With the same clarity that made the previous edition a bestseller, Healthcare Delivery in the U.S.A.: An Introduction, Second Edition provides readers with the understanding required to navigate the healthcare provider field. Brilliantly simple, yet comprehensive, this updated edition explains how recent health care reform will impact hospitals and health systems. It includes updated case studies and describes the new organizational structures being driven by current market conditions.

Focusing on healthcare management, the book addresses the range of topics critical to understanding the U.S. healthcare system, including the quality of care movement, recent finance reform, and the recent increase in merger and acquisition activity.

Dr. Schulte walks readers through the history of the development of U.S. healthcare delivery. She describes the various venues of care delivery as well as the different elements of the financing system. Offering a glimpse into the global market and medical tourism, the text includes coverage of legal and regulatory issues, workforce, and the drivers and barriers that are shaping healthcare delivery around the world.

Painting a clear and up-to-date picture, this quick-and-easy read provides you with the understanding of the terminology, structures, roles, relationships, and nuances needed to interact effectively and efficiently with anyone in the healthcare provider field.

Praise for theBestselling First Edition: This brief but remarkable book is balanced in its consideration of the history and scope of health care in the US today ? The volume comes too late to be a factor in the 2009 congressional debate over health care reform. Although Schulte (Grand Valley State Univ.) avoids legislative recommendations, this work should have been required reading for every member of Congress and all lobbyists seeking to impose their own, more limited agendas before Congress took up the challenge ? Everyone should read this book.-D.R. Shanklin, University of Chicago, CHOICE, Vol. 47, No. 09, May 2010 Margaret Schulte provides a concise introduction to the history, issues, terminology and structure of a very complex and often unwieldy industry - healthcare. This book would be helpful for those early in their careers or transitioning in from other industries to help improve quality and processes. I certainly wish I had this guide when I was starting in healthcare.-Mark Graban,Shingo Prize-winning author of Lean Hospitals Because traditional approaches to health reform aren't working, the business of medical care obviously needs new thinking from skilled professionals who can approach it from fresh perspectives. Many creative problem solvers from other industries would surely relish the opportunity to bring their insights to health care, but first they need to understand the industry and to speak its special language. Dr. Margaret Schulte has written the perfect book to bridge the gap. Healthcare Delivery in the U.S.A. is the resource that outsiders need to join the conversation and start teaching the medical sector lessons it must learn from other industries.The more non-health professionals who read this book, the sooner we'll see efficiency and effectiveness in medical care.?-Jeff Bauer, Ph.D., Management Consulting Partner and Director of the Futures Practice, Affiliated Computer Services Healthcare Solutions, Author of Paradox and Imperatives in Health Care I wish a book like this had been available when I entered health care. In easy-to-understand terms, Dr. Schulte lays out the components of the healthcare system so those of us who enter can be oriented to the terms and to the various entities we will be encountering. As the level of complexity of the healthcare system continues to increase, books such as this can help us deconstruct the system into understandable components. As we know, in order to improve, we must first understand. Dr. Schulte helps us understand.-Dean Bliss, Lean Improvement Specialist, Iowa Health System Selling technology solutions to hospitals is challenging because it requires knowing what's important to different people - patients, doctors, and employees - without any margin for error. Dr. Schulte's book is 'Healthcare 101' for any sales professional striving to understand the healthcare industry. It couldn't be more timely with the new economic stimulus package which includes $20 billion for healthcare IT.-Linda Ewing, Regional Sales Director, Amcom Software