Field of medicine: General internal medicine, primary care, and practice management.

Format: Softcover book.

Audience: Physicians, other health care personnel, and office managers.

Purpose: To describe risks for litigation in the office practice setting that are amenable to accurate assessment and intelligent management.

Content: This handbook describes ways to manage avoidable risks in office-based practices. Such risks include inadvertent needle sticks, the handling of dangerous chemicals, threats to or by patients, and fire hazards. The book was written by a general practitioner in the United Kingdom.

Highlights: No illustrations are included, but several examples of forms and checklists are given. The Table of contents is straightforward and useful.

Limitations: The index needs improvement. For example, the reader looking for information about needle sticks will find no entry for "needles" but will need to look under "phlebotomy." References are in an appendix and refer to government documents that are apparently the British equivalent of Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.

Context: This handbook may be most helpful to practice managers, but it may not be directly relevant for North American practices.

Reviewer: James J. Foody, MD, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.