Today's challenging healthcare landscape--with its complex web of reimbursement systems, workforce challenges, and governmental regulations--requires a platform for addressing issues and trends. Savvy healthcare managers know how to integrate and deploy strategies to produce significant operational improvements and increase effectiveness throughout an entire healthcare enterprise. Healthcare Operations Management explores the core principles of effective organizational operations and explains how they can be used to tackle healthcare-specific challenges, such as gaps in quality of care. Through an integrated approach, the authors provide a basic understanding of operations management and share strategies for applying advanced process improvement programs, tools, and techniques in healthcare. This revised edition delves extensively into the role of technology in healthcare operations improvement, exploring the use and impact of digital approaches to care delivery and finance with an emphasis on big data and advanced analytics. Other new or updated topics include: Waste reduction and cost management in the US healthcare system Quality management factors contributing to improvement processes Tools and techniques for successfully deploying Lean Changes that extend the supply chain beyond the walls of the hospital or clinic Most chapters begin with a vignette showcasing a real-world example related to the chapter's concepts and conclude with discussion questions. Integrating content featured throughout the book, the final chapter outlines a model for continuous healthcare operations improvement that introduces an algorithm for choosing and applying the book's methods and strategies. The US healthcare system is filled with opportunities for significant operational improvements that can affect the delivery of patient care. With the tools and techniques presented in this book, current and future healthcare managers will be equipped to implement these enhancements--and achieve operational excellence.
Tasked by the Clean Water Act to restore and maintain the integrity of their waters, state and local governments must develop systems for assessing the health of the streams within their borders. They quickly find that one size does not fit all when it comes to sampling. Rapid Bioassessment of Stream Health examines the sampling techniques, laboratory methods, and data analysis necessary to create a protocol for analyzing the health of streams, using rapid bioassessment techniques. The editors explore how to determine reference streams in each ecoregion and subecoregion with specific indices of health. They provide field methods for monitoring and sampling invertebrates and laboratory methods for subsampling. The work focuses on the application of the EPA’s Rapid Bioassessment Protocol (RBP) but suggests various techniques that can be used to improve sampling protocols and quality control, where necessary. It also includes general listings of health classifications, appendices of more than 300 streams that have been sampled, and a GIS method for designating the reference condition for purposes of comparison in each ecological unit. Although the EPA’s RBP Manual is considered to be the standard of information on the types of metrics that can be used, this book explores, from a state regulatory standpoint, the practical development of such a system to begin compliance with critical sections of the Clean Water Act. A compendium of information about prioritizing those streams and small rivers requiring analysis, this book contains guidelines on the assessment of streams in a particular ecoregion and sampling streams that are at least impaired as points of comparison. It supplies guidance for the production of other rapid bioassessment tools customized to various ecoregions and subecoregions.
Tasked by the Clean Water Act to restore and maintain the integrity of their waters, state and local governments must develop systems for assessing the health of the streams within their borders. They quickly find that one size does not fit all when it comes to sampling. Rapid Bioassessment of Stream Health examines the sampling techniques, laboratory methods, and data analysis necessary to create a protocol for analyzing the health of streams, using rapid bioassessment techniques. The editors explore how to determine reference streams in each ecoregion and subecoregion with specific indices of health. They provide field methods for monitoring and sampling invertebrates and laboratory methods for subsampling. The work focuses on the application of the EPA’s Rapid Bioassessment Protocol (RBP) but suggests various techniques that can be used to improve sampling protocols and quality control, where necessary. It also includes general listings of health classifications, appendices of more than 300 streams that have been sampled, and a GIS method for designating the reference condition for purposes of comparison in each ecological unit. Although the EPA’s RBP Manual is considered to be the standard of information on the types of metrics that can be used, this book explores, from a state regulatory standpoint, the practical development of such a system to begin compliance with critical sections of the Clean Water Act. A compendium of information about prioritizing those streams and small rivers requiring analysis, this book contains guidelines on the assessment of streams in a particular ecoregion and sampling streams that are at least impaired as points of comparison. It supplies guidance for the production of other rapid bioassessment tools customized to various ecoregions and subecoregions.
(Applause Books). At the age of twenty-six, Orson Welles made the film which remains immovable at the top of the critics' polls for the ten best films of all time Citizen Kane . John Russell Taylor's riveting biography of Welles examines the way the Welles legend has been constructed through the years, and how his death has shattered some of the illusions of not only his friends but his enemies. (Taylor is film critic for the London Times and the authorized biographer of Alfred Hitchcock.)
Human competition is eternal. We thrill to victory, we suffer the agony of defeat. No matter what the future brings, sports will be a part of it. But what forms will these games take? Who will be the spectator, who will play? Will aliens be our opponents or machines? Will physical competition even exist? What rules will we play by? What will be at stake? What rewards will be reaped by the victors? What fates await the defeated? Will the entire universe be our arena or will our world be smaller than today? Visionary authors speculate on what swifter, higher, stronger, and winning will mean in the near and distant future.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Science held a symposium, in memory of Dr. John R. La Montagne on April 4-5, 2005, to discuss the current state of the art of research on pandemic influenza and to identify gaps in research. The symposium serves as a first step of discussion towards a combined and coordinated research effort among Department of Health and Human Services agencies, other governmental agencies, international partners and the private sector. The statement of task that guided the Symposium agenda included these specific questions: What is the current state of the science on pandemic influenza research? What are the pressing unmet scientific questions and technical issues? What administrative, logistic or legal impediments exist that block progress towards the development of interventions to respond to pandemic influenza? How can collaboration among Global health Security Action Group nations be strengthened to address unmet scientific questions and technical issues related to research on pandemic influenza? What do experts believe are the most important next steps to take to advance research on pandemic influenza? The Proceedings of the John La Montagne Memorial Symposium on Pandemic Influenza Research Gaps represents a slightly edited transcript of the plenary presentations, rapporteur presentations, plenary discussion and presentation slides. This document contains the Symposium agenda, short biographies of plenary speakers, and provides a list of individuals who attended the symposium. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Introduction 2 Plenary Speakers, Day 1 3 Morning Plenary Discussion, Day 1 4 Working Groups , Day 1 5 Afternoon Discussion: Reaction to Rapporteurs, Day 1 6 Plenary Speakers, Day 2 7 Morning Plenary Discussion, Day 2 8 Working Groups, Day 2 9 Preparation for Pandemic Infuenza: Filling the Gaps in Knowledge and Understanding Appendix A: Speaker Biographies Appendix B: Pandemic Flu Workshop Participants
Part of a series which offers contemporary work and research in the areas of methodology and the history of economic thought, this volume concentrates on the work on John R. Commons.
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The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently. While they are toured through the Quadling Country, the Nome King is assembling allies for an invasion of Oz. This is the first time in the Oz series that Baum made use of double plots for one of the books. Baum had intended to cease writing Oz stories with this book, but financial pressures prompted him to write and publish The Patchwork Girl of Oz, with seven other Oz books to follow.The book was dedicated to "Her Royal Highness Cynthia II of Syracuse" actually the daughter (born in the previous year, 1909) of the author's younger brother, Henry Clay "Harry" Baum.At the beginning of this story, it is made quite clear that Dorothy Gale (the primary protagonist of many of the previous Oz books), is in the habit of freely speaking of her many adventures in the Land of Oz to her only living relatives, her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Neither of them believes a word of her stories, but consider her a dreamer, as her dead mother had been. She is undeterred (unlike her alter ego in the film Return to Oz who is much perturbed by her guardians' doubts.) Later, it is revealed that the destruction of their farmhouse by the tornado back in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has left Uncle Henry in terrible debt. In order to pay it, he has taken out a mortgage on his farm. If he cannot repay his creditors, they will seize the farm, thus leaving Henry and his family homeless. He is not too afraid for himself, but both he and his wife, Aunt Em, fear very much for their niece's future. Upon learning this, Dorothy quickly arranges with Princess Ozma to let her bring her guardians to Oz where they will be very happier and forever safe. Using the Magic Belt (a tool captured from the jealous Nome King Roquat), Ozma transports them to her throne room. They are given rooms to live in and luxuries to enjoy, including a vast and complex wardrobe. They meet with many of Dorothy's animal friends, including the Cowardly Lion and Billina the Yellow Hen. In the underground Nome Kingdom, the Nome King, Roquat, is plotting to conquer the Land of Oz and recover his magic belt, which Dorothy took from him in Ozma of Oz. After ordering the expulsion of his General (who will not agree to such an attack) and the death of his Colonel (who also refuses), King Roquat holds counsel with a veteran soldier called Guph. Guph believes that against the many magicians of Oz (the reputation of which has grown in the telling), the Nome Army has no chance alone. He therefore sets out personally to recruit allies. John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 - September 19, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own.His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series. He did a great deal of magazine and newspaper illustration work which is not as well known today.Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John R. Neill did his first illustration work for the Philadelphia's Central High School newspaper in 1894-95. Neill dropped out of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts after one semester because he said, "they have nothing to teach me".
The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum, is a children's novel, the 7th set in the Land of Oz. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps (the patchwork girl), and others. The book was first published on July 1, 1913, with illustrations by John R. Neill. In 1914, Baum adapted the book to film through his "Oz Film Manufacturing Company." In the previous Oz book, The Emerald City of Oz, magic was used to isolate Oz from all outside worlds. Baum did this to end the Oz series, but was forced to restart the series with this book due to financial hardships. 1] In the prologue, he explains how he managed to get another story about Oz, even though it is isolated from all other worlds. He explains that a child suggested he make contact with Oz with wireless telegraphy. 2] Glinda, using her book that records everything that happens, is able to know that someone is using a telegraph to contact Oz, so she erects a telegraph tower and has the Shaggy Man, who knows how to make a telegraph reply, tell the story contained in this book to Baum. The book was dedicated to Sumner Hamilton Britton, the young son of one of its publishers, Sumner Charles Britton of Reilly & Britton.Ojo the very unlucky, is a young Munchkin boy who, devoted to life with his uncle Unc Nunkie in the wilderness but on the verge of starvation, goes to see a neighboring "magician" and old friend of Unc, Dr. Pipt. While there they see a demonstration of the Pipt-made Powder of Life, which animates any object it touches after saying the magic words. Unc Nunkie and Dr. Pipt's wife are also the sufferers of the consequences of another of the Doctor's inventions, the Liquid of Petrifaction, which turns them into solid marble statues. The remainder of this book is Ojo's quest through Oz to collect the five components of an antidote to the Liquid: a six-leaved clover found only in the Emerald City, three hairs from the tip of a Woozy's tail, a gill (a quarter of a pint) of water from a dark well (one that remains untouched by natural light), a drop of oil from a live man's body, and the left wing of a yellow butterfly. With the help of the life-size patchwork doll named Scraps, Bungle the snobbish Glass Cat (another of Dr. Pipt's creations), the Woozy, Dorothy, the Shaggy Man, and the Scarecrow, Ojo gathers all of these supplies but the left wing - the Tin Woodman, who rules the yellow Winkie Country, which is the only place where yellow butterflies grow, will not allow any living thing to be killed, even to save another's life. The party returns to the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz (one of the few allowed to lawfully practice magic in Oz) uses his own magic to restore Unc Nunkie and Dr. Pipt's wife. The story is also a growth process for Ojo; he learns that luck is not a matter of who you are or what you have, but what you do; he is renamed "Ojo the Lucky," and so he appears in the following Oz books. John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 - September 19, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own. His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series. He did a great deal of magazine and newspaper illustration work which is not as well known today.
