Risk Adjustment and Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) coding is a payment model mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 1997. Implemented in 2003, this model identifies individuals with serious or chronic illness and assigns a risk factor score to the person based upon a combination of the individual’s health conditions and demographic details. The individual’s health conditions are identified via International... more...

The United States is experiencing a dramatic shift in demographics, with minorities comprising a rapidly growing proportion of the population. It is anticipated that this will likely lead to substantial changes in previously established values, needs, and priorities of the population, including health and mental health for individuals, families, and society at large. This volume focuses on determinants of minority mental health and wellness. This... more...

It is my great pleasure to publish New Frontiers in Lifestyle-Related Dis­ eases, the proceedings of the Showa University International Symposium for Life Sciences, 3rd Annual Meeting, held at Showa University on Sep­ tember 13, 2006. This symposium was supported, in part, by Grants for the Promotion of the Advancement of Education and Research in Graduate Schools and Ordinary Expenses for Private Schools from the Ministry of Education, Culture,... more...

A leading voice in public health policy and top environmental medicine scientist reveals the alarming truth about how hormone-disrupting chemicals are affecting our daily lives—and what we can do to protect ourselves and fight back.  Lurking in our homes, hiding in our offices, and polluting the air we breathe is something sinister. Something we’ve turned a blind eye to for far too long. Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a... more...

The concept of managed care evolved in the USA as a way of containing costs and promoting quality in health care. Some vital lessons can be learned from this experience, and many of its benefits can be applied to the UK as the NHS internal market develops. However, there are also pitfalls which it is equally important to avoid. This is the first book to provide an in-depth analysis of the contracting techniques seen in managed care. The author is in... more...

The second edition of the American Academy of Pediatrics Textbook of Global Child Health is pleased to contribute toward international efforts to improve the lives of the next generation. This new edition will help prepare and support child health professionals as they join international efforts on behalf of children. A large multinational team of authors has joined together to produce the 2nd edition of this award-winning textbook,... more...

Every year the average number of prescriptions purchased by Americans increases, as do healthcare expenditures, which are projected to reach one-fifth of the U.S. gross domestic product by 2020. In Drugs for Life, Joseph Dumit considers how our burgeoning consumption of medicine and cost of healthcare not only came to be, but also came to be taken for granted. For several years, Dumit attended pharmaceutical industry conferences; spoke... more...

Written by industry professionals: a workplace safetyspecialist in conjunction with a practicing physician and medicalmanager. Provides recommendations for assessing hospital safetypractices as well as specific suggestions for behaviouralinterventions. Brings a systematic approach to healthcare safety, identifyingcommon problems through illustrative case studies and offeringsolutions. Offers several different perspectives... more...

Over the past century, new farming methods, feed additives, and social and economic structures have radically transformed agriculture around the globe, often at the expense of human health. In Chickenizing Farms and Food, Ellen K. Silbergeld reveals the unsafe world of chickenization―big agriculture’s top-down, contract-based factory farming system―and its negative consequences for workers, consumers, and the environment.... more...

As the most widely-used textbook on managed care, Essentials of Managed Health Care provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the key strategic, tactical, and operational aspects of managed health care and health insurance. With a primary focus on the commercial sector, the book also addresses managed health care in Medicare, Medicaid, and military medical care. An historical overview and a discussion of taxonomy and functional... more...