For background, see here.

Photos from the filming of Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone are now live on Advice Scene:

Advice Scene announces the launch of a new online television show with a sitting judge, focusing on family law issues.

Family Matters showcases prominent guests from the legal community & elsewhere, in a talk show format; and it also provides educational episodes available on DVD and as downloadable iTunes episodes.

Official announcement today for GIS in Hospital & Healthcare Emergency Management, scheduled for release on April 22, 2010:

Although many books have been published on the application of GIS in emergency management and disaster response, “GIS in Hospital and Healthcare Emergency Management” is the first one to bring together a comprehensive discussion of the critical role GIS plays in hospital and healthcare emergency
management and disaster response.

Illustrating a wide range of practical applications, GIS in Hospital and Healthcare Emergency Management explores how GIS data is being used to assess need, determine surge capacity, and improve logistics in emergency or disaster scenarios. Leading experts in the field provide authoritative coverage of all areas of emergency management involving GIS and related technologies.

Making this complex subject accessible for professionals who want to improve their preparedness and response capabilities, this complete resource provides numerous examples, case studies, and proven simulation and modeling tools to aid in the development of effective and efficient emergency response plans. It also includes a CD-ROM with a user interface that supplies access to helpful forms, exercises, color versions of the figures in the book, hundreds of valuable resources, as well as a composite bibliography of all references included in the
text.

In today’s technology driven environment, failure to plan is planning to fail. This accessible reference provides emergency planners, operations managers, and hospital and health administrators, with the understanding and the tools needed to create emergency management and disaster preparedness systems that
will help hospitals save lives, time, and money when the next emergency strikes.

“If you want a successful system of emergency management at the local, state, tribal, or federal level, you must utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS)—period! … Ric Skinner has pulled together leaders and scientists from an incredible cross-section of those who are truly involved in the preparations for, and responses to, emergencies. These authors—leaders in their fields—have managed to explain a comprehensive range and depth of information that will prove to be critical to an organization that wants to ensure success in their planning and response. My fervent hope is that those involved in emergency planning and operations will derive invaluable benefits and lessons from this book.”
— R. Tom Sizemore III, MD, Principal Deputy Director,
Office of Preparedness & Emergency Operations,
U. S. Department of Health & Human Services

Ric Skinner (ric.skinner@gmail.com)
Phone: 508-347-1139

Special advance orders can obtain a copy at 20% off the list price, and may be eligible for free shipping.  Also available on Amazon.  See here for more information:
GIS in Hospital and Healthcare Emergency Management

Dr. Michael Rachlis has an insightful editorial on potential solutions for rising costs in the health care sector,

Medicare is as sustainable as we want it to be…

Health policy experts conclude that improving quality is the key to sustainability. High performing organizations like the U.S. veterans health system have demonstrated it is possible to simultaneously improve quality, enhance services and control costs…

Canadians should be somewhat concerned about our health system’s costs. But the road to sustainability runs through improved quality, not user charges or privatization.



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