The topic of health care management has escalated to one of the most widely discussed and debated topics in the health care industry, MBA programs, and in the field of medicine in general. In the 1980s, the industry was relatively stable and the need for combining business acumen with medicine was less than today. However, as we enter the 21st century, the need for applying business and management skills to the health care industry is stronger than ever.This Encyclopedia covers every topic a medical professional, institutional administrator, or MBA student would need to know about the business of health care.Key Features* Over 600 entries* More than 160 expert contributors from the fields of medicine, public health, business* Tables on medical degrees, medical specialties, medical organizations, health care acronyms, medical legislation* Unites the business and medical worlds, and spans the academic, corporate, and governmental arenasTopics CoveredAccounting and Activity-Based Costing / Economics / Finance / Health Policy / Human Resources / Information Technology / Institutions and Organizations / International Health Care Issues / Legal and Regulatory Issues / Managed Care / Marketing and Customer Value / Operations and Decision Making / Pharmaceuticals and Clinical Trials / Quality / Statistics and Data Mining / Strategy