Book excerpt: 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.