Epidemiology and the Delivery of Health Care Services: Methods and Applications

As the obesity epidemic widens to all age groups and nations, chronic conditions increase in frequency, and populations grow in number, the costs of treatment will exhaust future health care resources. The only alternative is population-based m- agement emphasizing prevention, health promotion, and environmental modifi- tions. Dissemination of information on risk factors derived from epidemiologic studies to evoke individual, community, and policy change is a strategy in suppo- ing this approach. Complementing this needs to be health care services based upon the knowledge and application of epidemiologic concepts and methods to achieve control of existing and emerging health problems given resource constraints and ethical considerations. While some of these health problems and their consequences are predictable and generally addressed by health systems, health care services need to address unpredictable exposures and events as well. Epidemiology also provides a framework for planning health services for unpredictable events such as natural and man-made disasters. This text focuses on the unique application of epidemiology to health care m- agement practice, regardless of the setting of that practice. This emerging discipline termed is “managerial epidemiology. ” Managerial epidemiology draws from the traditional disciplines of public health, epidemiology, and health care management for improving the health of populations, be those in communities or served by health plans or systems.

Epidemiology and the Delivery of Health Care Services

Methods and Applications, Third Edition

Denise M. Oleske, Davenport University, Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

Rising costs, aging and growing populations, and increasing competition for funds and resources are shifting the focus of health care delivery and management from the individual patient to the patient population. This change calls for more effective targeting of patients, more efficient assessment of needs and delivery of services, and better use of information technologies to improve population health.

The new Third Edition of Epidemiology and the Delivery of Health Care Services is one of the most complete and authoritative works on the subject, brimming with case studies, graphics, action lists, and learning outcomes for ease of understanding. The book’s in-depth epidemiologic framework begins with the basics (defining problems, collecting reliable data, assessing risks), moves on to offer innovative and seasoned techniques for research and service delivery, and covers a wealth of salient issues, including:

• The impact of epidemiology on public health policy.
• Epidemiology as an essential element of infection prevention and control.
• Data sources with implications for population-based health services planning and evaluation.
• Epidemiology as a driver of quality health care.
• Screening and surveillance in health promotion.
• Epidemiology as a means of fostering patient safety.
• Health service strategies for reducing epidemiologically identified environmental health risks.

Epidemiology and the Delivery of Health Care Services, Third Edition, is ideally suited to graduate students in health administration, public health, health information management, nursing, andallied fields. It also makes an excellent text for graduate courses in epidemiology, health care policy and health services research.