The United States has the highest per capita spending on health care of any industrialized nation—50 percent greater than the second highest and twice as high as the average for Europe (Peterson and Burton, 2009). Current U.S. healthcare costs are projected at nearly $2.5 trillion, about 17 percent of the entire economy (Sisko et al., 2009). The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Medi…
In 2001, the United States experienced the effects of bioterrorism when envelopes containing anthrax spores were sent through the postal service to several different recipients, including two U.S. senators. It is likely that several thousand people were exposed to anthrax, with antibiotic prophylaxis widely prescribed for those whose exposure was known or suspected. The consequences of this eve…
Lack of adequate documentation is one of the largest pitfalls facing any accounting system. One of four excuses is usually given: (1) nobody reads it, (2) the hands-on approach in which each person teaches another is a better method, (3) written policies and procedures are too confining, and (4) nobody has the time to write documentation. In a constantly changing accounting world, none of t…
There is currently a crisis in cancer care that experts predict will worsen in the near future due to a rapidly growing population of Americans requiring cancer care combined with an aging/retiring oncology workforce, and inadequate numbers of replacement workers. By 2020, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) predicts a 48 percent increase in cancer incidence and an 81 percent incre…
The first several chapters of this text present the accounting and re- porting for investment activities of businesses. The focus is on investments when one firm possesses either significant influence or control over another through ownership of voting shares. When one firm owns enough voting shares to be able to affect the decisions of another, ac- counting for the investment can become challe…
The most compelling reason for finding ways of successfully treating people who commit sexual offences against children is one of child protection. Programmes to change the behaviour of offenders may have a beneficial effect on the individuals involved and enable them to rejoin society or to be reunited with their families. But for the majority of workers engaged in managing programmes, in…
Oncology is similar to the other areas in health care in that it is under pressure to control expenditures while maintaining or improving quality of care and patient outcomes such that the value of oncology care is enhanced. Unlike many other areas in health care, the practice of oncology presents unique challenges that make assessing and improving value especially com- plex. First, patients an…
The goal of eliminating disparities in health care in the United States remains elusive. The findings of the National Healthcare Disparities Report reveal that even as quality improves on specific measures, disparities often persist (AHRQ, 2008a, 2008b). Addressing these disparities must begin with the fundamental step of bringing the nature of the disparities and the groups at risk for those d…
The Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care has been convened to help transform the way evidence on clinical effec- tiveness is generated and used to improve health and health care. Participants have set a goal that, by the year 2020, 90 percent of clinical decisions will be supported by accurate, timely, and up-to-date clinical information, and will reflect t…
The United States faces the real possibility of a catastrophic public health event that involves tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of victims. Public health emergencies—such as the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, an intentional anthrax release, infectious disease threats such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), fires, floods, earthquakes, and hurri- canes—highlight the ever-changing t…
OF ALL CREATURES ON THIS EARTH, humans are the most emotional. Our speech, actions (gestures, body movements, and postures), and our faces, too, are frequently contorted with emotion. We express anger, anxiety, fright, shame, joy, love, and sadness, as well as other perhaps socially more subtle emotions, such as guilt, envy, jealousy, pride, relief, hope, gratitude, and compassion. Everything i…
In June 2009 the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events held a workshop with the goal of convening many of the best minds in health preparedness for a wide-ranging update on preparations for a major public health threat. For the health community, a primary issue at hand before and during a catastrophic incident is how to prov…
As the United States continues to devote extensive resources toward achieving a high-value, high-quality health care system, the capacity to evaluate the state of care is increasingly important. Since 2003, the annual publication of the National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has played …
The majority of mitigation potential lies in developing countries: Of the 17 billion tonnes of emissions reductions required in 2020, 70% is achievable in developing countries (Project Catalyst, 2009)2. Given the limited ability of developing countries to finance domestic mitigation, this will therefore require large scale financing from developed countries to allow developing countries to mee…
Health and health care are going digital. As multiple intersecting plat- forms evolve to form a novel operational foundation for health and health care—the nation’s digital health utility—the stage is set for fundamental and unprecedented transformation. Most changes will occur virtually out of sight, and the pace and profile of the transformation will be determined by stewardship that fo…
With employees still reeling from workplace budget cuts, now’s a great time for new team building ideas. No, you don’t need an expensive round of paintball to gain the benefits of team building exercises, but you do need to squeeze the most out of them. In this special report, 17 Team Building Ideas, we’ll show you how to do that
Advertising, an essential component in the marketing of any business, has been around for a long time. The Pompeii penis is positively modern compared to some of the advertising relics archaeologists have unearthed in ancient Arabia, China, Egypt, Greece and Rome. The Egyptians used papyrus to create posters and flyers, while lost-and-found advertising (also on papyrus and often relating to ‘…
Slight variations in genetic composition can contribute greatly to the diversity which we see amongst individuals, from determining eye color and height to increasing the risk of developing breast cancer or heart disease. Numerous gene–disease associations are now known, and genetic/genomic testing is a relatively common laboratory approach for diagnosing presymp- tomatic genetic disorders, c…
This volume, Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, is a Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report is a collaborative effort of Working Group I (WGI) and Working Group II (WGII). The IPCC leadership team for this report also has responsibility for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), scheduled for c…
The prosperity of a nation is tied fundamentally to the health and well-being of its citizens. It follows, then, that citizens—each one a past, current, or future patient—should represent both the healthcare system’s unwavering focus, and its fully engaged agents for change. This precept has several major implications. It means that the quality of health care should not be judged solely b…