This book is the first comprehensive text on utilization management in the clinical laboratory and other ancillary services. It provides a detailed overview on how to establish a successful utilization management program, focusing on such issues as leadership, governance, informatics, and application of utilization management tools. The volume also describes ways to establish utilization management programs for multiple specialties, including anatomic pathology and cytology, hematology, radiology, clinical chemistry, and genetic testing among other specialties. Numerous examples of specific utilization management initiatives are also described that can be imported to other heath care organizations. A chapter on utilization management in Canada is also included. Edited by an established national leader in utilization management, Utilization Management in the Clinical Laboratory and Other Ancillary Services is a valuable resource for physicians, pathologists, laboratory directors, hospital administrators, and medical insurance professionals looking to implement a utilization management program.

The case mix concept has been introduced in the USA more than twenty years ago in order to measure hospital productivity and to promote quality of care. The DRGs were selected by HCFA in 1983 as the case mix classification system for the MEDICARE prospective payment system (PPS). Many other countries have adopted the case mix concept after long periods of testing and accepting, but with large variations in data collection, information standards, grouping tools, financing methods and quality of care developments all over the world. Each country has developed a local clinical and political culture about case mix tools. The present book is intended to update the case mix situation, country by country.

After you've recorded the perfect song, you're only halfway there! Mixing is where the magic really happens and getting the perfect mix is a challenge. One of the most elusive arts of the recording practice, mixing can take a lifetime to master - this handbook jump-starts your skills and fast-forwards your progress! Breaking the mix down by different effects - EQ, distortion, compression, expansion, pitch shift, delay, reverb, and more - and applying them to some of the most important instruments in pop music, Mix Smart will arm you with the skills and techniques you need to tap into your musicality and express it through multitrack mixing, putting true professional quality mixing within your reach. *Future proof, ear-opening strategies will empower your inner-musician, giving you the knowledge you need to develop your mixing skills - from basic to advanced *Breaking the mix down by different effects, with detailed strategies for the most important pop instruments showing you how to create the perfect combination *Bonus Website, www.recordingology.com, packed with samples and example tracks, so you can practice as you learn *Mix Smart Quick Start summaries at the end of each chapter get you to work faster *Demystifies the technical, making the tools of the mix rig accessible - analog and digital, outboard and in the box, stereo and surround *For everyone who mixes - studio, live, music, film, games, and broadcast The recording studio is your musical instrument, and it's time you really learned how to play. Alex Case shows you not just how to mix well, but how to Mix Smart!

This book outlines the use of the casemix system as a provider payment tool in the health system with special focus on cost of pharmacy services of in-patient care. Casemix system, which is traditionally called Diagnosis Related Groups or DRG in more advanced economies, is now being implemented in many developing countries that plan to or have embarked on social health insurance programs as a source of the health funding. Extensive research has been carried out by the authors involving 13,673 patients that were prescribed with 111,794 items of drugs and admitted to one of the premier teaching hospital in Malaysia. Data from this research was vigorously analysed to impute the pharmacy service weights of all relevant casemix groups. This book provides the best reference for pharmacy service weights that can be used as a guide for effective implementation of the casemix system in any country in the world that plans to use the system.

As more people live longer, the need for quality long-term care for the elderly will increase dramatically. This volume examines the current system of nursing home regulations, and proposes an overhaul to better provide for those confined to such facilities. It determines the need for regulations, and concludes that the present regulatory system is inadequate, stating that what is needed is not more regulation, but better regulation. This long-anticipated study provides a wealth of useful background information, in-depth study, and discussion for nursing home administrators, students, and teachers in the health care field; professionals involved in caring for the elderly; and geriatric specialists.

"[This book is] the most authoritative assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of recent trends toward the commercialization of health care," says Robert Pear of The New York Times. This major study by the Institute of Medicine examines virtually all aspects of for-profit health care in the United States, including the quality and availability of health care, the cost of medical care, access to financial capital, implications for education and research, and the fiduciary role of the physician. In addition to the report, the book contains 15 papers by experts in the field of for-profit health care covering a broad range of topicsâ€"from trends in the growth of major investor-owned hospital companies to the ethical issues in for-profit health care. "The report makes a lasting contribution to the health policy literature." â€"Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.

This book examines how nine different health systems--U.S. Medicare, Australia, Thailand, Kyrgyz Republic, Germany, Estonia, Croatia, China (Beijing) and the Russian Federation--have transitioned to using case-based payments, and especially diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), as part of their provider payment mix for hospital care. It sheds light on why particular technical design choices were made, what enabling investments were pertinent, and what broader political and institutional issues needed to be considered. The strategies used to phase in DRG payment receive special attention. These nine systems have been selected because they represent a variety of different approaches and experiences in DRG transition. They include the innovators who pioneered DRG payment systems (namely the United States and Australia), mature systems (such as Thailand, Germany, and Estonia), and countries where DRG payments were only introduced within the past decade (such as the Russian Federation and China). Each system is examined in detail as a separate case study, with a synthesis distilling the cross-cutting lessons learned. This book should be helpful to those working on health systems that are considering introducing, or are in the early stages of introducing, DRG-based payments into their provider payment mix. It will enhance the reader's understanding of how other countries (or systems) have made that transition, give a sense of the decisions that lie ahead, and offer options that can be considered. It will also be useful to those working in health systems that already include DRG payments in the payment mix but have not yet achieved the anticipated results.