Human Resources in Healthcare, Health Informatics and Healthcare Systems addresses two major problems that threaten the health of the human race. The first of which is the lack of human resources in healthcare. We need to ensure that we have an adequate number of healthcare professionals who are highly motivated and properly trained. Furthermore, we need to ensure that they have the latest health technology at their disposal, which is the second major issue facing the world today. The world's most respected scholars and practitioners describe their experiences and propose possible theoretical and practical solutions in this relevant and timely handbook.

An inside look into how hospitals, nurses, and patients are faring under the Affordable Care Act More and more not-for-profit hospitals are becoming financially unstable and being acquired by large hospital systems. The effects range from not having necessary life-saving equipment to losing the most experienced nurses to better jobs at other hospitals. In Health Care in Crisis, Theresa Morris takes an in-depth look at how this unintended consequence of the Affordable Care Act plays out in a non-profit hospital's obstetrical ward. Based on ethnographic observations of and in-depth interviews with obstetrical nurses and hospital administrators at a community, not-for-profit hospital in New England, Health Care in Crisis examines how nurses' care of patients changed over the three-year period in which the Affordable Care Act was implemented, state Medicaid funds to hospitals were slashed, and hospitals were being acquired by a for-profit hospital system. Morris explains how the tumultuous political-economic changes have challenged obstetrical nurses, who are at the front lines of providing care for women during labor and birth. In the context of a new environment where hospital reimbursements are tied to performance, nursing has come under much scrutiny as documentation of births-already laboriously high-has reached even greater levels. Providing patient-centered care is an organizational challenge that nurses struggle to master in this context. Some nurses become bogged down by new processes and bureaucratic procedures, while others focus on buffering patients from the effects of these changes with little success. Morris maintains that what is most important in delivering quality care to patients is the amount of interaction time spent with patients, yet finding that time is a real challenge in this new environment. As questions and policies regarding health care are changing rapidly, Health Care in Crisis tells an important story of how these changes affect nurses' ability to care for their patients.

Millions of people each year decide to participate in clinical trials--medical research studies involving an innovative treatment for a medical problem. For the patient, such participation can sometimes be a life-saving choice. But it can also be just the opposite. Our country years ago adopted rules designed to assure that people are making informed choices about participation. This book explains the reality behind those rules: that our current system of clinical trials hides much of the information patients need to make the right choices.
Witness the following scenarios:
-Hundreds of patients with colon cancer undergo a new form of keyhole surgery at leading cancer centers--never being told that 85% of colorectal surgeons, worried that it increases the risk of the cancer returning, would not themselves undergo that procedure.
-Tens of thousands of women at high risk of developing breast cancer are asked to participate in a major research study. They are told about the option of having both breasts surgically removed--but not told about the option of taking a standard osteoporosis pill that might cut the risk of getting breast cancer by one-half or more.
What The Doctor Didn't Say, principally written by a nationally prominent expert, is the first book to reveal many heretofore hidden aspects about the true nature of participation in clinical trials. It shows why options not commonly known--including getting a new treatment outside of a research study--can often be the best choice. It explains how patients can make good decisions even if there is only limited information about a treatment's effect. And it does this through the eye-opening stories of what is happeningdaily to thousands of people.
This book ends up confronting the fundamental dilemma of medical research: Participation in clinical trials plays a vital role in advancing knowledge, and many experts fear that if the information provided herein became widely known, fewer people would participate. But the authors demonstrate that there is no need to deceive people into participating in research. We can have a system that promotes participation while still providing truthful information to participants.

The health services environment differs from other industries, as it deals with the wellbeing and lives of people. It is therefore imperative to understand: The importance of ethical codes; The correct way of dealing with labour-related issues. This work provides a practical and up-to-date guide for health services managers who deal with personnel and who wish to create a working environment that facilitates bilateral cooperation and avoid industrial action as far as possible. It sets out current legislation that affects both employers and employees, and informs them of their rights and obligations in very clear terms, supplemented by ample practical examples and specimen documentation.

Within the last years a variety of new healthcare concepts for supporting and assisting users in technology-enhanced home environments emerged. These so-called smart healthcare technologies are characterized by a combined use of information and communication technologies and health monitoring devices in the home domain. Smart Healthcare Applications and Services: Developments and Practices provides an in-depth introduction into medical, social, psychological, and technical aspects of smart healthcare applications as well as their consequences for the design, use and acceptance of future systems. The knowledge and insights provided in this book will help students as well as systems designers understand the fundamental social and technical requirements smart healthcare technologies have to meet.

Human, Social, and Organizational Aspects of Health Information Systems offers an evidence-based management approach to issues associated with the human and social aspects of designing, developing, implementing, and maintaining health information systems across a healthcare organization - specific to an individual, team, organizational, system, and international perspective. Integrating knowledge from multiple levels, this book will benefit scholars and practitioners from the medical information, health service management, information technology arenas.

Healthcare delivery reform initiatives focus on improving the quality of patient care while also increasing the efficiency of existing healthcare programs. Healthcare Delivery Reform and New Technologies: Organizational Initiatives contains cross-disciplinary research on strategic initiatives for healthcare reform that impact not only patients, but also organizations, healthcare providers, and policymakers. Contributions focus on the operational as well as theoretical aspects of healthcare management, healthcare delivery processes, and patient-centered initiatives.

In this fascinating and richly illustrated book, John Henderson takes us into the Renaissance hospitals of Florence, recreating the enormous barn-like wards and exploring the lives of those who received and those who administered treatment there. Drawing on an exceptional range of visual and documentary evidence, Henderson overturns the popular view of the pre-industrial hospital as a hellish destination for the dying poor. To the contrary, hospitals of the era developed specialized, professional care; became important centers of artistic patronage; and served a large patient population, only ten percent of whom died during their stay. The book explores the civic role of Renaissance hospitals, their beautiful architecture and interior design, and their methods of medical treatment that continue to influence healthcare practices today.

Caution Reading this book in it's entirety may cause the following side effects: Surprise, Anger, Disbelief, and even Amusement. We begin by revealing the little known, inside workings of the pharmaceutical industry, based on the experiences of people who have worked there. Why do you think it is that your drugs cost so much? Is it because of all the high tech 'stuff' that goes into making it? Or is it something else that might shock or even anger you? What goes on behind the scenes often has nothing whatsoever to do with science. This leads to the second part which has to do with our health and the things you may not even realize are making us all sick. This is not just another 'eat right and exercise' book. You will discover information you have never heard before. There are even things that have been proven to harm you but have been covered up or ignored, and even encouraged, as long as there is money to be made. Do you like investigative reporting? Do you like history, or science fiction? Do you have a taste for the macabre? Are you concerned about declining health care, government and military cover ups, or the high cost of medicine? Written with some humor and at times a touch of sarcasm, there is a little bit of something here for everyone. You may or may not agree with some of the things in this book, but once you start reading it, your curiosity will make you want to pick it up again and again until you are finished.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, computational intelligence and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems have supported the effective treatment of the virus. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been playing a significant role in the rapidly emerging healthcare sector in terms of CAD, software algorithms, hardware implementation, and applications in the medical field. Through this, the constraints of the traditional system must be addressed to innovate and shed light on emerging healthcare technologies. Computational Intelligence and Applications for Pandemics and Healthcare explores the state-of-the-art computational intelligence approaches in medical data and classifies existing computational techniques used in medical areas. It discusses the tactics and methods as well as the limitations and performances of computational intelligence applications for healthcare. The constraints of traditional healthcare systems are addressed by using CAD and computationally-intelligent medical data. Covering topics such as cloud-based monitoring systems, detection and diagnosis, and intelligent medical systems, this book is an excellent resource for computer scientists, government officials, medical students, medical professionals, hospitals, researchers, and academicians.

Recent advancements in medical technology, such as telehealth services, have influenced the healthcare sector tremendously. While telehealth technology and its application are not new, it has not been widely utilized despite the numerous benefits and opportunities it provides. However, recent policy changes have lowered obstacles to telehealth access and pushed the use of telemedicine to deliver acute, chronic, primary, and specialist care. In order to successfully integrate this technology in all areas of healthcare, further study is required to fully understand the best practices and challenges of adoption. Advancement, Opportunities, and Practices in Telehealth Technology discusses advances in the digital health technology and telemedicine domains as well as key challenges, solutions, and opportunities regarding their use in healthcare. The book also introduces critical communication protocols, interconnections, system designs, and developments that are extensively used in the present-day telehealth process. Covering a wide range of topics such as digital twins, big data analytics, and robotics, this reference work is an ideal resource for engineers, industry professionals, hospital administration, policymakers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Health care organizations have made investments in health information technologies such as electronic health records, health information exchanges, and many more, which have increased the importance of Health Information Technology studies. Cases on Healthcare Information Technology for Patient Care Management highlights the importance of understanding the potential challenges and lessons learned from past technology implementations. This comprehensive collection of case studies aims to help improve the understanding of the process as well as challenges faced and lessons learned through implementation of health information technologies.

The National Health Service is the most enduring of the institutions created by the first real Labour Government (1945-51). Before the NHS was created, treatment of ill health was provided by doctors in their surgeries and in hospitals, all of which had to be paid for by the patients. Many poorer families paid their GP's a monthly sum as they were usually in arrears with the fees. The Labour Government's vision was for a health service free for everybody and this was launched in 1948, with Aneurin Bevan as first Minister for Health. Now after nearly seventy years, with the costs of the NHS running at some GBP120 billions annually, and threatened by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, the NHS is in danger of being classed as any other utility, gas, water, electricity and is imminent danger of marketization and commercialisation. In his book The Health of the Nation, David Owen has explained the consequences of the 2012 Act and the damage to the NHS that will result. Those most affected will be those who can least afford good health care. This book presents a powerful case for the repeal of the 2012 Act and for the restoration of the NHS to its traditional values.

Ideal for high school and lower undergraduate readers, this book provides a holistic and multifaceted look at the state of health in the United States today by examining a wide variety of health indicators against necessary background and contextual information. Wellness by the Numbers: Understanding and Interpreting American Health Statistics presents the factual data that underlies health summaries-information that is not often readily available to readers. The statistical data regarding a variety of health indicators, accompanied by contextual information and analyses, serves to inform high school and lower undergraduate readers about the state of health in America today. Just as importantly, this book will document how scholars and health professionals analyze data to draw conclusions and sharpen readers' critical thinking skills. The book begins with an introductory essay that provides a conceptual framework for readers and a general overview of the topic of analyzing health across the nation. The "Locating Accurate and Current Data on Health-Related Information" section clearly explains the process of analyzing and interpreting statistical information, describes how to find authoritative sources of data, and defines the steps to reading and interpreting data and how to draw conclusions from the information. Each of the more than 40 key health topics includes an introduction of the particular health indicator being discussed, presents the data in tables, charts, or figures with concise analysis and interpretation, and concludes with discussion questions that challenge the reader to find additional meaning or patterns in the data. Provides up-to-date, easy-to-understand, and thematically organized information on many key health topics Covers a wide array of important and often controversial health topics, from cancer risk to depression to teen pregnancy Models data analysis and interpretation to demonstrate how scholars and health professionals analyze data to draw conclusions, thereby guiding readers through thinking critically about the information presented Presents thought-provoking discussion questions that invite readers to explore topics further and think more deeply about the information presented

The focus of this book is the journey babies have made over the past century. The rise of the middle class in America dictated major changes in the ways babies were fed, cared for, and raised. Social programs focused on improving water and sanitation programs for all, which led directly to decreased infection among infants and improved morbidity and mortality rates. Other programs also focused attention on babies. Advances in medicine allowed infants to be immunized against once-deadly and disabling diseases and to survive congenital defects, premature birth, and infectious disease. Physicians helped infertile couples conceive and carry a baby to term. Prenatal care helped mothers give birth to a healthy baby. Early intervention services gave infants an advantage as they faced growing up in the modern era. Today, most American babies are better off than they were in 1901. Overall they are bigger, healthier, and much more likely to survive the first year. But challenges remain. By reviewing the events of the past century, Reedy hopes we can make even more of a difference in the lives of American babies in the century to come. In 1900, most babies were born at home. Infant mortality was high and most families could expect to lose one or more of their babies within the first year of life. A family was expected to have babies, and they were certainly wanted in most situations, however, they did not generally receive the attention they do today. In the early years of the 21st century, the birth of a baby is a time of joy for most parents and extended families. Birth occurs most often in a hospital delivery room with the father and sometimes other family members present. While the infant mortality rate in the United States still lags behind many other developed countries, it has significantly improved over the past century, and infant death is not a family expectation. The main focus of this book is the journey babies have made over the past century. The rise of the middle class in America dictated major changes in the ways babies were fed, cared for, and raised. No longer a financial necessity as in an agrarian society, babies became a symbol of middle class prosperity and parents basked in the reflected glow. Social programs, authorized and regulated by federal and state government, became a reality. Progressive Era reformers focused on improving water and sanitation programs for all, which led directly to decreased infection among infants and improved the dismal morbidity and mortality rates prevalent among all social classes. Other programs, such as the Shepard-Towner Act, the Social Security Act, and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiatives also focused attention on babies. Advances in medicine allowed infants to be immunized against once-deadly and disabling diseases and to survive congenital defects, premature birth, and infectious disease. Physicians discovered the means to help infertile couples conceive and carry a baby to term. Prenatal care helped mothers prepare for the birth of a healthy baby. Early intervention services by educators, social workers, and others gave infants an advantage as they faced growing up in the modern era. At the beginning of the 21st century, most American babies are better off than they were in 1901. Overall they are bigger, healthier, and much more likely to survive the first year. But challenges remain. By reviewing the events of the past century, Reedy hopes we can make even more of a difference in the lives of American babies in the century to come.