A Study in Hospital Efficiency as Demonstrated by the Case Report of the First Five Years of a Private Hospital.

First thus. 8vo. 179 pp. Large, folding statistical chart in pocket affixed to the inside of the rear cover. Bound in gilt stamped blue cloth. Laid in is the printed label: "This book is sent to you as an officer of the Massachusetts General Hospital, in fulfillment of a special request made by Dr. Codman shortly before his death on November 23rd, 1940." The sheets and chart are the original first printing from 1918, published in wrappers, (hence we are calling it a first thus) and the binding Codman, who had multiple copies of this third and final of three hospital reports, had done in 1940. Technically, however, this is not the true first edition in that it was bound at a date much later than the initial publication. From Wikipedia about Codman, and I quote: "He was an advocate of hospital reform and is the acknowledged founder of what today is known as outcomes management in patient care. Codman was the first American doctor to follow the progress of patients through their recoveries in a systematic manner. He kept track of his patients via 'End Result Cards' which contained basic demographic data on every patient treated, along with the diagnosis, the treatment he rendered, and the outcome of each case. Each patient was followed up on for at least one year to observe long-term outcomes. It was his lifelong pursuit to establish an 'end results system' to track the outcomes of patient treatments as an opportunity to identify clinical misadventures that serve as the foundation for improving the care of future patients. He also believed that all of this information should be made public so that patients could be guided in their choices of physicians and hospitals." A couple of very small tears at the fold junctions on the fold-out else fine in a bright, fine binding. Uncommon.