When the fishing vessel La Conte sinks suddenly at night in one-hundred-mile-per-hour winds and record ninety-foot seas during a savage storm in January 1998, her five crewmen are left to drift without a life raft in the freezing Alaskan waters and survive as best they can.

One hundred fifty miles away, in Sitka, Alaska, an H-60 Jayhawk helicopter lifts off from America's most remote Coast Guard base in the hopes of tracking down an anonymous Mayday signal. A fisherman's worst nightmare has become a Coast Guard crew's desperate mission. As the crew of the La Conte begin to die one by one, those sworn to watch over them risk everything to pull off the rescue of the century.

Spike Walker's memoir of his years as a deckhand in Alaska, Working on the Edge, was hailed by James A. Michner as "masterful . . . will become the definitive account of this perilous trade, an addition to the literature of the sea." In Coming Back Alive, Walker has crafted his most devastating book to date. Meticulously researched through hundreds of hours of taped interviews with the survivors, this is the true account of the La Conte's final voyage and the relationship between Alaskan fishermen and the search and rescue crews who risk their lives to save them.

Retired Coast Guardsmen Denis Noble captures the stories of the brave crews who man the U.S. Coast Guard's small boat stations. Each year, these everyday heroes respond to over 37,000 calls for assistance and save more than 4,000 lives. Lifeboat Sailors bears witness to the courage of these unique men and women, and sounds the alarm for the rescue of this cherished American institution.

There has been an international move towards the creation of explicit markets in health care, in which the purchase of care is separated from provision. While the creation of such markets has undeniably led to improvements in certain aspects of health care, it has also raised important issues that have yet to be resolved - for example, is an escalation of management costs an inevitable consequence of the introduction of a market in health care? what sort of information is needed to make the market function efficiently? can a market-based system be compatible wit society's objectives relating to equity and solidarity? the UK governments is introducing reforms to the internal care market in the Uk National Health Service which seek to address concerns such as these, and this book comprises a series of commentaries on their plans from a group of leading health economists. Authors examiner the contribution of economics to the debate on the reforms, while seeking to make the analysis accessible to a general audience.; This is recommended reading for students and researchers of health policy and health economics, as well as health professionals and policy makers at all levels in the healt

This guidebook addresses the three major financial centers in every ph ysician's life--the medical practice, the pension plan, and personal f inances. Listing cases and examples, the author addresses these three interrelated financial centers in a two-phase process: how to conduct practice management review and then how to use this process to establi sh an ongoing system for successful total financial management. Plus, the second edition has new material on capitation, integrated delivery systems, mergers & acquisitions and practice valuation, pensions, and dealing with managed care companies.

Promotes the importance of understanding spirituality and religious belief in health and human service care Although health and human service professionals traditionally receive extensive training in the emotional and physical aspects of caring for a person, they rarely receive adequate instruction in an area often as essential--spirituality and religious belief. Recognizing the importance of religion to a large share of the population, Religious and Spiritual Aspects of Human Services fills this gap in human services literature. James W. Ellor, F. Ellen Netting, and Jane M. Thibault address the challenge of understanding the client's perspective--even when it involves a religious tradition unfamiliar to the practitioner--and consider the impact of the client's needs on the agency and on public policy.

What happens when the demanding consumers who nearly brought the U.S. automobile industry to its knees focus the same kinds of pressure on the industry that represents one-seventh of the U.S. economy--health care? The health organizations that combine quality, convenience, information, choices, and lower costs will be the winners in this revolution. Regina Herzlinger, chaired professor at the Harvard Business School, distills the facts from the noise surrounding the one industry whose measures of success are life and death. In a thoroughly readable, anecdotal style, she pinpoints the drivers of change--the savvy consumer, the cost-conscious payer, and the rapidly improving technology--that will revolutionize the American health-care system. This is a must-read for those in every corner of the immense health-care web. With its strong narrative style, this is a book that will be read and talked about by everyone concerned about the future of American health care.

Using MDS Quality Indicators to Improve Outcomes is designed to be use d by your staff immediately upon purchase. All MDS QIs are covered in the 11 Monitoring plans, with corresponding Data Retrieval Worksheets. The worksheets get your staff immediately collecting data on the area s that the MDS QIs indicate need for improvement. Monitoring plans exa mine care delivery in areas such as nutrition, skin care, and medicati on use. Plus you'll get expert guidance on developing an ongoing quali ty improvement process. This book supports a team process to successfu lly improve care delivery systems.

In recent years women's issues have begun to move higher up the health services agenda. However, there have been few attempts to set out the rationale for this, or to document the good practice initiatives that have resulted. This unique book undertakes both these tasks. The first part examines the theoretical, conceptual and empirical underpinning of current arguments for greater gender awareness in health planning; while the second explores a variety of schemes designed to put these new ideas into practice. The aim of these case studies is to show what can be done, but also to identify the many challenges and pitfalls involved. As the first book of its kind, Women and Health Services will be useful to teachers and students on a wide range of both professional and academic courses. It will also be an important resource for policy makers and practitioners, offering a rationale for change as well as concrete examples of what has been achieved within the current structure of health services. Features * two-part structure provides a combination of theory and practice in one volume * tackles key issues of central concern to target audience * each section features an introductory overview by Lesley Doyal * topic-based approach makes it ideal for use on courses with students * written and edited by leading authorities in the field

Health care and its financing will not be harmonized within the European Union (EU). Therefore, the differences between the health systems of the member-states in a Single European Market are gaining in relevance. The process of economic integration also effects health. This book integrates economics, law, social, political and health sciences in the analysis of health care issues in the EU. It covers the development of health systems and policy in the community, the markets for pharmaceuticals and for medical devices, EU-trends in hospital financing, issues in the comparison of financing systems, especially in the field of private expenditures, reforms of health care financing in social security systems and national health services in the EU and cross-border health care between EU member-states. The results feature an up-to date overview on the European dimension of health care and its financing. The book is relevant to experts in health care organizations, policy, industry and research.

Public involvement is a key theme within the post-reform NHS, with an emphasis on involving people in healthcare decision-making, improving accountability to the public, and developing a stronger focus on the consumer. This text seeks to establish a framework for public involvement in healthcare.;Focusing on purchasing, the authors describe the central factors driving involvement, and the organizational structures and processes which underpin it. Recommendations are made for the development of effective strategies for public involvement in healthcare purchasing. A discussion of current issues and debates is set within a wider theoretical and historical examination of the concepts of "citizenship and "accountability", detailing the role of the consumer in the context of the major changes in the organization and delivery of public services which have taken place in Britain in the last two decades.

Donna Peters, a noted expert in outcomes and data management in home h ealth care, and Tad McKeon, author of Home Health Financial Management, team up to assess the current home health care environment in light of quality, cost, and data collection issues. The most prevalent sourc es of data including outcomes measurement, professional standards, reg ulatory requirements, consumer expectations, care guidelines, and acti vity-based costing are examined. The book addresses how one uses data to derive information that can be used to improve performance and exam ines how to use data to achieve excellence, not just to satisfy regula tors.

In this authoritative book, the dean of health care analysts discusses the future of American hospitals in the rice of downsizings, mergers, and closings. Eli Ginzberg assesses the different approaches hospitals and their physician staffs have made toward becoming part of an integrated health network, and he explores such trends as the growth of managed-care plans, development of alternative treatment sites for long-term patients, cooperation among community hospitals, and health service management by primary care physicians.

"Ginzberg has codified the conventional wisdom regarding all the problems -- organizational, structural, financial, and managerial -- currently besetting our hospitals. He has provided a concise description, both broad and specific, of the roots of these problems. He also spreads the responsibility among the external environment and the changes occurring there and the hospitals themselves". -- Bernard S. Bloom, Journal of the American Medical Association

"This well-written book provides a general overview of the past (beginning with the post-World War II years) and a forecast of the future of acute care hospitals. Ginzberg manages to compress much information into a slender volume". -- Health Affairs

"For any American interested in understanding the nature of the health care crisis into which we are plunging headlong, this book should be required reading". -- Mitchell T. Rabkin, M.D., president, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston

Health care in the United States at the end of the 20th century occupies a completely different place in the economy, in the public consciousness, and in its impact on government, than it did at the beginning of the century, or even in the early years of the Clinton Administration. Health care is now a multi-billion dollar industry; one that consumes more than 15 percent of the nation's GNP. Citizens now regard health care as essential to the quality of their lives, and a steady stream of new medications and procedures point to ways to extend the lives of our aging population and restore those injured on or off the job. At the same time, the changing patterns of health care have stirred a national debate over the growth of managed care and the role that government can play in providing solid health care standards--a medical safety net--within tightening budgetary restraints. This book explores the role of the federal government in health care policy development from the years of the Founding Fathers to the present.

Kronenfeld reviews the key features of the American health care system, its infrastructure, and federal legislative process and outcomes in the health care arena. The current situation in health care is examined, with particular attention given to the attempt at major reform in the first Clinton administration, and to the modest changes that were ultimately passed. She closes with an examination of the future of health care and the role of government, emphasizing how current health care issues and concerns may set the stage for a changed federal role in funding and delivery of health care services in the next century. This comprehensive examination of the role of government in the health care system will be of great interest to students and researchers of public policy and the social aspects of American health care.

Cost-Outcome Methods for Mental Health provides an overview of the choices and judgments used to evaluate the cost effectiveness of mental health treatment. It presents economic concepts of cost, discusses the various approaches to cost-outcome studies, and focuses on the way such studies apply to mental health. It is a practical guide rather than a theoretical treatment of cost-effectiveness analyses. Readers are guided through the process of designing cost-outcome studies; measuring costs, interventions, and outcomes; analyzing study results; and using findings to guide policy and practice. The book introduces readers who do not have a background in economics to apply economic methods of cost-outcome research, and prepares them for productive collaboration with economists in mental health services research.
Key Features
* Clearly explains key economic concepts for non-economists
* Integrates the presentation of both economic and clinical aspects of design
* Provides many examples of applications to mental health services
* Authored by leading mental health services investigators

One Of The Major Trends In Health Care Is The Consolidation Of Physician Practices. To Compete Effectively For Patients And Control Costs, Physicians Are Either Combining Into Larger Groups Or Deciding To Sell Their Practices To Hospitals. The Valuation Of Physician Practices And Clinics Provides Buyers With A Basic How To Approach To The Valuation Of Physician Practices And Outlines How Sellers Can Get The Most For Their Money.

Home Health Financial Management is the only comprehensive financial r esource written specifically for home health providers. In six parts, each containing three chapters, it addresses the full range of financi al issues that confront home health providers. Diagrams, charts, forms, and a glossary of relevant terms make it understandable and useful.

Effective communication is the key to encouraging healthy behavior. Documenting a revolution in both theory and practice, Johns Hopkins University experts show that communication leads the way to healthy reproductive health and family planning behavior. They explain why communication makes so much difference and how communication programs can be made to work.

This book presents a compilation of lessons learned by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs and its partners over 15 years of developing and implementing family planning communication projects campaigns in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Near East. An introductory essay provides an overview of family planning and communication worldwide and outlines the role of theory-based communication programs. The main part of the book presents lessons learned in the field about the process of designing and carrying out family planning communication projects. More than 60 lessons are presented, with descriptions and analysis of projects illustrating each lesson. A final essay explores the current and future challenges confronting family planning educators and other public health communicators.

The problem of how to treat the mentally handicapped attracted much attention from American reformers in the first half of the twentieth century. In this book, Steven Noll traces the history and development of institutions for the 'feeble-minded' in the South between 1900 and 1940. He examines the influences of gender, race, and class in the institutionalization process and relates policies in the South to those in the North and Midwest, regions that had established similar institutions much earlier. At the center of the story is the debate between the humanitarians, who advocated institutionalization as a way of protecting and ministering to the mentally deficient, and public policy adherents, who were primarily interested in controlling and isolating perceived deviants. According to Noll, these conflicting ideologies meant that most southern institutions were founded without a clear mission or an understanding of their relationship to southern society at large. Noll creates a vivid portrait of life and work within institutions throughout the South and the impact of institutionalization on patients and their families. He also examines the composition of the population labeled feeble-minded and demonstrates a relationship between demographic variables and institutional placement, including their effect on the determination of a patient's degree of disability.
Originally published in 1995.
A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

This text argues that private contracts would allow for more and genuine consumer choice, based on real differences between competing health plans in content, mixture and cost of services. It further argues that contracts would establish set standards and obligations for all parties.

Assessing the needs of populations is a prerequisite for the planning and delivery of effective health services. This text presents the Life Cycle Framework as a means of organizing thought about this task from health district down to neighbourhood levels. The framework brings together in a coherent manner the diverse influences (e.g. biological, social, ethnic, environmental and geographical) on people's propensity for good health and their ability to avail themselves of services. It also identifies routinely available sources of information. The book is self-contained in that no prior knowledge of epidemiology is demanded of the reader. The intended readership includes a wide range of health professionals, managers and policy makers and those in other public sectors (e.g. local government) whose actions influence health. The Life Cycle Framework can also be used to assist in teaching social medicine to medical and nursing undergraduates and will be a valuable aid to trainees in public health medicine.

Puts forward a theoretical framework for understanding consumerism in health care and its relation to professionalism. This book explains why consumers and professionals may intuitively perceive some standards as lower or higher than others and goes on to discuss many examples of professional good and bad practice.

If you've been worried about how health care reform will affect your specialty and your future prospects - worry no more. In this timely report from cardiovascular specialists John O. Goodman and Conrad Vernon, you will learn what's coming in the future of cardiovascular care delivery. You will learn a step-by-step plan that will enable your program to greet the change with confidence and optimism. Use these authors' years of experience in cardiovascular health care to create a successful future! With the demand for cardiovascular services increasing every day and with an aging population, NOW is the time to begin! Cardiovascular Transformation gives you all the tools you need to immediately develop your cardiovascular delivery system, define your mission, meet your long-term goals and objectives, and guide your program or practice toward progressive, constructive growth. High-Level Strategic Guidance and Practical Tools You Need To: *Prepare yourself for changes in cardiovascular delivery *Develop a creative, flexible, long-term strategic business plan *Initiate a formal planning process *Conduct a market assessment to design a cardiology program free of access barriers *Evaluate your delivery system *Conduct a feasibility study to decide on a plan that can be successfully implemented *Emerge on the winning end of the reimbursement process *Design an action plan for marketing cardiovascular services *Use long-term capital planning to avoid running short on facilities, equipment, and human resources *Meet the real needs of the marketplace? Succeed long after health care reform *Much, much more!

Health services are set on an inexorable drive for more and better information, and are spending millions of pounds on information technology in an effort to obtain it. But as the need for information becomes ever more pressing, serious problems have come into focus, ranging from the difficulties of collecting accurate routine data to understanding the role of information in management and clinical practice. This book sets out to clarify the nature of the problems surrounding information and IT, and point the way to practical solutions. It is divided into three sections: policy overview; views from within the health service; and the views of academic researchers.

All royalties, a minimum of GBP2.50 from the sale of each book, will be paid to NHS Charities Together (registered charity no. 1186569) to fund vital projects. When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020 to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, artist Tom Croft offered to paint an NHS key worker's portrait for free. Unsure how to help and offer his support, he wanted to capture and record the bravery and heroism of frontline workers who were risking their physical and mental health for our wellbeing. Tom suggested that other artists might want to do the same. He made his offer via video message on Instagram and was immediately contacted by Harriet Durkin, a nurse at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, who had contracted Covid-19 and, now recovered, was about to return to the frontline. Tom's portrait of Harriet, wearing PPE, was the first in what became a global art project. The response to the initiative was staggering and Tom personally paired up 500 artists and NHS workers in the first two weeks. When numbers reached the thousands, Tom set up a traffic light system so that artists and frontline workers could match themselves. Portraits in all mediums followed, from oils to pencil, sculpture to ceramic, mosaic to mural. This book presents a selection of these remarkable images. Some are by leading artists such as Alastair Adams and Mary Jane Ansell, and they are showcased here as both a celebration and a remembrance, in physical form, of the dedication of our NHS key workers. 'I just couldn't imagine what it must be like to have to put on your PPE and head into the frontline of the pandemic, so I wanted to try and thank NHS workers in some small way. We are indebted to them, so to be able to commemorate, celebrate and record their experiences through portraiture felt fitting. This collection will stand as a permanent record of their bravery in a time of national crisis.' Tom Croft

Why is the United States the only advanced industrial democracy today without a national health insurance program? Laham aptly examines the reasons for the current health crisis and assesses the prospects for long-term solutions. Students, teachers, policymakers, activists, and citizens at-large will learn from this comprehensive historical analysis of the political and economic problems that have blocked needed reforms and of the debates and proposals through 1993 which argue for positive change.