Celebrate Doctors Day – March 30th with Publications for the Physician produced by the US Federal Government

March 30, 2015

doctors dayThe United States Federal Government produces a broad array of topical medical-related publications that may appeal to the physicians — primary care, chiropractors, pediatricians, surgeons, elder care physicians, gynecologists, physical and occupational therapists. This blog showcases a few publications that may appeal to these medical-focused professionals serving patients of all ages that may have a variety of ailments.

Observation-Based Posture Assessment Review of Current Practice and Recommendations for ImprovementThe chiropractor or physical/occupational therapist may be interested in the Center for Disease Control’s report: Observation-Based Posture Assessment: Review of Current Practice and Recommendations for Improvement can be used to help practitioners assess postural stress of the trunk and upper limbs in a workplace environment.

Parent’s Guide to Childhood ImmunizationsFor pediatricians advising parents of children about vaccinations and immunizations, the Parent’s Guide to Childhood Immunizations (Packages of 10) is an economical way for doctors, especially pediatricians, and pediatric specialists to provide guidance in plain language to parents and caregivers of school-aged children.

(Photo compliments of safe surrender.org from Google Images download)

(Photo compliments of safe surrender.org from Google Images download)

Pediatric Surgery and Medicine for Hostile EnvironmentsPediatric Surgery and Medicine for Hostile Environments may provide a helpful reference in a trauma crisis impacting a child that may be suitable for emergency room doctors, staff, and critical pediatric surgeons s faced with handling gun shot or bomb explosive wounds in children.

Emergency Surgery, 4th US RevisionEmergency Surgery, 4th US Revision covers trauma surgeries, including head, face, neck, and eye injuries, to difficulties with airway breathing, amputations, abdominal injuries, infections, gynecological injuries and emergency pediatric medical care that may be impacted by a war situation, terrorist attack aftermath, earthquake, or other accidental disaster.   This title is available in print and eBook formats.

Pocket Guide to Staying Healthy at 50+Primary care physicians, especially those that have senior citizens as patients, will want to make sure that they have these resources on hand: Pocket Guide to Staying Healthy at 50+ provides guidance on immunizations, living habits, and screening tests this age group should follow to stay healthy.

Long-Term Care Services in the United States 2013 OverviewLong-Term Care Services in the United States 2013 Overview provides data on services including residents of nursing homes, residential communities, patients of home health care agencies, hospices, and participants in adult day care.

All physicians will want to have these resources available in their professional library:

Health Insurance Claims Forms (SMS-1500)Health Insurance Claims Forms (SMS-1500) -2 part snap-out package – this essential form is used to bill Medicare carriers and medical equipment durable regional carriers when a provider qualifies for a waiver from the Administrative Compliance Simplification Act (ACSA)and can also be used for billing some Medicaid State agencies.

Health Care Act (Public Laws 111-152 and 111-148)Health Care Act (Public Laws 111-152 and 111-148) is the primary, full-text and authoritative source on the “ins and outs” of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act commonly referred to as “Obamacare” or “Obama Care.”

How can I get these publications?

Shop Online: You can purchase these publications from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov by clicking on the title links above in this blog post.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Visit a Federal Depository Library: Search for one of these publications in a nearby Federal depository library.

About the author: This week’s blog contributor is Maureen Whelan, Senior Marketing Team Leader for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales program office in Washington, DC. Maureen oversees print and digital content dissemination strategy and manages third party free and paid content distribution through platforms and vendors, such as Apple iBookstore, Barnes and Noble.com, Google Play eBookstore, Ebscohost databases, Overdrive, and more.


Social Security Facts and Figures

September 10, 2012

Guest blogger, GPO Public Relations Specialist Emma Wojtowicz, reviews a new publication giving the “Fast Facts & Figures” about the U.S. Social Security System.

The Federal Government offers many publications to educate and inform the public. If there is a topic that interests you or that you want to learn more about, Government publications are a great resource. Not all publications are long, dense and written as legal briefs.

Fast Facts & Figures About Social Security, 2011 is a 36-page booklet that accomplishes what the title suggests – providing readers with fast facts and figures about Social Security.

Social Security is always a hot topic with election-year fact checkers, and this annual publication does a good job breaking down the information so the reader can understand and better grasp this important topic.

The introduction describes the publication as a “chartbook” which it is with at least one chart, graph, or table on each page. This is a smart way to present the information because it allows the reader to gain a lot of knowledge from just scanning each page.

Like most Government-related publications there are many acronyms that readers are not familiar with, luckily, this publication includes a list of abbreviations and acronyms on the second page which is helpful for understanding the content, such as OASI which stands for Old-Age and Survivors Insurance.

The data focuses on Social Security programs for retired workers and their dependents, disabled workers and their dependents, and survivors of a deceased worker, which benefits or assists over 59.2 million Americans.

Here are some of noteworthy Social Security facts and figures for 2011:

  • Of all adults receiving monthly Social Security benefits, 44% are men and 56% are women.
  • The recipients of Social Security benefits are  64% retired workers, 15% disabled workers, 12% survivors of decreased workers, and 9% dependents of a retired or disabled worker.
  • The average Social Security benefit for a worker who retires at full retirement age is $1,176 per month, and the maximum Social Security benefit a worker who retired at full retirement age can receive is $2,366 per month.
  • The average Social Security benefit for the children of a deceased worker is $750 per month.
  • Social Security is financed from three sources: 82% from payroll taxes, 15% from interest earned on Government bonds held by trust funds, and 3% from income taxes on Social Security benefits.
  • For 73% of single elderly (nonmarried aged) beneficiaries (and 54% of elderly couples receiving benefits) in 2011, Social Security provided at least 50% of their total income. Social Security benefits make up over 90% of the total income for 43% of single elderly recipients (and 22% of elderly couples), making Social Security benefits a critical source of monthly income for them to live on (See image below).

The one downside to this publication is that is does not thoroughly explain how Social Security benefits are calculated for recipients; there is a benefit formula, but it is not easy to understand. Despite that negative, the publication provides thorough data in an easy to read format that helps familiarize readers with Social Security.

HOW MAY I OBTAIN “Fast Facts & Figures About Social Security, 2011”?

  • Buy it online 24/7 at GPO’s US Government Online Bookstore.
  • Buy it at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday-Friday, 9am to 4pm, except Federal holidays, (202) 512-0132.
  • Find it in a library.

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