Health services are among the most expensive and complex areas of social policy. Using qualitative comparative analysis to explore 11 developed countries' health services, this volume considers the links between a range of different outcome measures and levels of funding, social determinants and different types of health expenditures. It also reflects on how those systems responded to the first wave of COVID-19. This ambitious text identifies which underpinning factors are associated with the strongest outcomes, providing a rigorous account of health systems and health policies in the context of their wider economies and societies.

The book examines ongoing dynamics within the organizational fields of health and higher education, with a focus on collective (public universities and hospitals) and individual (professionals) actors, structures, processes and institutional logics. The fact that universities and hospitals share a number of important characteristics, both being hybrid organizations, professional bureaucracies, and operating within highly institutionalised environments, they are also characterised by their distinctive features such as the importance attributed to scientific autonomy and prestige (universities) and the needs and expectations of users and funders (hospitals). The volume brings together two relatively distinct scholarly traditions within the social sciences, namely, scholars - sociologists, educationalists, economists, political scientists and public administration researchers, etc. - involved with the study of change dynamics within the fields of health care and higher education in Europe and beyond. The authors resort to a variety of theoretical and conceptual perspectives emanating from the studies of organizational fields more generally and neo-institutionalism in particular.

Planning Australia's Healthy Built Environments shines a quintessentially Australian light on the links between land use planning and human health. A burgeoning body of empirical research demonstrates the ways urban structure and governance influences human health-and Australia is playing a pivotal role in developing understandings of the relationships between health and the built environment. This book takes a retrospective look at many of the challenges faced in pushing the healthy built environment agenda forward. It provides a clear and theoretically sound framework to inform this work into the future. With an emphasis on context and the pursuit of equity, Jennifer L. Kent and Susan Thompson supply specific ways to better incorporate idiosyncrasies of place and culture into urban planning interventions for health promotion. By chronicling the ways health and the built environment scholarship and practice can work together, Planning Australia's Healthy Built Environments enters into new theoretical and practical debates in this critically important area of research. This book will resonate with both health and built environment scholars and practitioners working to create sustainable and health-supportive urban environments.

Discover How to Apply DES to Problems Encountered in HTA Discrete event simulation (DES) has traditionally been used in the engineering and operations research fields. The use of DES to inform decisions about health technologies is still in its infancy. Written by specialists at the forefront of this area, Discrete Event Simulation for Health Technology Assessment is the first book to make all the central concepts of DES relevant for health technology assessment (HTA). Accessible to beginners, the book requires no prerequisites and describes the concepts with as little jargon as possible. The book first covers the essential concepts and their implementation. It next provides a fully worked out example using both a widely available spreadsheet program (Microsoft Excel) and a popular specialized simulation package (Arena). It then presents approaches to analyze the simulations, including the treatment of uncertainty; tackles the development of the required equations; explains the techniques to verify that the models are as efficient as possible; and explores the indispensable topic of validation. The book also covers a variety of non-essential yet handy topics, such as the animation of a simulation and extensions of DES, and incorporates a real case study involving screening strategies for breast cancer surveillance. This book guides you in leveraging DES in your assessments of health technologies. After reading the chapters in sequence, you will be able to construct a realistic model designed to help in the assessment of a new health technology.

The use of Electronic Health Records (EHR)/Electronic Medical Records (EMR) data is becoming more prevalent for research. However, analysis of this type of data has many unique complications due to how they are collected, processed and types of questions that can be answered. This book covers many important topics related to using EHR/EMR data for research including data extraction, cleaning, processing, analysis, inference, and predictions based on many years of practical experience of the authors. The book carefully evaluates and compares the standard statistical models and approaches with those of machine learning and deep learning methods and reports the unbiased comparison results for these methods in predicting clinical outcomes based on the EHR data. Key Features: Written based on hands-on experience of contributors from multidisciplinary EHR research projects, which include methods and approaches from statistics, computing, informatics, data science and clinical/epidemiological domains. Documents the detailed experience on EHR data extraction, cleaning and preparation Provides a broad view of statistical approaches and machine learning prediction models to deal with the challenges and limitations of EHR data. Considers the complete cycle of EHR data analysis. The use of EHR/EMR analysis requires close collaborations between statisticians, informaticians, data scientists and clinical/epidemiological investigators. This book reflects that multidisciplinary perspective.

The complex challenges facing healthcare require innovative solutions that can make patient care more effective, easily available, and affordable. One such solution is the digital reconstruction of medicine that transitions much of patient care from hospitals, clinics, and offices to a variety of virtual settings. This reconstruction involves telemedicine, hospital-at-home services, mobile apps, remote sensing devices, clinical data analytics, and other cutting-edge technologies. The Digital Reconstruction of Healthcare: Transitioning from Brick and Mortar to Virtual Care takes a deep dive into these tools and how they can transform medicine to meet the unique needs of patients across the globe. This book enables readers to peer into the very near future and prepare them for the opportunities afforded by the digital shift in healthcare. It is also a wake-up call to readers who are less than enthusiastic about these digital tools and helps them to realize the cost of ignoring these tools. It is written for a wide range of medical professionals including: Physicians, nurses, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to use or develop digital products and services IT managers who need to fold these tools into existing computer networks at hospitals, clinics, and medical offices Healthcare executives who decide how to invest in these platforms and products Insurers who need to stay current on the latest trends and the evidence to support their cost effectiveness Filled with insights from international experts, this book also features Dr. John Halamka's lessons learned from years of international consulting with government officials on digital health. It also taps into senior research analyst Paul Cerrato's expertise in AI, data analytics, and machine learning. Combining these lessons learned with an in-depth analysis of clinical informatics research, this book aims to separate hyped AI "solutions" from evidence-based digital tools. Together, these two pillars support the contention that these technologies can, in fact, help solve many of the seemingly intractable problems facing healthcare providers and patients.

Neoliberal political discourses have normalised the belief in northern European countries that individuals are responsible for their health and wellbeing, regardless of social class, gender or ethnic background. Drawing on examples from Germany, Sweden and the UK, Simmonds critically examines how the neoliberalisation and marketisation of health and social care have created an adverse environment for older people, who lack social and cultural capital to access the care they need. This crucial analysis scrutinises provision for ageing populations on an individual, national and global level. Challenging current political and social policy approaches, this rigorous text discusses innovative solutions to contemporary challenges in a complex care system.

Today, it is not uncommon for practices and hospitals to be on their second or third EHR and/or contemplating a transition from the traditional on-premise model to a cloud-based system. As a follow-up to Complete Guide and Toolkit to Successful EHR Adoption ( (c)2011 HIMSS), this book builds on the best practices of the first edition, fast-forwarding to the latest innovations that are currently leveraged and adopted by providers and hospitals. We examine the role that artificial intelligence (AI) is now playing in and around EHR technology. We also address the advances in analytics and deep learning (also known as deep structured or hierarchical learning) and explain this topic in practical ways for even the most novice reader to comprehend and apply. The challenges of EHR to EHR migrations and data conversions will also be covered, including the use of the unethical practice of data blocking used as a tactic by some vendors to hold data hostage. Further, we explore innovations related to interoperability, cloud computing, cyber security, and electronic patient/consumer engagement. Finally, this book will deal with what to do with aging technology and databases, which is an issue rarely considered in any of the early publications on healthcare technology. What is the proper way to retire a legacy system, and what are the legal obligations of data archiving? Though a lot has changed since the 2011 edition, many of the fundamentals remain the same and will serve as a foundation for the next generation of EHR adopters and/or those moving on to their second, third, fourth, and beyond EHRs.

At a time of increasing demands on budgets, governments around the world are seeking to reduce health expenditure and introduce market-oriented reforms to the health sector. This is leading to profound shifts in the relationship between the state and the individual, as policy makers dismantle the welfare state and move towards a user-pays sytem. Health Policy in the Market State offers an overview of health policy in Australia, locating it within the broader context of power and interests analysis and shifts in government policy and public sector restructuring. It outlines the key issues in current health policy and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of specific policies and programs. Contributors include Ian Anderson and Maggie Brady, Mary Draper, Stephen Duckett, Liz Eckerman, Sophie Hill, Sharon Moore, Michael Muetzelfeldt, Janine Smith and Beth Wilson. Health Policy in the Market State is a valuable overview for students, as well as a comprehensive reference for health professionals and policy-makers.

This timely reference analyzes the rationale, impact, and feasibility of taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as a public health measure to contribute curbing obesity and diabetes rates, specifically in Canada. It presents the pros and cons of taxing soda, with the latest data on adverse health effects of its consumption, plus the various business and political issues surrounding the contentious proposition. Reviewed research is multidisciplinary, spanning health and medicine to ethics, economics, and law. Conclusions and caveats are clear and presented at a comfort level for the general reader. The result is a blueprint for analyzing the relevancy of taxes on sweetened soft drinks or other low-nutrition food products, plus a trove of valuable insights into aspects of government decision-making and consumer food behavior. Included in the coverage: * Reasons for specifically targeting SSBs * SSB taxation as a public health policy instrument * Effects of SSB taxation on energy intakes and population health * Potential undesirable effects relating to SSB taxation * Social and political acceptability of SSB taxation * Evaluability of SSB taxation Taxing Soda for Public Health will interest policymakers, public health professionals, advocacy groups, and researchers at the Canadian and international levels (e.g., in areas such as public health, nutrition, food and health policies, health economics, and evaluation), as well as students and all other parties interested in nutrition policies.

In recent years the pace of reform in health policy and the NHS has been relentless. But how are policies formed and implemented? This fully updated edition of a bestselling book explores the processes and institutions that make health policy, examining what constitutes health policy, where power lies, and what changes could be made to improve the quality of health policy making. Drawing on original research by the author over many years, and a wide range of secondary sources, the book examines the role of various institutions in the formation and implementation of health policy. Unlike most standard texts, it considers the impact of devolution in the UK and the role of European and international institutions and fills a need for an up-to-date overview of this fast-moving area. It features new case studies to illustrate how policy has evolved and developed in recent years. This new edition has been fully updated to reflect policies under the later years of New Labour and the Coalition government. Although written particularly with the needs of students and tutors in mind, this accessible textbook will also appeal to policy makers and practitioners in the health policy field.

This book is concerned with the complexities of achieving quality in care transitions. The organization and accomplishment of high quality care transitions relies upon the coordination of multiple professionals, working within and across multiple care processes, settings and organizations, each with their own distinct ways of working, profile of resources, and modes of organizing. In short, care transitions might easily be regarded as complex activities that take place within complex systems, which can make accomplishing high quality care challenging. As a subject of enquiry, care transitions are approached from many research, improvement and policy perspectives: from group psychology and human factors to social and political theory; from applied process re-engineering projects to exploratory ethnographic studies; from large-scale policy innovations to local improvements initiatives. This collection will provide a unique cross-disciplinary and multi-level analysis, where each chapter presents a particular depth of insight and analysis, and together offer a holistic and detail understand of care transitions.

For more than a decade, the focus of information technology has been on capturing and sharing data from a patient within an all-encompassing record (a.k.a. the electronic health record, EHR), to promote improved longitudinal oversight in the care of the patient. There are both those who agree and those who disagree as to whether this goal has been met, but it is certainly evolving. A key element to improved patient care has been the automated capture of data from durable medical devices that are the source of (mostly) objective data, from imagery to time-series histories of vital signs and spot-assessments of patients. The capture and use of these data to support clinical workflows have been written about and thoroughly debated. Yet, the use of these data for clinical guidance has been the subject of various papers published in respected medical journals, but without a coherent focus on the general subject of the clinically actionable benefits of objective medical device data for clinical decision-making purposes. Hence, the uniqueness of this book is in providing a single point-of-capture for the targeted clinical benefits of medical device data--both electronic- health-record-based and real-time--for improved clinical decision-making at the point of care, and for the use of these data to address and assess specific types of clinical surveillance. Clinical Surveillance: The Actionable Benefits of Objective Medical Device Data for Crucial Decision-Making focuses on the use of objective, continuously collected medical device data for the purpose of identifying patient deterioration, with a primary focus on those data normally obtained from both the higher-acuity care settings in intensive care units and the lower-acuity settings of general care wards. It includes examples of conditions that demonstrate earlier signs of deterioration including systemic inflammatory response syndrome, opioid-induced respiratory depression, shock induced by systemic failure, and more. The book provides education on how to use these data, such as for clinical interventions, in order to identify examples of how to guide care using automated durable medical device data from higher- and lower-acuity care settings. The book also includes real-world examples of applications that are of high value to clinical end-users and health systems.

Consumer Health Information Programs and Services: Best Practices presents examples of successful and long-standing library programs and services that provide health information to consumers-the general public, patients, and families or patients - who seek information about health and diseases. This best practices volume brings together library programs and services currently offered in hospital libraries, public libraries, academic health sciences libraries, and standalone consumer health libraries, covering a range of topics and special programs. Advice and best practices provided by these experienced CHI librarians will help readers who are planning a new consumer health information service, or who are looking to upgrade and expand their current program or service. This best practices book will highlight successful library consumer health information programs and services, offering advice and tips about all aspects of providing health information to the general public and patients, from planning and establishing a CHI program, to offering specialized services to special populations. Readers will find both solid, tried-and-true methods for providing these services, as well as guidance on using newer, updated techniques to reach persons needing health information.

Advances in digital technology led to the development of digital x-ray detectors that are currently in wide use for projection radiography, including Computed Radiography (CR) and Digital Radiography (DR). Digital Imaging Systems for Plain Radiography addresses the current technological methods available to medical imaging professionals to ensure the optimization of the radiological process concerning image quality and reduction of patient exposure. Based on extensive research by the authors and reference to the current literature, the book addresses how exposure parameters influence the diagnostic quality in digital systems, what the current acceptable radiation doses are for useful diagnostic images, and at what level the dose could be reduced to maintain an accurate diagnosis. The book is a valuable resource for both students learning the field and for imaging professionals to apply to their own practice while performing radiological examinations with digital systems.

Through the framework of understanding health inequalities as a 'wicked problem' the book develops an applied approach to researching, understanding and addressing them by drawing on complexity theory. Case studies illuminate the text, illustrating and discussing the issues in real life terms and enabling public health, health promotion and health policy students to understand and address the complexities of health inequalities.

With a foreword by Tony Benn. Drawing on clinical experience dating from the birth of the NHS in 1948, Julian Tudor Hart, a politically active GP in a Welsh coal mining community, charts the progress of the NHS from its 19th century origins in workers' mutual aid societies, to its current forced return to the market. His starting point is a detailed analysis of how clinical decisions are made. He explores the changing social relationships in the NHS as a gift economy, how these may be affected by reducing care to commodity status, and the new directions they might take if the NHS resumed progress independently from the market. This edition of this bestselling book has been entirely rewritten with two new chapters, and includes new material on resistance to that world-wide process. The essential principle in the book is that patients need to develop as active citizens and co-producers of health gain in a humanising society and the author's aim is to promote it wherever people recognise that pursuit of profit may be a brake on rational progress.

This book discusses theoretical issues, standards, and professional considerations arising when legal and health practitioners undertake legal capacity assessments in the context of wills, enduring powers of attorney and advance health directives. The potential loss of cognition can erode autonomy as individuals lose the ability to make their own legally recognised decisions. This is an inescapable problem with significant legal, social, health and policy repercussions. This work synthesises and critically analyses the existing literature, including some of the best assessment models and guiding principles internationally, to generate a new methodology and understanding of what capacity assessment best practice means. This includes the impact of assessments on individual autonomy - the ideal method building upon respect for both autonomy as well as fundamental human rights. The triggers to assess capacity, who to involve in the assessment process, as well as how to conduct that assessment process are discussed. The crucial relationship between the legal and health professionals involved in assessments, including growing concerns around practitioner liability, is also explored. This analysis is undertaken through the innovative use of a therapeutic jurisprudence lens, the effect of which is to contribute new knowledge to this complex field.

The need for continual development and transformation of healthcare information systems is evident, though progress in this arena is often met with a significant number of challenges. Developments in Healthcare Information Systems and Technologies: Models and Methods presents the latest research in healthcare information systems design, development, and deployment, benefiting researchers, practitioners, and students. Contributions investigate topics such as clinical education, electronic medical records, clinical decision support systems, and IT adoption in healthcare.

'Jha is the right scholar and economist to take readers through the development of the Indian economy. Readers will be in good hands.' -Edmund Phelps, Columbia University, USA, and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics 'This is perhaps the best and most scholarly contribution to understanding the Indian Economy and Society. Its rich historical perspective and a profound understanding of how India has evolved into a major economic power set standards of scholarship and analytical rigour that will be hard to surpass". -Raghav Gaiha, University of Manchester, UK 'Linking of economy and society is increasingly recognised as essential for addressing policy challenges by the current phase of globalisation. As such this study should be valuable not just for those studying India, but also for those interested in global developments.' -Mukul Asher, National University of Singapore, Singapore 'This book is a tour-de-force review of the fundamental topics on the Indian political economy and society that are relevant for any committed social scientist to be aware of.' -Sumit K. Majumdar, University of Texas at Dallas, USA 'Over the years, I have benefited from reading the works of Professor Jha, and from teaching from them. I enthusiastically recommend these two volumes.' -Raaj Kumar Sah, University of Chicago, USA This two-volume work provides an account of how India has been meeting its myriad of economic, political and social challenges and how things are expected to evolve in the future. Despite enormous challenges at the time of independence, India chose to address them within a secular, liberal, democratic framework, which guaranteed several fundamental rights. Challenges included intense mass poverty and hunger, very poor literacy and educational abilities of the population, the task of uniting a country with scores of languages and ethnicities ruled by different entities for decades and persistent threats of external aggression, to name just a few. Over time, incomes and opportunities have expanded enormously and India has regained her self-confidence as a nation. In this second volume, Jha examines the performance and prospects for India's agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors. In addition, India's links with the external world through international trade, investment, migration and remittances are discussed, as well as gender issues, inter-community relations and India's future prospects.

Presenting a comprehensive examination of China's medical care system, this book tackles issues of policymaking, organization, management and financing in the context of the provision of affordable care in China. Making use of extensive field investigations, interviews and a thorough analysis of documents, this book examines the re-structuring of the medical care system, spanning more than three and half decades from 1979 to the present day. Assessing the difficulties of regulatory control in the health care sector, it also explores theoretical alternatives, including post-Weberian constructs of uncertainty and control, as well as franchise and asymmetric information in market transactions. Ultimately, it argues that patient medical care has become less and less affordable amid shrinking government subsidies, breakdowns of public insurances and increases in user charges, especially between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s. Whilst the government took decades to re-organize the public hospital system and rebuild public insurances, it faced a dilemma of enforcing both low-cost medical care and maintaining revenue flow to public hospitals through marketization. Re-engineering Affordable Care Policy in China provides extensive discussion of the policymaking process as well as detailed analysis of policy contents. As such, it will be invaluable to students and scholars of Chinese social policy and public administration, as well as Chinese Studies more generally.

With the constant evolution of change in healthcare from both a technology and governmental perspective, it is imperative to take a step back and view the big picture. Relying on hunches or beliefs is no longer sustainable, so avoid jumping to conclusions and making decisions without thoroughly understanding the statistics being analyzed. The triple aim of statistics is a conceptual model laying the foundation for improving healthcare outcomes through statistics. This foundation is: know your numbers; develop behavioral interventions; and set goals to drive change. With the availability of electronic data sources, the quantity and quality of data have grown exponentially to the point of information overload. Translating all this data into words that tell a meaningful story is overwhelming. This book takes the reader on a journey that navigates through this data to tell a story that everyone can understand and use to drive improvement. Readers will learn to tell a narrative story based on data, to develop creative, innovative and effective solutions to improve processes and outcomes utilizing the authors' tools. Topics include mortality and readmission, patient experience, patient safety survey, governmental initiatives, CMS Star Rating and Hospital Compare. Storytelling with Data in Healthcare combines methodology and statistics in the same course material, making it coherent and easier to put into practice. It uses storytelling as a tool for knowledge acquisition and retention and will be valuable for courses in nursing schools, medical schools, pharmacy schools or any healthcare profession that has a research design or statistics course offered to students. The book will be of interest to researchers, academics, healthcare professionals, and students in the fields of healthcare management and operations as well as statistics and data visualization.

Dead Reckoning examines accidents and close calls in outdoor recreation settings ranging from hiking to sea kayaking to backcountry skiing. Following the long tradition of learning from accident analysis, Emma Walker looks closely at hers and others' personal experiences to deliver lessons learned for staying safe in the outdoors.

The editors are two of the most prominent researchers in this area. Both are at the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies. David Vlahov is particularly visible and known as the editor of the Journal of Urban Health. Sandro Galea is very prominent for his research on urban health; in particularly, research done on PTSD and children post-9/11.

Thorough analysis of different populations in urban settings and specific health considerations

Useful section on methods for the research audience.

Applied in nature with section on prevention and interventions

There are over 100 urban health centers in North America and there are no thorough, up-to-date ressources.

You got into healthcare because you wanted to help people, but quickly discovered providing high-quality care is challenging. Seemingly impossible demands are placed on you and your team. Some coworkers are constantly complaining; others are in their silos doing only what they must to get through the long days. Collaboration is often lacking, and patients suffer the painful consequences. It's easy to become overloaded with work and overwhelmed with negativity. This is not how the healthcare profession has to be. There is a new science - Positive Psychology - that studies how people are able to perform extraordinarily well in challenging situations. After a dozen years of research in prestigious medical centers, an evidence-based method for applying this science has been developed. That six step program is PROPEL. You will read stories illustrating the experiences of doctors, nurses and administrators who learned to use PROPEL to transform their professional life (and, for many, their personal life as well). You will learn how they were able to attain remarkable results with their teams, units and clinics: * Staff callout and FMLA decreased 75% * Wait times for chemotherapy infusion reduced 6 hours * Staff turnover dropped 80% * Pediatric MRI scheduling driven down from 14 weeks to 10 days * Bone marrow transplant procedures increased by 50% * ED diversion due to psychiatric patient boarding virtually eliminated * Patient fall rate cut by 70% * Use of agency and travelers nurses abolished * Patient satisfaction scores up 50% The cumulative impact to the bottom line has been calculated to be millions of dollars. The most meaningful measure of PROPEL's success, however, comes from the thousands of dedicated professionals who have expressed heartfelt gratitude for having learned how to recapture their joy for working in healthcare.