Health information about patients is critical; currently, health records are saved in databases controlled by individual users, organizations, or large groups of organizations. As there are many malicious users, this information is not shared with other organizations due to security issues and the chance of the data being modified or tampered with. Blockchain can be used to securely exchange healthcare data, which can be accessed by organizations sharing the same network, allowing doctors/practitioners to provide better care for patients. The key properties of decentralization, such as immutability and transparency, improve healthcare interoperability. This book brings forth the prospects and research trends of Blockchain in healthcare, so that Researchers, Database professionals, Academia, and Healthcare professionals across the world can know/use the concept of Blockchain in healthcare. The book provides the fundamental and technical details of Blockchain, the applications of Blockchain in healthcare, hands-on chapters for graduate/postgraduate/doctoral students/healthcare professionals to secure healthcare data of patients, and research challenges and future work directions for researchers in healthcare.

Learn how to ensure quality and safety for vulnerable older adults Transitional care is crucial to older adults with complex care needs who are moving between different locations or different levels of care. Charting a Course for High Quality Care Transitions addresses this problem by providing leading experts and leaders in the field discussing practical strategies that ensure care quality and safety for transitioning vulnerable older adults. This helpful resource comprehensively discusses current research, quality improvement, risk targeting, risk identification, patterns of care, care coordination, and performance assessment. Lowering the inherent risks for adverse events when moving patients can be challenging. Numerous unforeseen variables such as possible mismanagement of medication or staff shortages can often jeopardize patient safety. Charting a Course for High Quality Care Transitions offers practical approaches to address several of the main challenges encountered by health professionals. This book focuses on various ways to provide the highest quality patient-centered care through advancements in research, practice, and data measurement. This informative text is extensively referenced and contains numerous tables to clarify and illustrate important data. Topics in Charting a Course for High Quality Care Transitions include: a semantic framework for overcoming quality improvement issues stemming from inconsistent use of terms a tool for home health agencies to identify home health care patients at risk for hospital readmission medical and social factors that contribute to poor quality care transitions a successful Advanced Practice Nurse transitional care model that can improve outcomes to cognitively impaired older adults unrecognized needs of older adults living in residential care facilities patient-centered performance measurement early results of the Reducing Acute Care Hospitalization National Demonstration Collaborative gaps in research that need to be addressed in the future Charting a Course for High Quality Care Transitions is an important resource for home care professionals, hospital discharge planners, public health nurses, geriatric health services researchers, and health care professionals of all types.

Bayesian analyses have made important inroads in modern clinical research due, in part, to the incorporation of the traditional tools of noninformative priors as well as the modern innovations of adaptive randomization and predictive power. Presenting an introductory perspective to modern Bayesian procedures, Elementary Bayesian Biostatistics explores Bayesian principles and illustrates their application to healthcare research. Building on the basics of classic biostatistics and algebra, this easy-to-read book provides a clear overview of the subject. It focuses on the history and mathematical foundation of Bayesian procedures, before discussing their implementation in healthcare research from first principles. The author also elaborates on the current controversies between Bayesian and frequentist biostatisticians. The book concludes with recommendations for Bayesians to improve their standing in the clinical trials community. Calculus derivations are relegated to the appendices so as not to overly complicate the main text. As Bayesian methods gain more acceptance in healthcare, it is necessary for clinical scientists to understand Bayesian principles. Applying Bayesian analyses to modern healthcare research issues, this lucid introduction helps readers make the correct choices in the development of clinical research programs.

"Intersex" is the condition whereby an individual is born with biological features that are simultaneously perceived as male and female. Ranging from the ambiguous genitalia of the true 'hermaphrodite' to the 'mildly or internally intersexed', the condition may be as common as cleft palate. Like cleft palate, it is hidden and surgically altered, but for very different reasons. This important book draws heavily on the personal testimony of intersexed individuals, their loved ones, and medical careers. The impact of early sex-assignment surgery on an individual's later life is examined within the context of ethical and clinical questions. Harper challenges the conventional and radical 'treatment' of intersexuality through non-consensual infant sex-assignment surgery. In doing so she exposes powerful myths, taboos, and constructions of gender - the perfect phallus, a bi-polar model of gender and the infallibility of medical decisions. Handling sensitive material with care, this book deepens our understanding of a condition that has itself only been medically understood in recent years.

Families of children with special health needs frequently cite difficulties in their communications with physicians and other medical professionals. Indeed, parents of high-risk, chronically ill, and disabled infants often regard interactions with health care providers as one of the most stressful parts of their early experiences with their children.

This volume was designed to present a variety of medical education approaches used to overcome this problem. After providing an overview of some of the difficulties faced by physicians and families of children with special health needs in their interactions with one another, the volume examines a number of useful medical education models. The models and viewpoints presented include those of physicians, early intervention professionals, professionals with backgrounds in education, psychology, and sociology, and parents. This volume is invaluable to those involved in designing and evaluating medical education approaches, and those developing public policy for children and the family.

The success of healthcare decision-making lies in whether healthcare staff, patients, and healthcare organization managers can comprehensively understand the choices and consider future implications to make the best decision possible. Multiple-criteria decision making (MCDM), including multiple rule-based decision making (MRDM), multiple-objective decision making (MODM), and multiple-attribute decision making (MADM), is used by clinical decision-makers to analyze healthcare issues from various perspectives. In practical health care cases, semi-structured and unstructured decision-making issues involve multiple criteria (or goals) that may conflict with each other. Thus, the use of MCDM is a promising source of practical solutions for such problems. MCDM methods mainly include the three parts: data process, evaluation and selection, and planning and design. Data process focuses on analyzing and identifying healthcare management issues and data features for solving practical cases. Evaluation and selection focus on evaluating the performance of each solution for healthcare management, and these methods can be used to support decision-making and help organizations choose the best solution for practical healthcare management cases. Finally, planning and design focus on analyzing and designing the goals of healthcare management applications, which can be modelled as a minimizing or maximizing problem for finding the optimal solutions. Furthermore, these methods can explore the relationship structure construction among criteria between various related issues arising from healthcare.

By chronicling the transformations of hospitals from houses of mercy to tools for confinement, from dwellings of rehabilitation to spaces for clinical teaching and research, from rooms for birthing and dying to institutions of science and technology, this book provides a historical approach to understanding of today's hospitals. The story is told in a dozen episodes which illustrate hospitals in particular times and places, covering important themes and developments in the history of medicine and therapeutics, from ancient Greece to the era of AIDS. This book furnishes a unique insight into the world of meanings and emotions associated with hospital life and patienthood by including narratives by both patients and care givers. By conceiving of hospitals as houses of order capable of taming the chaos associated with suffering, illness, and death, we can better understand the significance of their ritualized routines and rules. From their beginnings, hospitals were places of spiritual and physical recovery. They should continue to respond to all human needs. As traditional testimonials to human empathy and benevolence, hospitals must endure as spaces of healing.

Noted experts provide practical, effective strategies to meet global health challenges International Social Health Care Policy, Program, and Studies presents a collection of papers drawn from the Ninth Doris Siegel Memorial Fund Colloquium that focuses on social work and international health issues, emphasizing an international exchange and cooperation as a crucial facet of meeting global health challenges. Honoring the memory and spirit of social work pioneer Doris Siegel for her accomplishments and advocacy on behalf of social-health issues, this fine selection of scholarly papers explores ideas and strategies from around the world which offer greater opportunity for success for diverse social work and health care problems. Internationally recognized practitioners and academics offer research and case studies illustrating approaches, programs, and policies that any practitioner or policymaker may find helpful. International Social Health Care Policy, Program, and Studies closely examines the common ground in social health care problems shared by various countries worldwide. Issues such as the effects of terrorism, academic-practice partnerships in practice research, and the international exchange program are explored, with insightful discussions that explain in which directions to best channel social and health care energies and resources. Helpful figures and tables further explain concepts and research. Topics in International Social Health Care Policy, Program, and Studies include: Strength-focused and Meaning-oriented Approach to Resilience and Transformation (SMART) as a model of crisis intervention that uses a holistic view of health outpatient commitment as a delivery system assisted conception and social work needs in the United Kingdom a study on the psychological distress between elderly Israeli residents and immigrant family caregivers impact of prolonged terrorist attacks on children and adolescents in Israel stress experienced by social workers working with terror victims integration of social workers into hospital disaster response teams in Australia academic practice research partnerships for health social workers evaluation of the outcomes from the Mount Sinai Social Work Leadership Enhancement Program discussion of the lessons learned from the 75-year history of health social work in Melbourne, Australia and more! International Social Health Care Policy, Program, and Studies is horizon-expanding reading that is perfect for social workers dealing with a global community, social work libraries, educators, students, and libraries of all types.

The US political system has come to depend upon money too much. The US health care industry spends the most on political lobbying among all the 13 industrial sectors in the US economy. The government regulatory agencies at both federal and state levels have been "captured" by the health industry interest groups meaning that the regulatory agencies respond to the interests of the industry but not those of citizens. This book employs a broad theoretical framework of crony capitalism to understand US health care system dysfunction. This framework has not been applied before in any serious manner to understand the shortcomings in the US health care system. Specifically, the book examines the role of seven key players using this framework - politicians/interest groups, pharmaceutical companies, private health insurers, hospitals/hospital networks, physicians, medical device manufacturers, and the American public. Crony capitalism is a destructive force and is rampant in US health care system, causing much waste, inefficiencies, and malaise in the system. Current efforts and initiatives, such as patient-centered medical homes and precision medicine, for improving/reforming the system are of mere academic interest and tantamount to taking aspirin to treat cancer. They do not even pretend to address the root cause of the problem, namely, crony capitalism. Offering prescriptions to fix the U.S. health care system based on a comprehensive diagnosis of the dysfunction, this book will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students in the fields of health care management, public and non-profit management, health policy, administration, and economics, and political science.

This book presents the refereed proceedings of the Fourth Italian Forum on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), held in Ancona, Italy, in October 2013. A wide range of issues are covered and new technological developments are described which will support the autonomy and independence of individuals with special needs through an innovative and integrated approach, designed to respond to the socio-economic challenges of an aging population. Topics addressed include: health and well-being, prevention and rehabilitation and support for care providers; active aging and its social implications; services for the frail elderly with health problems and their families; nutrition; ICT platforms/technologies for the benefit of the elderly; home automation and control technologies (autonomy, safety and energy saving); smart cities and smart communities; telemedicine, telerehabilitation, and telecare; mobility, participation and social inclusion; games and fun for the elderly; building design; social housing; interface design and interaction (accessibility, acceptance); social policies to encourage and support active aging; business models, market analysis and development of sustainable financing and business and ethics, privacy and data protection. Many experimental validations based on user trials and usability testing are presented and discussed. The knowledge and insights provided in this book will help researchers and others involved in AAL to understand relevant societal trends, novel technological developments and pressing challenges.

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.

Managed Care in the Inner City presents a well-documented and candid look at how the managed care revolution has affected low-income and other vulnerable populations who live in inner cities. This ground-breaking book offers a thorough review of the drastic changes to the way health care is delivered in America's cities and presents sensible recommendations for creating programs that will satisfy public health agendas and also succeed from a policy and health care management perspective. Managed Care in the Inner City proposes to draw on the combined strengths of traditional providers and managed care to create a new paradigm of health care delivery for our inner cities.

5 care reforms. Part II: Price Regulation The second partofthis volume examines the role ofprice regulation in controlling health care costs. It contains three chapters. In chapter seven, I examine the alternatives for regulating pharmaceutical prices. In chapter eight, Jack Hadley examines the impactofvarious forms ofhospital price regulation; while in chapter nine, MarkPaulyexaminestheroleofpriceregulation incontrollingphysician fees. Chapter seven focuses on the issue of regulating pharmaceutical prices. There are two key issues examined in this paper. First, is there a clear need for price regulation, and second, can price regulation work in this industry? In response to the first question, I come to the conclusion that the proponents ofprice regulation have not really proven their case. Although the financial returns in the pharmaceu tical industry have been slightly higher than expected during the 1970s and 1980s, there is not overwhelming evidence of"price gouging" or excessive profits on the part of the industry. In response to the second question, the answer is clearly no. The traditional approaches to price regulation will not have the intended affect of eliminating excess profits from the industry while maintaining the incentives for research and development. First, rate-of-return regulation, the most natural approach, would result in many adverse incentives-includingexcessive investment in research and developmentinorderto inflatetheratebaseused tocalculatedtheallowablereturns."

For courses in basic trauma life support. A decades-long leader in trauma education For over 30 years, International Trauma Life Support for Emergency Care Providers has been at the forefront of trauma education for all levels of prehospital emergency care worldwide. This complete resource is filled with practical, hands?-on training that guides readers through the how's and why's of all the skills needed for rapid assessment, resuscitation, stabilization, and transportation of the trauma patient. Updated with the latest approaches to the care of the trauma patient, the 9th edition conforms to the most recent AHA/ILCOR guidelines for artificial ventilation and CPR.

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Save timeinform your clinical planning with core knowledge and tips offered from experienced clinicians! While many Hispanic groups have lived in the mainland United States for years, there now is a growth of new groups, such as Dominicans in New York City and Cuban refugees that are in need of culturally competent mental health care. Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice will help mental health clinicians gain insight into essential clinical issues facing those who work with these new immigrants. This text, designed to aid in direct clinical practice, will guide you in the effective delivery of comprehensive psychosocial services. It arms you with the latest demographic information and offers valuable suggestions for treatment in different modalities for under-served Hispanic groups. Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice presents insights and practice approaches from respected authorities and explores latest trends on these new populations. You'll find an in-depth examination of the mental health disparities in Hispanic immigrants, a conceptual overview of reasons for immigration and migration patterns, and a look at the unique stressors new groups face which impact immigrants' mental health. Detailed data on each group, important highlights of pertinent historical aspects, and in-depth discussions of helpful assessment, treatment, and practice issues provide effective approaches illustrated through discussion and case studies. In Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice, you will find: detailed research and clinical information about new immigrant groups explorations of the growth of new groups, such as Dominicans in New York City and Cuban refugees recently reaching the shores of Florida information on psychosocial stressors, psychiatric diagnoses, and utilization of services among undocumented immigrants effective outreach techniques a detailed list of resources including extensive Web sites, national centers for the study of Hispanic groups, and important published works used for research and practice up-to-date demographics on new groups Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice brings vital information geared to the direct practice professional in psychology, social work, psychiatric nursing, and psychiatry, as well as graduate-level students in these fields.

Save timeinform your clinical planning with core knowledge and tips offered from experienced clinicians! While many Hispanic groups have lived in the mainland United States for years, there now is a growth of new groups, such as Dominicans in New York City and Cuban refugees that are in need of culturally competent mental health care. Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice will help mental health clinicians gain insight into essential clinical issues facing those who work with these new immigrants. This text, designed to aid in direct clinical practice, will guide you in the effective delivery of comprehensive psychosocial services. It arms you with the latest demographic information and offers valuable suggestions for treatment in different modalities for under-served Hispanic groups. Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice presents insights and practice approaches from respected authorities and explores latest trends on these new populations. You'll find an in-depth examination of the mental health disparities in Hispanic immigrants, a conceptual overview of reasons for immigration and migration patterns, and a look at the unique stressors new groups face which impact immigrants' mental health. Detailed data on each group, important highlights of pertinent historical aspects, and in-depth discussions of helpful assessment, treatment, and practice issues provide effective approaches illustrated through discussion and case studies. In Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice, you will find: detailed research and clinical information about new immigrant groups explorations of the growth of new groups, such as Dominicans in New York City and Cuban refugees recently reaching the shores of Florida information on psychosocial stressors, psychiatric diagnoses, and utilization of services among undocumented immigrants effective outreach techniques a detailed list of resources including extensive Web sites, national centers for the study of Hispanic groups, and important published works used for research and practice up-to-date demographics on new groups Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice brings vital information geared to the direct practice professional in psychology, social work, psychiatric nursing, and psychiatry, as well as graduate-level students in these fields.

Incorporating the work of an international team of researchers and professionals, this book examines the complex and challenging issues involved with risk management and patient safety. Taking a systemic and interdisciplinary approach, the book discusses: *System reliability and patient safety *Leadership, staff well-being and care quality *Healthcare organization and information systems *Risk managementa and communication *Usability of medical and surgical devices *Environmental design in hospital *Occupational ergonomics and safety *Human alertness and performance Comprising papers presented at the International Conference on Healthcare Ergonomics Systems and Patient Safety (HEPS 2005), this book will be a welcome addition to those working in the fields of clinical safety, ergonomics, and healthcare.

Many healthcare professionals are focusing their concerns on controlling symptoms and minimizing physical distress while failing to deal with the social and psychological factors related to living with long-term chronic illness. Ariela Royer makes an important contribution to the study of health and illness behavior by showing the various strategies chronically ill people use to manage their symptoms and overcome the consequences of their particular illness, so they can live the most normal life possible and maintain their self-esteem. In spite of a popular belief linking chronic illness mainly to aging, most chronic problems extend across the life span. One of every seven men and one of every eight women between the ages of 17 and 44 are limited in their major activity, their ability to work, keep house or go to school, because of a chronic condition. At ages 65 and over, nearly three-fifths of men and two-fifths of women are handicapped. Dr. Royer shows various strategies the chronically ill may use to live with the uncertainty inherent in chronic illness. She also discusses how one might try to overcome or to minimize the salient social consequences of chronic illness, such as stigma and social isolation, in order to get on with their lives.

Although American medicine has had truly impressive clinical achievements, America's health care system fails to provide equal access to reasonable care or to use its resources effectively at a high human cost. Yet health care reform faces major obstacles. One is a lack of easy-to-find reliable information about key dynamic forces that influence outcomes and performance of various types of health care systems. This book fills that need and provides a guide to the extensive academic and practice journal literature and to the health reports from the U.S. Accounting Office and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. This book is for those who want to go beyond glib soundbites and understand the complexities that make health care reform a difficult issue. The volume is arranged in five chapters: current challenges to the health care system; health insurance; health care providers; chronic illness and AIDS: future challenges for the American health care system; and health policy and thoughts on reform. The first and last chapters contain articles that provide broad overviews of the health care system and reform of American health care. Chapters 2-4 acquaint the reader with the literature dealing with the nuts and bolts of how the system works. This book provides a guide to the sources of background information necessary to understand the need for reform, to sources on the complexities and issues that must be dealt with for effective reform, and to discussions of reform itself. This is also a guide to major databases and prominent authorities.

First published in 1983. Beginning with the period of the early expansion of Western missionary medicine, this account covers the chaotic years of Nationalist rule to the foundations of the People's Republic in 1949. It trances the major influences on health care since then and describes the conflicts of State bureaucracy, Party and medical profession in their attempts to match political objectives in health care to resources available. An outline of the theory of Chinese traditional medicine, together with detailed accounts of acupuncture and plant drugs are also discussed, as are specific features of the health care system, such as population control, medical education, nutrition and psychiatry.

Overcome the challenges facing social workers today with international guidance Social Work Approaches in Health and Mental Health from Around the Globe is a valuable stepping stone toward an understanding of the diversity of methods utilized in social work for community health services. This work stems from material gathered at the Third International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health, held in Tampere, Finland. In this book, you will find new creative theoretical and practical orientations for designing, developing, and analyzing social work to help you produce policies and services in which clients can positively and productively invest.Social Work Approaches in Health and Mental Health from Around the Globe covers a long period in the history of social work in health issues, from theoretical treatises to empirical research and analyses of practices. The book provides you with research, case studies, and existing international and national literature from India, Botswana, Taiwan, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. This resource explores the shared qualities of social work in health services throughout the world despite differences between countries in terms of culture, social system, and history. Although these experts come from different parts of the world, the book displays an emergence of similar issues and themes, including: the development of expertise for social workers in the health and mental health fields social work as an agent of change that crosses borders, operates on many levels, and across many dimensions of society community-based care--principles, perspectives, marginalized groups, and the role of the social workerdual divisions--becoming aware of and choosing a position in work practice

"Cultural Diversity" studies the relationship between culture and neuropsychology. Its goal is to examine salient aspects of this relationship and assist in bringing the issue of culture and cultural diversity to the forefront of neuropsychological discussions. The articles help further the understanding that ethnic and cultural variables are important not only in research design but also in clinical practice. In addition they urge clinicians to make cultural variables an integral component of any neuropsychological assessment and examine clinical data in the context of the patient's ethnic and cultural backround.

Based upon the popular college text Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology, 4e by Fredric H. Martini and Edwin F. Bartholomew, Dr. Bledsoe has taken this work and added clinical correlations and applications specific to emergency care. Anatomy & Physiology for Emergency Care 2e presents material in a clear, concise format and places emphasis on essential fundamental concepts, applications and terminology. Innovative EMS content and pedagogical elements make this an excellent choice for brief A&P courses that build a foundation of essential knowledge in human anatomy and physiology. This material provides a framework for interpreting and applying information that can be used in problem-solving, as well as an introduction to common injuries and illnesses in a manner that will reinforce basic anatomy and physiology principles.