptions about this vitally important industry. Leifer strips away the elaborately constructed myths that conceal the ugly underbelly of healthcare and lays bare the truth about an industry that serves special interest groups far better than it serves its patients. A survival guide for anyone entering the healthcare system, this timely work helps consumers better research provider competency; ask the right questions to evaluate potential treatment options; and communicate the information that will help yield the right treatment decisions. Several studies have shown patients today have only about a 50 percent chance of getting the generally accepted best treatment for their conditions. This book helps consumers increase these odds with step-by-step directions on how to interact more productively with their doctors and become true partners in making what may be the most crucial decisions of their lives.


GIS Automated Delineation of Hospital Service Areas

GIS Automated Delineation of Hospital Service Areas

Author: Fahui Wang

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2021-10-18

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0429535902

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Hospital service areas (HSAs) and hospital referral regions (HRRs) are considered more appropriate units than geopolitical units for analyzing the performance of health care markets and policy implementation. GIS Automated Delineation of Hospital Service Areas represents the state-of-the-art approach in delineating HSAs and HRRs by using GIS-automated processes. It provides the best practices for defining such areas scientifically, in a geographically accurate manner, and without a steep learning curve. This book is intended to mainly serve professionals in geography, urban and regional planning, public health, and related fields. It is also useful for scholars in the above fields who have research interests related to GIS and spatial analysis applications in health care. It can be used as a supplemental text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in courses related to GIS and public health. Features: Introduces innovative state-of-the-art methods for delineation of HSAs (Dartmouth method, Huff model, network community detection methods) Provides best practices and one-stop solution for related data processing tasks (e.g., distance and travel time estimation, identifying the best-fitting distance decay function) Automates the methods in ArcGIS Pro toolkits Includes free ready-to-download GIS tools and sample data available on authors’ website Presents a methodology that is applicable to delineation of other service areas, catchment areas or functional regions for business analysis, planning, and public policy studies


Health-Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination

Health-Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2018-04-02

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 030946921X

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two programs that provide benefits based on disability: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This report analyzes health care utilizations as they relate to impairment severity and SSA's definition of disability. Health Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination identifies types of utilizations that might be good proxies for "listing-level" severity; that is, what represents an impairment, or combination of impairments, that are severe enough to prevent a person from doing any gainful activity, regardless of age, education, or work experience.


An Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System

An Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System

Author: Steven Jonas

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

Published: 2003-04-15

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780826139863

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Completely updated to reflect the continual changes in the U.S. health care delivery system, this bestselling text is a concise and balanced classic presenting the domestic health care system. It explains the five major components of the U.S. health care system: health care institutions, health care personnel, financing mechanisms, research and educational institutions that produce biomedical knowledge and health personnel, and firms producing "health commodities" (such as pharmaceutical drugs and hospital equipment).


An Introduction to the Geography of Health

An Introduction to the Geography of Health

Author: Helen Hazen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-05-23

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1135999341

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Health issues such as the emergence of infectious diseases, the potential influence of global warming on human health, and the escalating strain of increasing longevity and chronic conditions on healthcare systems are of growing importance in an increasingly peopled and interconnected world. A geographic approach to the study of health offers a critical perspective to these issues, considering how changing relationships between people and their environments influence human health. An Introduction to the Geography of Health provides an accessible introduction to this rapidly growing field, covering theoretical and methodological background. The text is divided into three sections which consider distinct approaches and techniques related to health geographies. Section one introduces ecological approaches, with a focus on how natural and built environments affect human health. For instance, how have irrigation projects influenced the spread of water-borne diseases? How can modern healthcare settings, such as hospitals, affect the spread and evolution of pathogens? Section two discusses social aspects of health and healthcare, considering health as not merely a biological interaction between a pathogen and human host, but as a process that is situated among social factors which ultimately drive who suffers from what, and where disease occurs. Section three then considers spatial techniques and approaches to exploring health, giving special focus to the growing role of cartography and geographic information systems (GIS) in the study of health. This clearly written text contains a range of pedagogical features including a wealth of global case studies, discussion questions and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, a colour plate section and over eighty diagrams and figures. The accompanying website also provides presentations, exercises, further resources, and tables and figures. This book is an essential introductory text for undergraduate students studying Geography, Health and Social Studies.


Consumer Directed Health Care

Consumer Directed Health Care

Author: Kim Slocum

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2008-07-07

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1439838046

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With three decades of experience in a variety of healthcare, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology firms, respected healthcare consultant, Kim Slocum applies a uniquely broad viewpoint to the U.S. healthcare crisis. He discusses how the system has evolved and debunks various myths that continue to persist. Exploring potential solutions, he balances many diverse and conflicting factors, including the movement to make healthcare more patient-centered and the growing trend to transfer significant portions of financial risk to patients via high-deductibles. Slocum closes the book by discussing what a successful consumer-directed system might look like and what steps would be required to make it happen.


Health Policy

Health Policy

Author: David Reisman

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2016-01-29

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 1785365215

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This lucid and comprehensive book explores the ways in which the State, the market and the citizen can collaborate to satisfy people’s health care needs. It argues that health care is not a commodity like any other. It asks if its unique properties mean that there is a role for social regulation and political management. Apples and oranges can be left to the buyers and the sellers. Health care may require an input from the consensus, the experts, the insurers, the politicians and the bureaucrats as well. David Reisman makes a fresh contribution to the debate. He argues that the three policy issues that are of primary importance are choice, equality and cost. He explores the balance between the patient, the practitioner and public opinion; the disparities in outcome indicators and access to medical care; and the escalation in prices and quantities at the expense of other areas of social life. Reisman concludes that, despite its significance for the individual and the nation, there is no single definition of health or health care. The maximand is a mix. Yet decisions have to be made. This thought-provoking and insightful book will be of use to students and scholars of public policy, social policy and health economics. It will also be of interest to medical practitioners who want to situate hard choices about health and illness in a broad multidisciplinary context.