The decision technologies, tools and theories of Operations Research and Management Sciences have long been applied to a wide range of issues and problems within health care. To date, however, there has been no single handbook that synthesizes the wide applicability of such techniques. The Handbook of Operations Research and Health Care now makes available to practitioners, students, and researchers a comprehensive handbook volume that will help them improve their ability to apply these decision technologies. In addition, the handbook will present new state-of-the-art techniques, explore new issues and challenges, and examine new avenues for research. This handbook will fill these needs in a three-fold approach: