Sponsored by the Picker/Commonwealth Program for Patient-Centered Care In this comprehensive, research-based look at the experiences and needs of patients, the authors explore models of care that can make hospitalization more humane. Through the Patient's Eyes provides insights into why some hospitals are more patient-centered than others; how physicians can become more involved in patient-centered quality efforts; and how patient-centered quality can be integrated into health care policy, standards, and regulations. The authors show how, by bringing the patient's perspective to the design and delivery of health services, providers can improve their ability to meet patient's needs and enhance the quality of care.

The integration of mobile technology into the medical industry has revolutionized the efficiency and delivery of healthcare services. Once limited by distance and physical barriers, health professionals can now reach patients and other practitioners with ease. M-Health Innovations for Patient-Centered Care is a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly research on the incorporation of mobile telecommunication devices in the health field and how this technology has increased overall quality of care. Highlighting various types of available technologies, necessary support infrastructures, and alterations in business models, this publication is ideally designed for medical professionals, upper-level students, and e-health system designers interested in the effects of mobile technology on healthcare delivery.

Approximately 4 million U.S. service members took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after troops started returning from their deployments, some active-duty service members and veterans began experiencing mental health problems. Given the stressors associated with war, it is not surprising that some service members developed such mental health conditions as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. Subsequent epidemiologic studies conducted on military and veteran populations that served in the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq provided scientific evidence that those who fought were in fact being diagnosed with mental illnesses and experiencing mental healthâ€"related outcomesâ€"in particular, suicideâ€"at a higher rate than the general population. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality, capacity, and access to mental health care services for veterans who served in the Armed Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn. It includes an analysis of not only the quality and capacity of mental health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also barriers faced by patients in utilizing those services.

This book explains how telemedicine can offer solutions capable of improving the care and survival rates of cancer patients and can also help patients to live a normal life in spite of their condition. Different fields of application – community, hospital and home based – are examined, and detailed attention is paid to the use of tele-oncology in rural/extreme rural settings and in developing countries. The impact of new technologies and the opportunities afforded by the social web are both discussed. The concluding chapters consider eLearning in relation to cancer care and assess the scope for education to improve prevention. No medical condition can shatter people’s lives as cancer does today and the need to develop strategies to reduce the disease burden and improve quality of life is paramount. Readers will find this new volume in Springer’s TELe Health series to be a rich source of information on the important contribution that can be made by telemedicine in achieving these goals.

Second in a series of publications from the Institute of Medicine's Quality of Health Care in America project Today's health care providers have more research findings and more technology available to them than ever before. Yet recent reports have raised serious doubts about the quality of health care in America. Crossing the Quality Chasm makes an urgent call for fundamental change to close the quality gap. This book recommends a sweeping redesign of the American health care system and provides overarching principles for specific direction for policymakers, health care leaders, clinicians, regulators, purchasers, and others. In this comprehensive volume the committee offers: A set of performance expectations for the 21st century health care system. A set of 10 new rules to guide patient-clinician relationships. A suggested organizing framework to better align the incentives inherent in payment and accountability with improvements in quality. Key steps to promote evidence-based practice and strengthen clinical information systems. Analyzing health care organizations as complex systems, Crossing the Quality Chasm also documents the causes of the quality gap, identifies current practices that impede quality care, and explores how systems approaches can be used to implement change.

Medication management is an essential component of therapeutic success in the treatment of chronic diseases. However, patients who do not regularly take their prescribed medications are a primary concern of health systems worldwide. A significant proportion of patients on chronic medications fail to adhere to their treatments, and suboptimal adherence leads to dire clinical and financial consequences on the personal level. Moreover, non-adherence can adversely impact public healthcare costs and the clinical outcomes of patients. Design and Quality Considerations for Developing Mobile Apps for Medication Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a collection of innovative research that combines theory and practice on optimizing strategies to improve medication adherence and overall health and wellbeing in patients through the design of usable and reliable mobile app-based systems. Highlighting a broad range of topics including pharmaceutical care, quality assessment, and health behavior frameworks, this book is ideally designed for clinicians, pharmacists, healthcare providers, programmers, software developers, researchers, academicians, and students.

Once thought uncommon, cases of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are becoming much more commonplace through the increasing use of needle biopsy and serologic tests for antibodies that have led to much more frequent recognition. It is currently one of the most common thyroid disorders with the possibility that it may be increasing in frequency. As diagnostic methods improve, it is imperative that quick treatments are administered to improve the quality of life of patients. Diagnosing and Managing Hashimoto’s Disease: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential publication that provides critical reference material for diagnosing and treating Hashimoto’s Disease in a clinical environment. Featuring research on topics such as spontaneous hypothyroidism, papillary thyroid carcinoma, and differential diagnosis, this publication is ideally designed for clinicians, therapists, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, researchers, educators, academicians, and students looking for the most up-to-date research on treating Hashimoto’s Disease.

The promise and prospects for mobile technologies in healthcare service delivery—particularly as experienced by patients and other users—are the focus of this forward-looking volume. Its detailed sociotechnical perspective takes in factors influencing patient and provider adoption of technological advances, in addition to the well-known cost and accessibility advantages. Enlightening reports show mobile health technologies in multiple contexts as an impetus for behavioral change, a means of monitoring health changes, a growing trend in service delivery, and an emerging health frontier worldwide. Together, these chapters point to the continued expansion—and global reach—of mobile technology in the next stage of healthcare services. Included in the coverage: Behavior change techniques used in mobile applications targeting physical activity: a systematic review Mobile health integration in pregnancy Unintended users, uses, and consequences of mobile weight loss apps: using eating disorders as a case study Intention vs. perception: understanding the differences in physicians’ attitudes towards mobile health applications HealthGuide: a personalized mobile patient guidance system Adoption of sensors in mobile health Current and Emerging mHealth Technologies is salient reading for researchers interested in mobile health development and implementation as well as technology adoption, and mobile health system developers and managers who are interested in the implications of mobile health use by patients and/or healthcare professionals. It can also be used for courses in technology adoption and health technologies.

In the last decades, the importance of performance management in healthcare organizations has progressively increased. Patient organizations can play a strategic role by providing peer support and education, filling service provision gaps within public healthcare. As experts of their own pathologies, organized patients can aid research and development projects and provide the policymakers with input from the patients’ perspectives. Despite these advantages, patient organizations still face criticalities including low political attention at a national and peripheral level, scarce management skills, planning, control, fundraising, and professionalism. Managing Patients' Organizations to Improve Healthcare: Emerging Research and Opportunities delivers emerging research that raises awareness about the contribution of patient organizations in the healthcare process within regulatory authorities, public, and healthcare managers and improves patients’ managerial and healthcare professional skills for more efficient and effective processes of care. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as organizational management, patient value, and quality healthcare, this book is ideally designed for policymakers, healthcare administrators, medical practitioners, researchers, academicians, students, and industry professionals seeking current research on public policy management and healthcare management.