The book shows readers exactly how to use Lean tools to design healthcare work that is smooth, efficient, error free and focused on patients and patient outcomes. It includes in-depth discussions of every important Lean tool, including value stream maps, takt time, spaghetti diagrams, workcell design, 5S, SMED, A3, Kanban, Kaizen and many more, all presented in the context of healthcare. For example, the book explains the importance of quick operating room or exam room changeovers and shows the reader specific methods for drastically reducing changeover time. Readers will learn to create healthcare value streams where workflows are based on the pull of customer/patient demand. The book also presents a variety of ways to continue improving after initial Lean successes. Methods for finding the root causes of problems and implementing effective solutions are described and demonstrated. The approach taught here is based on the Toyota Production System, which has been adopted worldwide by healthcare organizations for use in clinical, non-clinical and administrative areas.

This open access book describes the results of natural language processing and machine learning methods applied to clinical text from electronic patient records. It is divided into twelve chapters. Chapters 1-4 discuss the history and background of the original paper-based patient records, their purpose, and how they are written and structured. These initial chapters do not require any technical or medical background knowledge. The remaining eight chapters are more technical in nature and describe various medical classifications and terminologies such as ICD diagnosis codes, SNOMED CT, MeSH, UMLS, and ATC. Chapters 5-10 cover basic tools for natural language processing and information retrieval, and how to apply them to clinical text. The difference between rule-based and machine learning-based methods, as well as between supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods, are also explained. Next, ethical concerns regarding the use of sensitive patient records for research purposes are discussed, including methods for de-identifying electronic patient records and safely storing patient records. The book's closing chapters present a number of applications in clinical text mining and summarise the lessons learned from the previous chapters. The book provides a comprehensive overview of technical issues arising in clinical text mining, and offers a valuable guide for advanced students in health informatics, computational linguistics, and information retrieval, and for researchers entering these fields.

This book offers a new, practical approach to healthcare reform. Departing from the priorities applied in traditional approaches, it instead assesses - both theoretically and practically - the successful lessons learned in other safety-critical industries, and applies them to healthcare settings. The authors focus on the importance of human factors and performance measures to establish proactive, systematic methods for healthcare system design. This approach helps to identify potential hazards before accidents occur, enhancing patient safety. In addition, the book details the new approach on the basis of real-world applications in the NHS and insights from NHS staff. Case studies and results are presented, demonstrating the significant improvements that can be achieved in risk reduction and safety culture. Lastly, the book outlines what steps healthcare organisations need to take in order to successfully adopt this new approach. The approach and experiential learning is brought together through the development of a new holistic patient safety education syllabus.

Of previous editions: '... breaks new ground in its readability ... It is concise, wise, and firmly pragmatic'. British Medical Journal 'Since it was first published in 1994, Peter Tate's The Doctor's Communication Handbook has been essential reading to improve GP registrars' communication skills'. Practical Diabetes International This bestselling title has established itself as the ultimate guide to patient communication for all doctors, whatever their experience and wherever they practice. Highly respected by many and acclaimed for its light, conversational tone, this completely updated and expanded eighth edition remains a key text for doctors at all levels and in all settings, particularly candidates sitting for the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Key features: Unique and accessible approach to this vital and frequently poorly practiced aspect of medicine Addresses the change in practice where traditional doctor consultations are increasingly being done by other health professionals, including nurse practitioners and paramedics Reflects the dissolution of the primary/secondary care boundary, and the increasing importance of shared responsibility for patient communication in clinical and social care Covers the new types of consultation including telephone triage and virtual consultation and the associated risks and benefits Retains all the features praised in previous editions brevity, readability and humour As patients become participants, doctors are increasingly adjusting to new roles and forms of communication from orators and governors to confidants and interpreters. The Doctor's Communication Handbook continues to provide an invaluable 'one stop shop' to help students, practicing doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners value and improve their skills in this area.

Winner of a 2013 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award This practical guide for healthcare executives, managers, and frontline workers, provides the means to transform your enterprise into a High-Quality Patient Care Business Delivery System. Designed for continuous reference, its self-contained chapters are divided into three primary sections: Defines what Lean is and includes some interesting history about Lean not found elsewhere. Describes and explains the application of each Lean tool and concept organized in their typical order of use. Explains how to implement Lean in various healthcare processes-providing examples, case studies, and valuable lessons learned This book will help to take you out of your comfort zone and provide you with new ways to extend value to your customers. It drives home the importance of the Lean Six Sigma journey. The pursuit of continuous improvement is a journey with no end. Consequently, the opportunities are endless as to what you and your organization can accomplish. Forty percent of the authors' profits from this book will be donated to help the homeless through two Baltimore charities. Praise for the book: ... well-timed and highly informative for those committed to creating deep levels of sustainable change in healthcare.- Peter B. Angood, MD, FACS, FCCM, Senior Advisor - Patient Safety, in National Quality Forum ... the most practical and healthcare applicable book I have ever read on LEAN thinking and concepts. - Gary Shorb, CEO, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare ... well written ... an essential reference in the library of all healthcare leaders interested in performance improvement.- Lee M. Adler, DO, VP, Quality and Safety Innovation & Research, Florida Hospital, Orlando; Associate Professor, University of Central Florida College of Medicine ... a must read for all Leadership involved in healthcare. ... I can see reading this book over and over.- Brigit Zamora, BSN, RN, CPAN, CAPA, Administrative Nurse Manager, Florida Hospital, Orlando

Finance has become a key issue in dentistry following major recent changes in legislation that allow dentists to conduct business as a corporate body. However, many dentists receive little formal training in finance and can often miss out on extra profits and tax savings, or become reliant upon accountants and financial advisers who may lack dental expertise. This book aims to equip dentists with the knowledge needed to take an active role in their own finances - including taxes, income and expenditure, property matters and retirement - and provide an insight into what they should expect from a specialist financial adviser to the dental profession. Finance for Dentists has been written primarily for dentists and orthodontists currently in or planning to set up in practice, but will also be of interest to dentists employed in hospitals and other organisations within the NHS.

The 20th volume of Advances in Health Care Management showcases how health care management research helps to further understand grand challenges in health care: what they are, why they exist, the consequences that they have, and what can be done to address them. Grand challenges are large, unresolved problems. "Grand health care challenges" include current events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing challenges related to the quadruple aim of health care: improving the health of populations, reducing the cost of healthcare, improving patient care experiences, and improving the experience of working in health care. The book demonstrates that these challenges are amenable to organizational and managerial solutions, and therefore health care management research has many important lessons to contribute. For this volume, The Contributions of Health Care Management to Grand Health Care Challenges, we define health care management as the planning, direction, and coordination of health services and the management of health care professionals. Included chapters consider five grand challenges facing the health care sector: (1) caring for vulnerable populations; (2) maintaining the health care workforce; (3) translating innovation into practice; (4) sustaining organizations; and (5) navigating pandemics. Each challenge is discussed in its own section and addressed by two chapters that offer different perspectives and approaches to the challenge. Across chapters a variety of methodologies are used including ethnographic case studies, survey data analysis, interviews, literature review, and informed commentary. Together, the chapters in this volume synthesize current information in the field, direct future research efforts, and generate actionable insights for managers and policymakers.

From precision medicine to pandemics, from value-based healthcare to stakeholder engagement, European health systems are facing unprecedented change. How can health managers cope with these challenges and what skills and competencies will they need to deliver transformational change in the 'new normality'? This original volume presents a blueprint for Health Management 2.0 and helps set a path for long-term health system sustainability. Along with a comparative European framework to illustrate current developments in health management, the authors also highlight five key change drivers: integration; personalization; empowerment; digitalization; and life sciences, and examine how each is enabling the development of health systems that are fundamentally different from those of today. With fresh insights for managers, educators, researchers and policy makers, Health Management 2.0 promotes a modern interdisciplinary and dynamic approach to health leadership and management - one that focuses on skills and competencies - and outlines international best practice for future teaching and training.

Exploiting the rich information found in electronic health records (EHRs) can facilitate better medical research and improve the quality of medical practice. Until now, a trivial amount of research has been published on the challenges of leveraging this information. Addressing these challenges, Information Discovery on Electronic Health Records explores the technology to unleash the data stored in EHRs.

Assembling a truly interdisciplinary team of experts, the book tackles medical privacy concerns, the lack of standardization for the representation of EHRs, missing or incorrect values, and the availability of multiple rich health ontologies. It looks at how to search the EHR collection given a user query and return relevant fragments from the EHRs. It also explains how to mine the EHR collection to extract interesting patterns, group entities to various classes, or decide whether an EHR satisfies a given property. Most of the book focuses on textual or numeric data of EHRs, where more searching and mining progress has occurred. A chapter on the processing of medical images is also included.

Maintaining a uniform style across chapters and minimizing technical jargon, this book presents the various ways to extract useful knowledge from EHRs. It skillfully discusses how EHR data can be effectively searched and mined.

Why are hospitals so difficult to manage? It is agreed that cost-effectiveness is important, but knowledge-effectiveness is as equally essential as knowledge, skills and attitudes are the most critical competence factors in hospitals. Managing, controlling, and communicating knowledge within social systems, from the management perspective, as well as integrating information processes, vision, goals and altering the course which the system is leading can help ease the task of hospital management. The innovative contribution of The Soft Side of Knowledge Management in Health Institutions lies in its exploration of how a knowledge perspective and knowledge-effectiveness can contribute to improving hospital leadership and organisation from a continuous-change perspective. Focused on knowledge management, information, communication, organizational learning, tacit knowledge, and negotiations within hospitals, the lessons and insights in this volume will appeal to both researchers and hospital managers alike.

Over the past three decades, guidance on the selection of art in hospitals has suggested realistic art that depicts soothing and comforting images such as tranquil waters, green vegetation, flowers, and open spaces. Based on these findings, curators have been cautioned to avoid art with uncertain meaning that risks upsetting viewers in stressful states. However, some hospitals exhibit ambiguous or abstract art and cite anecdotal evidence of its appropriateness for healthcare settings. More recent research is going beyond anecdotal evidence, and indicates that the ambiguity of meaning in abstract compositions can have positive effects. 'Purpose-built' Art in Hospitals is built on an international study of artwork in hospitals around the globe. Exploring 'purpose-built' (specially commissioned) artwork in hospitals through the dual lens of an artist and healthcare professional, Rollins identifies 15 specific 'purposes' of visual artwork in hospitals and presents a compelling case for their use that is grounded in research. The book builds the reader's understanding of the many functions of artwork in hospitals, with the goal of encouraging greater variety in art offerings to better serve the many diverse needs of patients, families, visitors and staff within the hospital environment.

Over 7,500 terms, definitions, and acronyms for medical insurance, billing and coding (MIBC) make this the perfect pocket dictionary for both students and practitioners in the MIBC professions! With its small size and concise definitions, this dictionary is ideal for use in class and in the medical office. Practical, consistent alphabetical organization with no subentries and screened thumb tabs make it easy to find the information you need. Etymologies for most entries help you understand the origins of the terminology and build your professional vocabulary. A list of commonly used abbreviations printed in the front and back covers make this your go-to reference for everyday practice.

Like other critical organizational assets, information is a strategic asset that requires high level of oversight in order to be able to effectively use it for organizational decision-making, performance improvement, cost management, and risk mitigation. Adopting an information governance program shows a healthcare organization's commitment to managing its information as a valued strategic asset. Information governance serves the dual purpose of optimizing the ability to extract clinical and business value from healthcare information while meeting compliance needs and mitigating risk. Healthcare organizations that have information governance programs will have a competitive edge over others and contributes to safety and quality of care, population health, operational efficiency and effectiveness, and cost reduction initiatives. This is a much-needed book in the healthcare market space. It will explain, in clear terms, how to develop, launch, and oversee an Information Governance program. It also provides advice and insights from leading IG, cybersecurity and information privacy professionals in healthcare.

As global health inequities continue to widen, policymakers are redoubling their efforts to address them. Yet the effectiveness and quality of these programs vary considerably, sometimes resulting in the reverse of expected outcomes. While local political issues or cultural conflicts may play a part in these situations, an important new book points to a universal factor: the prevailing deficit model of assessing health needs, which puts disadvantaged communities on the defensive while ignoring their potential strengths. The asset model proposed in Health Assets in a Global Context International Health and Development offers a necessary complement to the problem-focused framework by assessing multiple levels of health-promoting aspects in populations, and promoting joint solutions between communities and outside agencies. The book provides not only rationales and methodologies (e.g., measuring resilience and similar elusive qualities) but also concrete examples of asset-based initiatives in use across the world on the individual and community levels.

This book is designed to enable and encourage health professionals and family support workers to include fathers in the process of their work. It focuses on the enormous potential value of accessing men at a time they are known to be particularly receptive - before and after the birth - within the context of providing solutions in the debate about problematic aspects of masculinity and fatherhood. It looks at how important the father's role is within the family environment and how fathers should be encouraged to take part in the upbringing of their children.

Patient-Centered Care Series Series Editors: Moira Stewart Judith Belle Brown and Thomas R Freeman Primary care clinicians are often unfamiliar with new and effective methods for detecting substance abuse problems in their earliest stages and the majority of patients with substance abuse problems remain undiagnosed. Substance Abuse is written by primary care clinicians and focused to meet the needs of primary care providers demonstrating how the patient-centered clinical method can assist clinicians in learning how to diagnose this complex psychosocial disorder. This book describes how to use state-of-the-art screening techniques and how to understand and motivate patients to decrease or eliminate harmful use of alcohol and drugs. It presents the latest scientific findings and gives examples of using a patient-centered approach as well as describing specific communication skills with samples of dialogue illustrating their use in helping substance-abusing patients. This is essential reading for all family doctors paediatricians gynaecologists psychiatrists nurses social workers psychologists and all clinicians whose practices include substance abusing patients. It will also appeal to counsellors education personnel and all professionals working with substance abusing individuals. For more information on other titles in this series please click here

In Paramedics On and Off the Streets, Michael K. Corman embarks on an institutional ethnography of the complex, mundane, intricate, and exhilarating work of paramedics in Calgary, Alberta. Corman's comprehensive research includes more than 200 hours of participant observation ride-alongs with paramedics over a period of eleven months, more than one hundred first hand interviews with paramedics, and thirty-six interviews with other emergency medical personnel including administrators, call-takers and dispatchers, nurses, and doctors. At the heart of this ethnography are questions about the role of paramedics in urban environments, the role of information and communication technologies in contemporary health care governance, and the organization and accountability of pre-hospital medical services. Paramedics On and Off the Streets is the first institutional ethnography to explore the role and increasing importance of paramedics in our healthcare system. It takes readers on a journey into the everyday lives of EMS personnel and provides an in-depth sociological analysis of the work of pre-hospital health care professionals in the twenty-first century.

Providing care and treatment for patients usually requires moving and handling activities, associated with high rates of back injuries for nursing staff. Over the last 20 years a number of guidelines have been published based on professional consensus. Evidence-Based Patient Handling uackles the challenge of producing an evidence base to support clinical practice and is presented in three sections: tasks, equipment and interventions. This book challenges previously held opinions about moving and handling and provides the foundation for future practices.

Written in a clear, engaging style, Plunkett's Procedures for the Medical Administrative Assistant, 5th Edition provides instruction for all the essential office procedures required by today's medical office administrative assistants in Canada - whether they work in a medical office, a complementary care office, or in a hospital setting. It contains the most current information available in the field, and specifically reflects health care in Canada. Chapters address the diverse skills and knowledge required by a medical office administrative assistant, such as good communication, privacy, customer service, stress management, medical transcription, filing, appointment booking, physical and virtual meetings, billing (ICD-10-CA), and more. This new edition covers Electronic Medical Records (EMR), and features an eye-catching new four colour design and a new Evolve companion site with invaluable instructor and student resources. Written in an accessible, clear, engaging, and easy to understand style. Key terms, learning objectives, end-of-chapter assignments, and discussion questions throughout. Examples and exercises delve deeper into topic areas. Extensive offering of working papers and templates allow for extra practice on tasks and scenarios encountered in the medical office environment. Quintessentially Canadian content and viewpoint. Continuation of the beloved Dr. Plunkett theme. NEW! Four Colour design with new art programme better illustrates current concepts and improves readability and visual appeal. UPDATED! Expanded coverage of healthcare plans across Canada. NEW! Coverage of Electronic Medical Records (EMR). NEW! Evolve site including chapter review questions, review questions, videos, forms and templates, audio glossary, and more! UPDATED! Reflects contemporary standards, technological tools, and terminology used in day-to-day modern health care practice. NEW! New and revised learning tools - including: learning objectives, key terms, assignment boxes, tips, critical thinking boxes, and Did You Know boxes. UPDATED! Reflects current privacy legislation (PIPEDA) and changes to provincial and territorial Freedom of Information acts. NEW! Chapter order and comprehensive Table of Contents.

Controlling costs in health care is rarely something that can be tackled in isolation. Cost control invariably interacts with issues of quality and health care access. Thus, this diverse collection of papers is concerned not just with costs but more importantly with value. Both macro and micro concerns are covered. At the macro level, health care reforms (and especially the 'marketisation' of health care systems) receive some attention. Papers explore how policy prescriptions get translated and modified during implementation, and assess how these prescriptions impact on both the incentive context and subsequent patterns of service delivery. Resource allocation within bureaucratic health systems continues to pose problems and these too are analysed with new solutions being proposed. At the micro level, a number of contributors wrestle with the difficulties of carrying out the economic evaluation of new drugs and technologies. In each case, the wider theoretical and practical implications of balancing costs and benefits are explored. This collection should prove helpful to health care policy specialists, managers and researchers interested in gaining a feel for the real-world application of cost-focused health services research.

Marketing in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector requires a particular set of skills; its intricacies mean planning is an essential prerequisite. The marketing planning system described in this book has been designed to enable marketing and product executives to produce a plan which serves as a dynamic management tool which will help them to get from where they are now to where they want to be next year and thereafter. Now in its second edition, this bestselling book has become the standard text for all product managers, marketing managers and directors working in this demanding industry. John Lidstone and Janice MacLennan have updated the book to embrace best current practice. A new orientation to external analysis and a reworking of the application of SWOT analysis, along with fresh material on sales forecasting and strategy implementation, bring the book up to date with current thinking and industry trends. Marketing Planning for the Pharmaceutical Industry is based on real life experience built up over many years. Each chapter takes the reader through the sequential stages of planning so that by the end they will be able to produce a practical plan ready for implementation. It is the only book of this type which tailors marketing to those working in the sector and as such is a unique, invaluable and indispensable resource.

"Clinical Governance: A Guide to Implementation for Healthcare Professionals "provides a comprehensive overview of what is meant by clinical governance and how it can be implemented in practice. It explores the evolution of clinical governance, its key components, legal implications, the barriers to implementing it, and its impact.

"Clinical Governance" provides step-by-step practical advice, facilitating better understanding of the key principles of clinical governance. This third edition has been fully updated throughout to incorporate a more integrated approach to achieving clinical governance, with an additional chapter on education and training. Each chapter includes reflective questions, activities and case studies taken from clinical practice as well as a full list of references and further reading.

This book combines models, theory and practical advice that guides clinicians, managers and facilitators to lead integrated primary health care. Using case studies and real life examples, the practical sections are cross-referred to theoretical sections that show how theories of whole system learning and change can be applied in different situations. Exercises help the reader to devise their own tailor-made interventions in small organisations, in networks, and in large institutions. The latest theories about leadership in complex situations are covered and challenges to traditional approaches to research and understandings of health are made. This book is perfect for those who lead or teach change in health care institutions such as primary care organisations, in small organisations such as general practices, and through networks. In particular practitioners and managers who wish to make sense of complex interacting factors will find it of great benefit.

The competition for limited health care resources is intensifying. We urgently need an acceptable method for deciding how they should be allocated. But the goods that health care produces are of very different kinds. Health care can extend the lives of children and of older people. It can make it possible for a person to walk, when without health care that person would be permanently bedridden; and it can reduce the pain and distress of people who are terminally ill. How can we possibly decide which of these - and many more - diverse achievements of health care are more deserving than others? We need a common unit by which we might be able to measure these very different goods. The Quality-Adjusted Life Year, or QALY, is the most developed proposal for such a unit of measure. In this book a distinguished team of ethicists and economists defend the core of the QALY proposal: that health care resources should be used so as to produce more years of life, of the highest possible quality. This leads to a discussion of such fundamental questions as whether all lives are of equal value, whether health care should be allocated on the basis of need and whether the QALY approach incorporates an adequate account of fairness or justice. The result is the most thorough account yet of the ethical issues raised by the use of the QALY as a basis for allocating health care resources.