Practice Management Books

There are too many books about patents these days that are written by consultants (including lawyers-turned-consultants). Most of them are fluff that try to promote some new buzzword, like "intellectual capital management." There's nothing wrong with having a broad and managerial view about intellectual property, but unfortunately most such books are filled with useless consultant-style diagrams and vague notions such as that intellectual asset managers' duties include "sharing best practices", "leadership", and of course "career development for IAMs."

In sharp contrast, this is one of the few books to get into the nuts and bolts of what best patent practices actually are. It's also considerably cheaper than books available from the major legal publishers.

The explanation is clear, and addressed to non-lawyers. A major benefit is that it has a very global view, discussing patent regimes of several major countries, not just the US. In my experience, most tech companies are very naive about such matters. The author also has a lot of practical experience and insight into the personality types of engineers, patent agents and others involved in the patent process. One thing I'd like to see in a 3rd edition would be more concrete illustration of patent "fences", "walls", etc. perhaps by showing some illustrative patents and claims.

As a patent and business attorney who's practiced both at law firms and in-house in Silicon Valley, I found this to be a very refreshing book. I'm considering ordering some copies for clients.

For most persons, patent or trademark, such verbs of IPR, are almost very hard to be familiar with. However, after reading this book, I got used and interested in reading related articles or jounals. Sometimes, I even enjoy discussing such matters with others. What is more is it is surely practical and useful for managers or business persons. With the progressively trend of IPR, getting a opning book to enter this new world is so critical and having no choice. However, we could be a little frustrated with some tricking or unfamiliar verbs while reading some related IPR writtings. Fortunately, I got this book and really enjoy it. I fully am sure to recommand this book for the above-mentioned reasons. In addition to me, most of the classmates in the university could enjoy it and find much instriction or delighting in this book. From then on, we have started to research such knowledge. Even, I back to office-career now. My boss have told me to read this book to improve self-knowledge to be a good role in our technology market. This book is just so fancy. And everyone will be very enjoyed it with reading it.

Just by looking at the outline I believe this book to be very comprehensive and valuable.

This book taught me everything I needed to know about payroll!

I would highly recommend that Managers read this book. It's concise, easy to read, practical and is truly a "recipe for leadership success!"

The People Management Formula teaches you how to improve your relations with the people you manage - and get better results for your team.
This book teaches you how to be a better listener and craft more effective solutions to office challenges. Using what I've learned, I'm already getting better feedback from my staff (and they are happier with me).
It's written in a straightforward, plain-English style that neither shows off nor talks down to the reader.
It's really a very helpful book.

Frank has a reputation for creative thinking, being a contrarian, and connecting disparate pieces that would otherwise not be connected in the area of Enterprise Performance Management (EPM). This book does not disappoint!

Many companies are still in the "meat and potatoes" stage of EPM, meaning Planning, Analytics, BI, Management & Statutory reporting, and Balanced Scorecards are disconnected, Frank gives us an aspirational vision of what EPM can be in this new book. If you work with any sort of industry maturity model to gauge where you stand with EPM, consider Frank's practices to be on the far right (or top left) of the continuum (or quadrant)!

Here are a few highlights of the content:
- Strategy and Organization Alignment
- Traditional Methodologies (Balanced Scorecard, Beyond Budgeting, DuPont ratio analysis, activity based costing/management, six sigma)
- Driving the right behaviors and balanced metrics
- What's really behind "one version of the truth"
- Managing with business interface metrics and key risk indicators
- How Stephen Covey has influenced performance leadership
- Performance networks/value mapping
- a new framework for performance leadership

Frank uses a lot of case studies and industry specific scenarios to explain the concepts in the book, and that helps connect his ideas to the real world. He also gives some specific advice on how to get started on the next phase of your EPM journey. The first step, he says, is to build and understand your own performance network. This will show you (and your senior management) what the key drivers of value are in your organization and in your overall ecosystem or supply and demand chain.

Anyone who has or is thinking of having an EPM roadmap for their organization should read this book. Anyone who has never heard of EPM/CPM/BPM, and wants to get better at executing strategy, on improving collaboration, efficiency, and having their organization survive this downturn, should read this book.

Effective leadership and Performance Management are essential in the business world. Frank Buytendijk has a lot of experience in this business. His focuss is on people and their behaviors within the organization. My opinion is, if you want to be a great leader with excellent skills, begin reading this book! A lot of management books have their focuss on methodologies and rules. It doesn't matter which company you work for because leadership begins with people!!
~Great Book~

Kevin Dwyer's "Ireland - Our Island Home" highlights that island's heritage with a stunning collection of aerial photographs around Ireland's coastline. The images, shot from helicopters and small planes at low altitude and oblique angles, provide beautiful, detailed panoramas. The contrasting scenary ranges from the urban areas around Dublin and Cork to the wilds of West Ireland. A series of captions and miniature maps describe the subjects and the general locations where the photographs were taken.

The photographs are a reminder of how varied the Irish landscape can be, and how beautifully green it looks from the air (and from the ground). Lighthouses, farm fields, sheep pastures, and small villages mingle with old forts and modern port facilities. This book is highly recommended to those who have been to Ireland, and to those who plan to go. The book provides a unique perspective on a lovely country.

We went to Ireland and picked up this book while we were there. I was afraid that it would be cheaper in the U.S. -- we paid 30 euros -- and it was. Still, we have no buyer's regret.

This is a set of stunning aerial shots of the Irish coastline. While we took what we think are very good pictures, these are beautiful pictures that we cannot duplicate because they are aerial. They will be treasured reminders of many of the places that we visited.

If you're going to Ireland, been to Ireland, or just wish that you could go, and you love to hang out in coastal areas, this is a book for you.

This very comprehensive handbook is something that every researcher in consumer psychology, attitude research, and the related fields must have or read. It is one of those books like Chaiken & Eagly's "Dual Process Theories in Social Psychology", or "The Psychology of attitudes". Lots of information on the most recent developments in the subfield/theory of innoculation theory and affective attitudes, which i find most important about it. EXCELLENT.

Includes 34 social science and communication journal style articles on persuasion theory and persuasion research methods from a communication worldview. Multiple chapter authors are all well published. Too dense for undergraduates unless specific readings are guided by an instructor. A graduate student in a school of communication could launch a whole career with this handbook as a starting point. If you can obsorb these chapter readings, no one in this field will be out ahead of you for several years. Applicable to political campaign managers, advertising gurus, and health care practitioners alike.

Let me be honest to start with - I'm one of the authors. So, you may not want to consider this review without prejudice, but on the other hand - I know a lot about the book.

We wrote this book because it was the kind of book that we wish we had had when we started our careers. We have received great feedback from individuals who have read it. We have many testimonials to the increased physician collections that readers have realized when they have implemented our best practice ideas. I hope you enjoy this book.

"The Physician Billing Process" packs in some sixty years of practice management experience, along with multiple advanced degrees in business administration, coding, and billing. It starts with an outline of the revenue collection cycle, reviews eight potholes on the road to getting paid, and continues to addressing all key billing office management aspects, including staffing benchmarks, using technology, outsourcing, performance benchmarking, and compliance.

Each pothole includes a description of the billing function, advanced practices, a practice blunder case study, exercises, figures, tools, and policies. Pragmatic focus on solving day-to-day problems is the hallmark of this book, which is a treasure of simple to use everyday management rules, e.g., if you have 100,000 claims annually in your practice, you should have approximately 10 full time equivalent (FTE) staff involved in back-end billing functions. National benchmarks include reference data like 4.15 FTE for insurance follow up, 1.61 - for patient follow up, 0.53 - for credit resolution, 1.61 - for payment posting, 0.93 - for claims processing, and 1.26 - for overhead, adding up to 10.05 FTE's per 100,000 annual claims (Chapter 10).

If you are just starting a billing company or if you have managed a billing office for years, this book is a pothole-free road map to a profitable billing business. Study it and return to it often for reference.

Yuval Lirov, Practicing Profitability - Billing Network Effect for Revenue Cycle Control in Healthcare Clinics and Chiropractic Offices: Collections, Audit Risk, SOAP Notes, Scheduling, Care Plans, and Coding

For years, doctors have focused on curing the objective aspects of illness or disease, but have ignored -- or downplayed -- the subjective aspects, principally pain. Society's hypersensitivity to the misuse of drugs has only made the problem worse. Finally, one of the country's leading oncologists takes the problem seriously. This book, although designed for clinicians, should be read by every person who must confront pain either in themselves or a friend or relative. Written clearly and compellingly, this book now becomes the authoritative source on this important and overlooked subject. Put another way, any physician who is not familiar with this book simply is not being fair to his or her patients and is not staying current on a central part of current medicine.

Dr. Abrahm has written a book that is at once clinically sound and widely accessible. The premise is plain: "Suffering can be prevented or treated whenever it occurs, whether at diagnosis or during curative therapy, or if the cancer recurs."

In the chapters to follow, Dr. Abrahm makes good on this claim, not only by answering practical technical questions with skill, but also by including specific experiences and verbatim dialogue. Communicating with patients is no small part of helping them and their families.

The book contains basic information about common pain types and treatments. It also includes careful discussion of how to manage difficult pain syndromes and other symptoms of cancer.

Because the chapters are well-referenced, one quickly gains guidance beyond pharmacological symptoms and treatments. The inclusion of information about nonpharmacologic care; the importance of the care team (nurse, social worker, oncologist, pain specialist); and, finally the specifics about religious considerations, advance directives, and grief and bereavement give the book its true handbook value for clinicians.

If you are early in your medical career, or interested in understanding pain and other symptom management, or if you are trying to understand and help a loved one with cancer, this book is a wise investment.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale is author of 46 books including his bestseller 'The Power of Positive Thinking.' Most all the other books are practically on this subject. Why he's so compelled into this practice is his purpose to tell others of God's Awesome Power comes from every good thought. That's the power of miracles. In the 12 specific ways to keep the Positive Principle going, Dr. Peale shows you how to sustain and hold onto that power. By using the Positive Principle it all start with the seven (7) magic words...Remember...Don't be afraid, just remember these seven (7) magic words-"I can do all things through Christ...." Believe in the miracle of change, and let Jesus take charge of your own mind and heart.

Dr. Peale also takes a new look at the word imPOSSIBLE without the IM attached. He relates of others the way they apporached the Positive Principle to reshape their lives. These people became the living miracles of God's Principle. Among those who succeed were Claude Bristol, author of 'The Magic of Believing,' Legson Kayira overcame obstacles over 3000 miles from one continent to another and wrote 'The Looming Shadow.' And the great salesman, Zig Ziglar, author of 'See You At The Top.' These men overcame the odds and came out on top of their greatest challenge. It's no secret to those who believe...do you? Just have faith...nothing shall be impossible to you. Hold onto the thought that nothing can get you down. Always think up! Put your problems into God's Hands and leave them there. He will take care of you and bring things out right. Love cancels out gloomy, negative thoughts. Inspiration and Motivation are like nutrition. You need it everyday. Just a simple prayer has the power you need. Just Believe. Believe God will always make a way where there is no way. Don't ever give up. Keep on trying. You can cope with anything, God will see you through anything, so stay close to Him. Always Believe you can. Remember Thomas Edison's words, "If we did all the things we are capable of doing we would literally astonish ourselves." The power of Faith overcomes difficulties. All it takes is the grain of a mustard seed. Seek until you get a certainty of The Presence. A Great Someone is with you always. You're Never alone. Stay in Positive Thinking then miracles will start happening. Keep on going strong. Dr. Peale wants to hear from his readers so write him at c/o Foundation for Christian Living, Pawling, N.Y. 12564.

On the second page of the book, Dr. Peale tells us that "...inspiration and motivation are exactly like nutrition. You have to keep on taking it daily, in healthy doses." He provides a strong dose in this wonderful book. He goes on to describe the importance of having an intense passion for what one does as well as for life in general. He encourages his readers to get outside themselves by getting involved in the lives of other people. A struggle is necessary if one is to become strong he reminds us.
He uses the word "intense" to emphasize how vital it is to be fully alive. He couples it with prayer, desire, and belief.
One of the common themes found in many of his writings is here again in this book, that being creative visualization.
He tells us that things are not what always what they appear to be. Dr. Peale mentions the fact that some things which seem small, can actually be significant events.
His chapter on persistence is a strong one.
He reassures us that God promises guidance to those who ask Him.
There are numerous illustrations of overcoming negative situations, encounters, experiences, and people. Read this book! It will help you live a more fuller, meaningful life.

This book guides you through every aspect of developing and maintaining a Voluntary Compliance program. It begins with forms development to capture the required information and takes you all the way through to retrospective audit. Legal issues are highlighted with special icons to enable you to identify them easily. Seasoned billers and new billers alike will find this book to be a very valuable resource.

The author's experience is evident. The process of medical billing, as presented in Ms. Holmes' book, is enhanced by caveats and the how-to of corrective action(s). This is a valuable resource and reference tool.