-Textbook for courses on health administration and planning

-Author is fairly well-known in the field.

Richard K. Thomas, PhD, is vice president of Health and Performance Resources in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and author, speaker, and consultant. He has been involved in healthcare market research, planning, and business development with hospitals, clinics, health plans, and other healthcare organizations in both the public and private sectors for more than 40 years. Dr. Thomas holds master's degrees in sociology and geography from the University of Memphis and a PhD in medical sociology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He has held faculty appointments at several universities and medical schools and is currently a research affiliate with the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University and affiliate faculty with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Thomas is active in publishing and has authored or coauthored over 20 books on health-related topics, including works on health services planning, healthcare market research, and the demography of health and health care. He has authored dozens of articles on health care and given numerous presentations, seminars, and workshops on related subjects. He previously served as the editor of Marketing Health Services, the healthcare journal of the American Marketing Association.

Preface or Foreword (TBD): Why a new edition now (last 2003)

Chapter 1: Introduction to Health Services Planning

* Update definition/conceptualization of plan, planning

* Insert the changing political environment for planning (along with changing perceptions of the role of planning)

* Update who needs planning and why they need it

Chapter 2: Overview of Health Planning

* Role of the Affordable Care Act and other legislative developments

* Update health planning in other countries

Chapter 3: The Social Context for Health Services Planning

* Update/expand the social and cultural context (as well as demographics)

* Insert section on the changing healthcare environment

* Update the transformation of the U.S. healthcare system

* Add box on immigration and health status

Chapter 4: The Health Systems Context for Health Services Planning

* Update/expand the social and cultural context (as well as demographics)

* Insert section on the changing healthcare environment

* Update the transformation of the U.S. healthcare system

Chapter 5: Health Services Demand and Utilization

* Insert section on the changing nature of health conditions

* Update factors influencing demand, estimating the demand for health services

* Add box on predictive analytics

Chapter 6: The Planning Process

* Revise in the light of developments in planning methodology

Chapter 7: The Community Assessment Process

* Add history of CHNAs

* Revise in the light of new perceptions of health status (from new chapter above)

* Describe the new CHNA approach

* Update in the light of emphasis on the social determinants of health

Chapter 9: Strategic Planning (more distinctly separate from Chapters 6-7)

* Update to reflect contemporary thinking with regard to strategic planning

Chapter 10: Marketing Planning

* Incorporate the role of social media

Chapter 11: Business Planning

* Generally strengthen chapter

Chapter 12: Research Methods

* Update overall, strengthening qualitative research

* Insert new methodologies, including data modeling techniques

* Add research methods reflective of the population health emphasis on neglected metrics and non-health types of data

Chapter 13: Information Resources and Data Management

* Greatly expand sources of health data in the light of non-health types of data

* Expand to include non-health data

Chapter 14: The Future of Health Services Planning

* Update and expand

Appendices

* Review all appendices and update as appropriate

Throughout update references and additional resources