Book Description

Putting Patients First is a complete guide to patient-centered care — the highly successful philosophy that has been championed and refined by the renowned Planetree Institute. This important volume explains the origins and uses of patient-centered care and provides a practical approach to implementing it in any health care organization. Step by step, the book clearly outlines the elements of the highly successful Planetree patient-centered care model and includes the validating research.
This much-needed resource shows how to apply these methods to the larger issues of health care delivery such as managed care, workforce shortages, patients; "right to know" legislation, and hospital marketing and branding efforts. Putting Patients First is filled with illustrative case examples drawn from hospitals and health care organizations that have successfully implemented the Planetree model.

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Book Description

The OBRA Guidelines for Quality Improvement is a complete, accurate source of all federal long term care regulations. Includes interpretive guidelines as published in the State Operations Manual of the Health Care Financing Administration, and audit tools that facilitate the evaluation of care and services and aid in the development of action plans to remedy deficiencies. ... Read more

Book Description

Essentials of Health Care Finance stands firm in its place as the leading textbook in its coverage of health care finance. No other text so completely blends the best of current finance theory with the tools needed in day-to-day practice. This timely revision includes 20 chapters that encompass virtually the entire spectrum of the health care industry-- providing new and expanded information reflecting payment system changes in the industry and broadening content and examples to include hospitals, as well as organizations in other sectors of the health care industry. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Essentials of Health Care Finance
I bought the book of Essentials of Health Care Finance, it was delivered on time, however, some papers insided the book are very dirty, I can see the brown oily figure prints. I wish that I can exchange the book ...

Troubling Guide to Alien Territory
This books offers a broad coverage of health care topics for a non-financial person. It is most deeply flawed for its inability to communicate clearly to a lay person. Essentially it is a vocabulary primer of important financial principles and concepts. It requires abstract thinking and the ability to follow mathematical models.

This reader studied Cleverly's text as a requirement for a healthcare finance class. The text was frustrating as this reader attempted to "know" everything about healthcare finances; however, this is probably not the intent of the book. It does present a road into the foreign land of finances. It demands respect for another set of data and another language for interpreting that data. One does not master this data set at one pass, however.

Nevertheless, this reader did gain some new financial information. At the risk of being simplistic, but communicative; a listing of some of the concepts learned follows:

1. There are many users of financial information.

2. Financial information can guide the formation of programs.

3. Financial management is essential for successful healthcare organizations.

4. Various qualities of health care organization types.

5. How health care organizations make up for discouting and bad debt and capitated payments.

6. General principles of accounting and why they are important. Also that these principles still need to be explained, to be consistent, and to be clarified.

7. Overview of four main types of financial statements with a brief explanation of vaious line items.

8. That financial planning includes considering inflation before it happens, and for equipment etc. to break and wear out before it breaks or wears out.

9. That financial information can be better understood by comparing financial ratios of different line items and trends over time. There are national benchmarking ratios available and Cleverly gives some and tells how to get more.

10. That financial planning should be an orderly process in an organization.

11. There are different types of costs. Some stay the same, some are overhead types. Some are direct, some are hidden. Some can be controlled, some cannot.

12. Figuring out prices is a very complex process in healthcare. It is based on costs and payers. It must also include indirect costs and costs of future problems.

13. There is still stuff to learn . . . And this reader is still no expert.

Finally, after this MSN course and this text, this reader is more conversant with the financial landscape. It holds interest and it is understandable, after all.

Not for beginners
I have finished about 5 different chapters for a Masters degree course I am taking. This book is not for beginners! I am an RN and have been working in business for 10 years. The author assumes that you have had basic accounting and the terminology is unfamiliar. There are very few examples given so it is hard to take the information and see how it is really used. I have had to buy another book just so that I could understand this book.

Mr. Cleverley is the guru of healthcare finance
This book represents the foundation on which all healthcare organizations should examine their financial strength and management. While not for beginners, it provides a comprehensive overview of reporting and benchmarks that prove invaluable during the budgeting process and for financial control.

Difficult to read for beginners
I can not give a completer review as I am still reading this book. I will say the majority of my friends reading this book at the same time as I am are having a difficult time following and understanding the principles discussed. I think it is just not as basic as it could have started to give the beginner a better foundation. Also a glossary of terms would have been a tremendous help. ... Read more

Book Description

HIPAA for Medical Office Personnel will provide information to learners on how the HIPAA ruling of 1996 affects their behavior when on the job.The book provides a brief background on the ruling; outlines the five titles included in the ruling, and delineates items from Title II that affect the medical office environment and what changes are necessary to be in compliance with this ruling. ... Read more

Book Description

Published in cooperation with the Central Office on ICD-9-CM of the American Hospital Association, the 2004 Edition of the ICD-9-CM Coding Handbook is…

• The official reference for ICD-9-CM fiscal year 2004 changes

• The most widely used publication for teaching ICD-9-CM

• Designed for use by entry-level and experienced coders

There are more than 100 review exercises interspersed throughout the text and at the end of the chapters. These exercises describe additional information about a patient’s background or present condition, and allow coders to practice their coding skills on examples that closely resemble actual patient records. The answers to these exercises not only provide the correct codes and principal diagnoses, they also explain why a particular code is correct or what information is most important in a certain case. ... Read more

Book Description

This new book focuses on state-of-the-art human resource theory and research. With emphasis on applications to real-life situations, this book views human resources management not as an isolated function, but as an integration of strategic and operational decision-making processes of the health care organization. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

CODE Busters - Quick Guide to Coding and Billing Compliance
This book is great! It is very clear and to the point, explaining the basics of CPT, ICD-9 assignments. It is a very good tool for any coder to have on her desk to help clear up the issues that come up every day! It would be a very good training manual for employees new to a medical office. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Outstanding Book
An excellent reference for the physician who cares for hospitalized patients. Just enough detail to care for patients of every severity and type of illness, yet not so much that you are bogged down in unimportant trivia and esoteric controversies. The book is up to date, and the authors obviously know their stuff. Things like indications for ICU admission and indications for discharge make this book invaluable for physicians who care for hospitalized patients. Now if only someone will write a similar one for pediatrics....

great ref
awesome book...has flow charts for treatment...etc...

one big neg..no pathophys... see medicine: the true explanation by Dr. V. Shinde. ... Read more

Book Description

Chart a Course to Excellence

Sponsored by The American College of Physician Executives

A much-needed, practical guide to giving and receiving feedback . . . a guide that is essential to the successful conduct of one of humanity's most important activities?productive conversation.
--Edgar H. Schein, Sloan Fellows professor of management emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management

Managing relationships, building trust, and communicating effectively are all essential skills to improving performance and ensuring the quality of patient care. This timely book offers the tools and techniques necessary to face the challenges of being a leader and resolving conflicts to produce win-win outcomes.

Irwin M. Rubin and Thomas Campbell show how to eliminate the pitfalls of traditional feedback approaches and enhance the win-win quality of all communication. With vignettes, a case study, and pithy cartoons, the authors detail two dynamic tools to help chart a course to excellence in giving and receiving championship-level feedback. Their integrated four-phase feedback model and practical behavioral tools provide the ingredients essential to plan for and learn from our daily experiences.

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Reviews (4)

The definitive physician's guide to effective communication.
This book could easily have been retitled: what I really should have learned in medical school about effective communication...but never did. The authors present an effective framework for not only learning basic communication skills, but for understanding the more fundamental behaviors which drive our language and communications. Always balancing their message with a caring, sensitive clinical perspective, (including several "right on target" examples) their message should hit home with every physician and caring professional who chose the healing arts as a labor of love, passion, caring and commitment. All too often, in today's healthcare environment financial pressures seem to take us further away than ever from the patient...changing us from patient advocate to adversary. The frustration is further heightened by the sense that "nobody really listens to us anymore." This book lays out a coherent, comprehensive, and compassionate approach to communication which, at its best, should enable and empower us to hear and be heard more effectively - not only with our patients, but with our colleagues, other healthcare industry leaders, and our families. I heartily recommend this book!!!

Incredible resource for those committed to personal growth!
Our body system is nature's most perfect creation, balanced by intricate systems of feedback and communication. Our personal lives and organizational lives are often devoid of feedback; somehow we have lost these essential skills. This book teaches us how to become Aware of our Behavior and its Consequences through an eloquent description of how healthy feedback can change us personally and corporately. As a Family Physician and teacher of Family Physicians, I am certain that the ability to give and receive feedback promotes more healthy relationships. This is the essence of sustainable growth and change. We all have the power to change ourselves and this book is a good way to start that process!

Must reading for executive who wants to help others succeed
The authors summarize their vast experience teaching executives how to give feedback to others...whether they be subordinates or equals. What needs to be fed back? How to "package" that feedback? What barriers keep us from trying? Why do we all think we are good at this basic function, when most of us are miserable and uncomfortable at it? This guidebook tells us how to do it and more importantly, tell us why we must. It stimulates and challenges and ends up inspiring us. It makes it fun. Our professional life is like our personal life. We have a duty to make others better and more productive. We need to invite others to help us to improve. Without feedback, there is no learning. Without constant learning, we stagnate. If we stagnate, our life was not worth living. So this book helps us to be better human beings. Read this book, then reread it. It's like a fine wine, getting richer with age.

A useful gem of wisdom!
As a consultant and trainer, I found "The ABC's of Effective Feedback" to be so very useful to all my work in Career Development. I have advised all 35 trainers who work with me to read it so they can use its gems of wisdom in their delivery as well. ... Read more

Book Description

This concise pocket guide presents the approach to painmanagement as taught and practiced at the Massachusetts GeneralHospital. The book opens with discussions of the necessity of treatingpain, its causes, and how to assess it. Following sections addresstherapeutic options, treatment of specific pain syndromes, and specialconsiderations in pain management. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Excellent ready reference
Very useful for health care practitioners and Hospital Chaplains who need an easily assessible answer to common areas of Spiritual concern for various faith groups. I showed my fellow Chaplain Interns this book and they are all ordering it.

A Decent Introduction to Multicultural beliefs and health
I am a hospice chaplain and pastor. I have found the book to be helpful in providing a very basic overview of some of the major cultural customs and beliefs regarding health and illness. Kirkwood, a protestant Christian chaplain, touches on the surface of some of the major facets of a broad sampling of religions and what they believe about health and illness. My main criticism of the book is that it does not give a thorough, or entirely accurate portrayal of all the different religious cultures that Kirkwood claims to address. There is such a plurality of beliefs and customs- even within one faith tradition, that a book of this scope is grossly inadequate, even for lay readers. You WILL learn some basic, very general guidelines- for instance general dietary concerns, attitudes towards autopsies and transfusions,etc. My greatest fear with this book is that healthcare professionals- or even chaplains will pick it up or another book like it and after reading it think that they know what a patient or family member would want based on what religious background they are affiliated with. Your best resource for understanding a patient or family member's needs- religious or otherwise is still TO ASK THEM. The best way to understand another person's cultural beliefs is to allow them to educate us. Anton Boisen, the pioneer of modern Clinical Pastoral Education, once said that we are all "living human documents." In other words, general cultural knowledge is well and good, but it can NEVER relieve us, as caring professionals of the responsibility to properly inform, and learn the needs of those whom we serve- namely patients and family members. Ask them what their needs are, inform them properly, and give them the autonomy and respect they deserve.

A must have for all hospitals!
As a director of nurses, I found this book to be an invaluable tool when teaching staff about cultural diversity. I attached this convienently pocket-sized book in nursing manuals on all of our patient care areas. This book covers most of the demographic populations that we serve. I highly recommend this book for healthcare workers in today's ever changing climate!

Excellent! A must-read for doctors, nurses and chaplains.
There are times when dealing with someone facing a major illness or death that a wall comes up between the professional care-giver and the person. Without knowing it, the care-giver may have crossed over into a taboo discussion area. Or the person may be stressed over having a religious rule violated. This book will be a great help to anyone who serves people of different faiths and cultures in times of crisis. Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Japanese faiths,and the Baha'i are some of the faiths covered with sensitivity and respect. Practical, useable information is passed on in a succinct, very readable style. For a little book, it packs a lot. Highly, highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

Transforming the American Hospital

Provides an exciting, values-centered approach to leading organizational change that produces rapid and lasting results.
--Coyla Anderson, executive vice president, operations, Holy Cross Health System

At a time when the health care industry is going through a crisis--closures, layoffs, soaring costs, dissatisfied customers, and increased turnover--some hospitals have dramatically improved quality, productivity, and profitability. How?

They have met the challenges of operating in today's health care environment through a complete, revolutionary transformation in how hospitals are managed. This book offers health care leaders an in-depth picture of how this new hospital operates and presents detailed, proven guidance for undertaking the transition.

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Reviews (2)

He's the "Jack Welch" of the Hospital Industry
I've been in hospital middle-management for more than 20 years. Very early in this book, Sherman states that the reason why hospitals fail is because of bad management. Not the government, not the insurance companies, not the high cost of technology. He offers a terrific approach and identifies the need to totally change how hospitals are run, based on seven Key Result Areas. His principles are quite similar to those of Jack Welch - the importance of great people, integrity, and "the customer is king". This should be required reading for every CEO and department head in every American hospital.

It's Not Too Late to Create a New American Hospital
V. Clayton Sherman has written a wonderful dissertation about how the hospital system in this country is run. He also gives a wonderful blueprint of how to correct one of the most mismanaged businesses in the country. The hospital system today is struggling under HEAVY regulatory and monetary restrictions. But if these regulations had been in place from the beginning, like the banking industry, the participants wouldn't be running around like "chickens with their heads cut off" to fulfill "minimum standards" of Joint Commission and other like entites. What the industry desperately needs is a complete overhaul. Mr. Sherman gives the plan to follow in redoing the management of this industry, by throwing out the antiquated notions of management, and starting from the ground up to rebuild on a customer satisfaction driven premise. He sites Wal-Mart and how Sam Walton's idea of keeping the customer number one would work well in the hospital too....but this would require some different rules and some very different thinking. I strongly feel this should be REQUIRED reading for ALL hospital management! ... Read more

Book Description

This text will address the role of the hospital case manager from a busniess perspective rather than a nursing perspective. Will engage all areas that are involved with the health care system, in pursuit of global objectives on behalf of every stakeholder. ... Read more