As almost all newspaper or magazine readers know, Canada figured prominently in the turbulent U.S. debates over health care reform in the early Clinton presidency. Furthermore, future news analysts and policymakers will undoubtedly again use Canada to cite the "good" and the "bad" aspects of single-payer national health insurance. Beyond the debate about the desirability of Canadian-style health care reforms, Antonia Maioni sees another question: Why did the United States and Canada, alike in so many ways, part "at the crossroads" to produce such different systems of health insurance? She answers this previously neglected query so interestingly that her book will hold the attention of anyone concerned with health care in either country or both.

The author explores the development of health insurance in the United States and Canada, from the emergence of health care as a political issue in the 1930s to the passage of federal health insurance legislation in the 1960s. Focusing on how political institutions influence policy development, she shows that Canada's federal structure and its parliamentary institutions encouraged a social-democratic third party that became pivotal in demonstrating the feasibility of universal, public health insurance. Meanwhile, the constraints of the U.S. political system forced health care reformers to temper their own ideas to appeal to a wide coalition within the Democratic party. Even readers previously unfamiliar with Canadian politics will find in this book important clues about the "realm of the possible" in the uncertain future of U.S. health care.

"Stevens brilliantly views the hospital as a prism of the values and mores of society... She sees the stratification of the hospital population into private, semi-private, and charity patients as a manifestation of the social stratifications of American society." -- Reviews in American History

American hospitals are unique: a combination of public and private institutions that are at once charities and businesses, social welfare institutions and icons of U.S. science, wealth, and technical achievement. In Sickness and in Wealth helps us understand this huge and often contradictory "industry" and shows that throughout this century the voluntary not-for-profit hospitals have been profit-maximizing enterprises, even though they have viewed themselves as charities serving the community. Although our hospitals have provided the most advanced medical care for acutely sick and curable patients, they have been much less successful in meeting the needs of the chronically ill and the socially disadvantaged. That, Stevens concludes, is the next urgent task of social policy.

"For me, personally, the book constituted an invitation to rethink the relationship -- warts and all -- among the benevolent, charitable, and business missions of the hospital, while at the same time disabusing me of my inclination to cite history to support or defend a view I might otherwise have preferred to hold." -- Merlin K. DuVal, M.D., Senior Vice President, Samaritan Health Service, Phoenix, Arizona

"This book is beautifully written... and is must reading for anyone involved in the current debate on health policy. It will also make delightful reading for those who merely wish to view the shifting social andeconomic climate in modern America, as seen from the perspective of the hospital." -- New England Journal of Medicine

The final volume of Catanzaro's benchmark series on building a veterinary practice, this is also the series' keystone, providing the ways and means to keep a veterinary business going and growing under all sorts of circumstances. Creativity is the key to healthy change, and it is also the key to Catanzaro's approach as he helps the vet and clinic staff to "colour outside the lines"--to think in new ways that will enhance procedures and employee morale in any practice.

A noted veterinary practice management consultant, Catanzaro draws on his own extensive experience and that of other consultants, writers, and speakers to bring together the essential tools for individual brainstorming and organisational restructuring. Liberally illustrated with examples, tables, chats, and forms, and full of exercises for stimulating creativity, this volume focuses on hiring strategies and job redesign, establishing leadership and building a client base, learning and teaching new techniques, and, last but not least, money matters. It offers advice and insights on a wide range of particulars, from marketing gimmicks to computerised medical records to fiscal shelters. Culminating and capping an indispensable series, it will be essential to the ongoing success of any veterinary practice.

Fortress NHS A Philosophical Review of the National Health Service David Seedhouse University of Auckland, New Zealand and University of Liverpool, UK There are many books on the politics, history and sociology of the NHS which argue that all is not well. These books discuss the enormous complexity of the health service, assess the power of different professions and individuals and address apparently insurmountable administration difficulties. Most conclude by suggesting improvements to the various processes of the NHS, but leave its philosophy intact and unexamined. Fortress NHS takes a different path and reflects deeply upon the purpose of the health service. What inspires the NHS? What is its philosophy? What are its fundamental principles? Why are they so important? And do they hold up to careful scrutiny? This ingenious book tackles each of these questions and in so doing examines the strength of the philosophical foundations of the NHS. Fortress NHS is the sixth in a series of books from David Seedhouse, each of which applies philosophical analysis to the everyday problems of health service policy and practice. They are designed to be of interest to all those interested in health care including medical and health care professionals, health service economists and managers, social scientists, health service researchers, nurses and the informed lay person. Read together, the series constitutes a unique investigation into health care provision and offers numerous concrete proposals for philosophically justified reform. Also by David SeedhousePractical Medical Ethics David Seedhouse and Lisetta LovettMay 1992Liberating Medicine David SeedhouseMarch 1991Changing Ideas in Health CareDavid Seedhouse and Alan CribbJune 1989Ethics: The Heart of Health Care David SeedhouseJuly 1988Health: The Foundations for Achievement David SeedhouseSeptember 1986

Cultural Diversity as a Strategic Advantage

This insightful and practical work should be required reading for managers, physicians, nurses, allied health caregivers, and support staff, in order to overcome barriers to communication and change in dealing with an increasingly complex patient and employee base. I highly Andorse this excellent book written by these outstanding authors.

--Donald R. Oxley, vice president and executive director, Kaiser Permanente

As reflected in new cultural competency requirements for health care organizations, sensitivity to and understanding of cultural diversity have become mandatory for health care professionals. However, most health care professionals have little or no training on how to deal with the challenges of cultural diversity. With Managing Diversity in Health Care, you'll learn effective strategies fundamental to creating a culturally diverse health care organization.

This essential handbook provides you with the necessary knowledge and tools to become more responsive to culturally diverse patient and staff populations. The authors show how to build diverse teams, deal with the thorny issues of prejudice and bias, and communicate effectively within a diverse health care setting.

Properly addressing a crisis requires more than just guesswork and a reaction; it requires a properly structured approach supported by good information. With the rapid evolution of information systems and information technology, including hardware, software, the internet, and communications capabilities, there are abundant opportunities to apply these technology capabilities and resources to support and improve responses to and management of crisis situations. Approaches to crisis response and management include the design, development, implementation, and application of systematic methodologies on how to respond, as well as how to apply information systems to enhance and extend responses to crises. Information Technology Applications for Crisis Response and Management provides a multi-disciplinary perspective on current and cutting-edge research exploring and extending our understanding of the use of information systems and information technology to support responses to crises of all kindsOCoeaccidental, intentional, and acts of nature. The chapters in this book focus on the design, development, implementation, use, and evaluation of information system technologies and methodologies to support crisis response and management, as well as technology management-related issues for crisis response and management. While highlighting technical, cognitive, organizational, and human-focused issues within the field, this book is ideal for policymakers, IT specialists, government officials, crisis response teams, managers, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the use of information technology and information systems to support diverse types of crises.