-First edition by McGraw-Hill, 1998. Textbook for courses on health administration and planning Author is fairly wellknown 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.