medical-economics

This book deserves a prominent spot on every doctor's bookcase! The second edition of Dr. Ivan Delman's practice management "bible" is especially useful for doctors of chiropractic, but the solution-oriented business and marketing advice would apply to almost any small business, especially those in the health-care field.

Dr. Delman never disappoints. He has outdone himself once again, with this edition of "The Business of Chiropractic: How to Prosper After Startup."

The book is filled with specific practice management problems and solutions, with lots of hands-on information. It's useful for the new doctor, and can help experienced doctors take their businesses to the next level.

Dr. Delman's easy-to-read prose; vivid, real-life examples; and a touch of humor keep you turning the pages to find out what comes next. Some of the highlights of the book include: how to identify the four functions of any successful clinic; how to develop as a manager; how to use a marketing guide to determine your market viability; how to manage cash flow through the use of statistics and trends; and much more.

This book is an excellent read all the way through, and I have a feeling many doctors will find themselves referring back to it again and again.

This is an excellent reference for medical practitioners of all disciplines as well as Chiropractic. It gives business guidance that is not taught in medical schools. I wish I had known some of these things when I started in medical practice in 1976. Dr. Delman speaks from experience and is a source of inspiration.
Using Dr. Delman's book should make business success much easier than going by trial and error.
Weldon E. Bond, Jr., D.O., F.A.B.H.P.
Board Certified in Family Practice & Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy

I found the marketing techniques excellent in this book. It gave me ideas on how to get new patients and how to keep my practice filled with abundance and prosperity. For the the Part 4 Boards I highly recommend:
National Board of Chiropractic Part IV Study Guide: Key Review Questions and Answers (Vol 1 and Vol 2). ISBN: 0974328766, ISBN: 0974328774
The questions are right on the mark for the type that were encountered on the exam. For being successful in practice get Delman's book. For passing the board get the last two study guides. Both well worth the investment.

Author Marilee Driscoll has helped consumers and financial professionals alike by creating this guide. Long-term care planning is a complex topic, and the author has made the exploration interesting, complete, and fun.
Marilee Driscoll should be congratulated for not only raising timely and critical issues, but also for addressing her topic clearly with specific guidelines and recommendations.
This book is a keeper...for reading and reference.
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What a great reference book for a subject that we find so hard to face! Marilee Driscoll's book not only explains all of the options that are available in a concise, easy to understand way, but you can also pick an area that you need to research without starting at the beginning of the book. I originally bought the book to see what the options are for my parents, but it also made me think about starting to plan for my own long-term care. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to make sure that they will be prepared to get the care that they want!

Without this book I wouldn't have had the courage to face long-term care planning. I perceived the topic as impossibly complex, and frankly, terrifying. The book is amazingly readable for such a dry topic, and it clarified and simplified the issues for me. When I met with my insurance agent, I had a long list of questions about the options in the application. He knew I wasn't a pushover, and actually, I don't think he ever had a client who asked so many solid and informed questions! Considering the devastating cost of nursing homes, this book has potentially saved me many (many!) thousands of dollars. I highly recommend the book to anyone "of a certain age" who knows (or suspects) that they should be worried about long-term care. If you don't know where to start, or you want to sanity check your existing plan, don't even think about it. Just purchase this book!

Betty and John Joos have created THE BEST marketing book for Legal Nurse Consultants ever written! The book is an easy read packed with real-life answers to real-life marketing questions. It is a practical approach to what really works, coupled with humor. Unbeknownst to them, they have become my business partners.

By far, this has been the best "how-to" book I have ever read. Congratulations to the authors for sharing their wisdom and practice pearls with new legal nurse consultants. The layout and format reflect anticipatory questions the new legal nurese consultant will need along with usable tools in gaining entry into a successful business. It is the many small ways that make the difference and many ideas for marketing tools are provided to pave a road that nurse seldom travel. The clear descriptions and suggestions are made "bite size" to prevent overwhelm within the reader. This translates to tangible manageable goals. Congratulations for such a clear and helpful resource book.

Marketing for the Legal Nurse Consultant is the most valuable book in my library! The Joos' walk LNCs through the world of marketing with ease. I've been lucky enough to have met these fine people in person and attended their marketing seminars. Here again, this is a "must do" for the independent legal nurse consultant. My cards and brochures went through major overhauls with their help and my business has prospered! Thank you both, John and Betty, for all you do! I'm looking forward to purchasing your next edition.

Didn't want to wait for nine other people to buy any of these that came available so, on a hunch, I typed in www.PrinciplePublications.com and VOILA! You can buy this book direct from the publisher. Costs are comparable. Just trying to help others who don't want to or can't afford to wait!

The Insider's Guide was right on target! Jane Williams has written such an excellent guide on networking and passing the challenging interviews for gaining a pharmaceutical sales position.

I purchased the Insider's Guide after months of frustration and failure to even get a pharmaceutical sales interview. I simply did not know what I was doing! After reading the Insider Guide to Pharmaceutical Sales and following the instructions on networking and passing interviews, I gained a position with a pharmaceutical company within 6 weeks! It took three weeks to get through my interviews. Jane certainly knows the industry! Most of the questions from the guide were covered during my interviews. The in-depth pharmaceutical sales questions and answers from the guide were extremely helpful! All of the questions and answers are specific for the pharmaceutical sales industry. Without the detailed answers and examples that this guide provided, I doubt that I could have successfully "sold" the product during the interview.

Thanks so much Jane for delivering exactly what you promised!

Jane, thanks for writing the best book on the market and helping me gain the best-paying position I've ever had! Thanks for teaching me not only what a pharmaceutical sales rep does but for teaching me how to think and respond like a rep! That made the difference for me during my interviews.

I was surprised that the pharmaceutical company who hired me would ask so many questions that relate directly to what a pharmaceutical sales representative does, but they did just that. When I read all the questions and answers in the "Insider's Guide..." I thought that surely no one could be expected to know this much information about the pharmaceutical sales industry, but they do expect you to know the information. Fortunately for me, I was prepared!

The Insider's Guide was by far the most comprehensive guide that I purchased and contained the most relevant information for passing the interviews. To all of the aspiring pharmaceutical sales reps, my advice is to purchase this guide and then follow Jane's instructions to the letter. Even if you have a degree in English like me, you too could beat out the competition and win the pharmaceutical sales position!

When a new doctor starts practice,he only needs two books: a phone book and Doctor Neil Baum's book on practice marketing.

Forget expensive "consultants"--you pay for their education; sort of like someone taking your watch and then telling you what time it is. Doctor Baum is obviously not a full-time consultant; he is practicing MD who has been "in the trenches", in real-life practice, every day for several decades. He knows what works and what doesn't because he wrote the checks.

If his book were written when I started practice in 1977, I would be long-retired by now, sipping beer and catching lots of fish at Green Lake, WI. Because the book wasn't available then, I only get one week per year ( and not many fish). Get this book-if you are at the start, middle or even end of your practice. There is nothing like it!

We recommend Dr. Baum's book, "Marketing Your Clinical Practice" to all of our medical practices, particularly physicians who are starting up a new practice.

Dr. Baum's tips on non traditional sources of referrals are outstanding and his book complements our philosophy, that being effective management equals good manners plus common sense.

We would highly recommend this book to any physician in need of enhancing his/her patient volume.

John W. McDaniel President and Chief Executive Officer Physician Management Group, Inc.

I am Dr. Baum's mother and I am certainly not biased but I have to say this book is more than outstanding. I know how hard he and Ms. Henkel have worked to create this tome and you will find valuable information for your medical practice. I think every doctor should read my son's book! Sara Baum

Dr. Ivan Delman has created a piece of work that will serve his colleagues in all the health care professions well, if they follow his advice. While starting a practice is very important, more so is making it work. Dr. Delman shows us just how to do that, with plans and advice and analysis techniques that will help make professional practices grow and prosper. This book should be on the shelf in every Chiropractic office, for starters.

Dr. Ivan Delman has written a comprehensive guide to life after opening one's practice. In this perilous time of both ever expanding responsibility and shrinking resources for health care providers, Dr. Delman has provided a resource that could significantly improve the bottom line, while maintaining extremely high ethical standards, for any health care provider who follows his advice. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a successful and enjoyable practice experience.

I have been a successful practicing chiropractor for over 30 years. It took me the first five years to understand the nuts and bolts of developing a successful practice. If I had had Dr. Delman's book, I could have cut down that to a month.

Dr. Delman has successfully covered the bulk of what I found to be true in developing my practice. This is definately a must-have for the new practitioner -- worth at least one hundred times-plus the cost of the book -- and an excellent review for the seasoned doc.

I find this book to be very informative and well worth the money if you are considering going into medical transcription, either working for a doctor or hospital or starting your own home based business. I personally was considering starting my own business and attending a course to do transcription, but I decided to purchase this book first. I had sought out in depth information before, but could not find any until I found this book. It showed me in detail all of the steps to take to become a medical transcriptionist and what you have to do to stay on top of this profession throughout the years. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has even remotely thought about this as a profession or a home business. It's very informative and helps you step by step throughout the entire process of becoming a medical transcriptionist. The author has the years of experience in this field and he is straight to the point, honest and very helpful.

George Morton's HOW TO BECOME A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST is a comprehensive, user friendly resource guide for all readers interested in pursuing a career in medical transcription. The book presents both the challenges and excitement of medical transcription and answers any questions the reader may have about this career choice. Morton, a nationally known expert in the field, gives an unbiased picture of the world of medical transcription, so the pros and cons of this career are discussed at length. He also provides a description of the necessary skills needed to become a successful transcriptionist and how to obtain those skills whether one chooses to work at home or in an office or hospital. This book is highly recommended for those people thinking about becoming a medical transcriptionist and for seasoned professionals interested in a well written book with extensive information and data about their field.

George Morton did MT education a great service by writing this book. I was a perspective student, tired of trudging through all the commercial hype available on the internet regarding a career in MT. What I needed was a concise description of the day-to-day reality of transcription work. Morton provided it! He dispells the romantic visions of the perfect work-at-home-over-a-cup-of-coffee job; he describes the commitment required in obtaining an excellent foundation in medical terminology and pharmacology in order to perform transcription professionally and responsibly. He comments on the challenges of obtaining your first job when your resume is devoid of experience. He explains the grueling hours that can be involved in keeping up with private contracts to maintain happy customers. But he reinforces the truisms behind the IT-hype as well. You can work part-time. You can work from home. You can start your own profitable business - just be prepared to work. I loved this book for its impartial description of MT work - Thanks George!

I have an earlier book written by this author entitled, "Activity-based Cost Management, Making It Work" that was written during earlier days of implementing activity-based costing. Cokins' new book, while it addresses activity-based functionality for government, also presents some "matured" thinking and advice on ABC/M which I found to be extremely helpful in validating some of my own observations and learnings from implementing ABC/M. For a newcomer to ABC/M, the book presents the case for why government entities can profit from using ABC/M, how to get an implementation going, critical factors for success and some case studies of actual government implementations. But, it also gets into more advanced applications such as using ABC/M to support performance measurement, supply chain management, and budgeting. These chapters are not as easily digested, but they are a rich source of reference for those planning to broaden the use of activity-based cost/management.

Gary Cokins does an excellent job explaining Activity Based Costing and Activity Based Management from beginning to end. By reading the first chapter alone, one can tell he is an expert in his field. He begins explaining the subject matter with the basics and continues through using an easy to follow logic. For public sector organizations that are considering ABC/M, or already using it, this book is a master guide for its methodology. It has very helpful charts which the author uses in his explanation of the material, making it easy for the reader to follow.

I have spent over 30 years in government, and the one aspect always apparent is that the government is always trying to improve performance with fewer resources, and therefore recognizes the need for activity based costing. This book is, by far, the leading reference to refer to for guidance on how to implement ABC/M. The reader does not have to be a cost accountant to comprehend the methodology or technique used to implement ABC/M. The author cites actual cases in the public sector where federal or local agencies have implemented this technique and the successes made. He begins with the issue or problem and cites the solution, the model structure used, the results, and the lessons learned. These actual case examples help show how ABC/M can resolve problems in the real world.

Overall, I found this book to be an excellent resource in its field, as it is easily understood, yet comprehensive. I strongly recommend it to any government manager that wants to help their organization excel.

Activity based cost management is increasingly taking hold in government and is helping many organizations make dramatic improvements in their understanding of costs. Gary Cokins, a widely respected cost management craftsman and teacher, has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement cost management in his book "Activity-Based Cost Management in Government." He does a great job covering a wide range cost topics in a clear and coherent manner; and he consistently reinforces - through relevant concepts, examples and quotations - the pragmatic value of cost information to support fact based decision making.

Simply put, this book provides great information on the pharmaceutical industry and what to expect if you become a sales rep but I found the "Interview Questions" section to be invaluable. I just received the coveted 3rd interview with Abbott Labs with the help of this book. I have zero sales experience but I reviewed the possible questions in the book and wasn't surprised by any questions asked of me in the 1st interview. Some were almost ver betam! These interviews are difficult because you must answer correctly and promptly and the only way to do this is to be prepared. That's what this book can do for you. It did it for me.

I used this book along with "Be Brief, Be Bright, Be Gone" book by David Frost as my guides to gaining employment as a Pharm Sales Rep. By following the suggestions for finding available jobs, plus studying all the 100+ likely interview questions, I was able to land a job with my number one company choice, a Fortune 25 company!!!

This is a great resource for preparing your resume, finding the right companies, and handling the interview process. I was called back a few days later after my interviews with a job offer!!!

This book, the Insider's Guide to the World of Pharmaceutical Sales, 6th Ed., made it possible for me to get the fantastic pharmaceutical sales position that I've now had for 3 weeks! For everyone looking for help to break into the pharmaceutical sales industry, I can't recommend this book enough!

Although I had three years of sales experience in another industry, I couldn't even get started in the pharmaceutical sales industry because the information you need to know is so specific. I made the mistake of purchasing a few other books before I purchased this one. They all concentrated on research and not on gaining interviews and answering interview questions. This book has 150 specific interview questions and answers and I feel like I answered most of them during my FIVE interviews with my present employer! The entire book is written with very specific pharmaceutical information and does not contain the "filler" or general type of information that I found in the others. Jane gives pharmaceutical company profiles that tell you exactly how much information you need to know about the company you interview with and she teaches you how to get the latest information about the company. You're even taught how to think like a pharmaceutical sales representative and interpret the body language of your pharmaceutical sales interviewer! This was so helpful during the interviews. Additionally, the career comparison guide example and instructions made it easy to prepare this very essential interviewing tool. This made the difference in my interview outcome! That document moved me ahead of the other finalist and I got the job!

To all pharmaceutical sales hopefuls...it is possible!

Health policy is often very intimidating to people without specific expertise. This is a shame because it affects each and every one of us. Former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm has written a concise, easy-to-read book that every thoughtful American should read - and then act upon.

Lamm takes his readers on journey through the American health care system. With the clarity of vision available to a former politician, Lamm takes on many of the myths of our health care system: 1) that it is not the best health care system in the world, by almost any measuring device ("a nation may have brilliant medicine but have a poor or inadequate health care system"); 2) that Social Security and Medicare have a ponzi scheme quality to them that will bankrupt future generations; 3) that the physician-patient relationship should not determine the course of health care in this country.

Lamm argues passionately for a more rational public policy with respect to health care - one that seeks to maximize the health of the public rather than maximize the health of each and every individual. Public policy must stand up for the collective good, even if at the expense of additional marginal health care provided to any given individual. He presses his readers to recognize that the question should be "how does a society produce health?" and that the answer is that the health care delivery system is only a part of the health agenda. The quest for a healthier society may be "best achieved in areas of social policy other than health care."

The solution lies in explicitly recognizing the role that rationing must play in a more effective and equitable health care system. A central component of this is recognizing that health care should not be viewed as a right. Lamm reminds us "no matter how we organize health care and no matter how we fund health care, we will find that our ability to discover medical miracles has outpaced our ability to pay for them." A "right" trumps all other categories of social spending - including housing and education and will lead us into an ever enlarging black hole of health care spending. Better to provide basic health care to all Americans and let "rights" refer to the freedom of those with more resources to pay for marginal, but expensive care.

Although Lamm's discussion of what ails the system and the need to change its fundamental dynamics are the most well reasoned and articulate aspects of the book, he does spend some time focusing on the details of how to fix the system on a more practical level. Lamm argues that fixing the system will require removing the obstacles that keep market dynamics from working. This means "structuring incentives for both the providers and purchasers to improve productivity." Rather than rely on government controls, the government should focus on market reform a la managed competition. Lamm also proposes some fundamental changes to Medicare and Social Security, as well as malpractice reform and medical personnel changes.

The book reminds us just how broken our public policy is with respect to health care, but also sheds important light on what we must be willing to do to realign our public policy to create a more equitable, sustainable American health care system. This book should be required reading for every person who has ever griped about our health care system, worried about our health care system, been bankrupted by our health care system, or, in fact, used our health care system.

Anybody that is concerned about the rising costs of health care in America should read this book. As a physician, I am disappointed at the lack of leadership in medicine as well as among the politicians.
We are sending the current bills for health care to our children. Gov Lamm's book provides great insight into the fiscal problems we are facing and provides some good suggestions on how we might go about addressing the problem.

Former Colorado Governor Lamm is a Democrat, but this book should be required reading for everybody, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. It is, fortunately, a really easy read. My major problem was stopping to write down quotable lines; just about everything in this book is quotable. Did you know, for instance, that many of our problems began when Otto von Bismark declared that workers should retire at 65, an age which we are still reluctant to change? It can't have been much of an issue in 1880, when life expectancy was 47 years; but a child born today can anticipate 80 years of life. When Social Security was introduced there were perhaps 30 workers for each retired person; now there are about 3, and when the Baby Boomers begin to retire in droves at the end of this decade, we will be in real trouble, because taxes on current earners go directly to support current retirees, and it is certain that Social Security (and Medicare) will be bankrupt unless we completely reform the system; a fact cautiously alluded to recently by Alan Greenspan (and greeted by the inevitable outcries from politicians and others in support of the status quo).

Lamm's theme is initially unpalatable but completely rational. He points out that our health care system is often compared favorably to Canada's: "We have the best, they come to the US for treatment." But the truth is, at its best ours may be the best, but on average, it's far from that; the World Health Organization says we're 37th out of 191 countries in terms of efficiency, what a health-care dollar buys. Canadians may have to wait longer for treatment compared to Americans, but all Canadians have coverage, and 43 million people in the US have no coverage at all. Gov. Lamm asks the hard question: Should older people (he includes himself) have the most expensive procedures, paid for by others, when there are, for example, thousands of pregnant women without access to antenatal health care? He tells the story of Oregon, where the issue of "rationing" has, uniquely, been faced. It is a far cry from the situation in the rest of the country. Our problem, in effect, is that with hot-button politics and term limits, it is too easy for us to kick our fiscal issues forward and let our children and grandchildren worry about them. In 2008, when the first Baby Boomers start watching the mail for the Social Security checks, our chickens will start coming home to roost.

The book, published in paperback by the admirable Fulcrum Press of Golden, CO, is a pleasure to read, with a decent amount of ink on the page. I would have liked an index but at 128 pages it's not really necessary.