Sampled in this chapter are some signs seen in shopping establishements. They include types of businesses, parts of a store, routine steps for making a purchase, (non-cash) payment methods, discount, and receipts.

A shop encounter is normatively closed when payment is made. This paper analyzes the ways in which the physical presence of money (whether as cash, or bank card) shapes the payment phase of the interaction at kiosks in Finland. This study demonstrates that customers orient to payment from the very beginning of the interaction and work to prepare their money and to make it observable to the seller from early on. Moreover, if the customer has made their money observable prior to the price announcement by the seller, the payment phase moves quickly and smoothly to completion. If, on the other hand, the money has not been made observable early in the interaction, payment can be delayed. Conversely, customers can put their money on the seller’s side of the counter before payment has been made relevant; in such cases, the seller adjusts his or her actions to speed up the interaction so that the payment phase arrives earlier than is typical. Thus, through money, especially displays of it early in the interaction, customers show their orientation to progressivity.

This chapter simplifies the complex multi-payer healthcare reimbursement market and explains how to position your product for successful reimbursement. The best time to bring reimbursement planning into the product development process is discussed here. The U.S. healthcare system is used as a baseline and the healthcare systems of other countries are reviewed briefly. Reimbursement for devices and administered drugs is based on many factors, and this chapter shows the steps a biomedical product company can take to maximize revenues in the US Healthcare system. The basics of reimbursement – coverage, coding, and payment – are explained in simple terms with diagrams. Case studies help show how individual companies have addressed the reimbursement process for novel breakthrough technologies.

By understanding health-care financing and organization, health-care professionals can provide more effective care and achieve financial success. This chapter covers basic insurance principles and key business operations concepts. There is a focus on Medicare (including Medicare Advantage) and Medicaid. Hospital and professional payment methods are explained. Steps that may help reduce health-care costs, such as better chronic care management, are presented. Whether the United States truly has a health-care system, the social spending crowd-out of health-care spending, and a brief international perspective are presented.

Inland waters and their biodiversity are a valuable resource.They are a source of fresh water, helping to purify it, and provide habitat for organisms (e.g. fishes) that may be eaten or used by humans. To improve the condition of fresh waters globally, it is imperative to link biodiversity conservation to human well-being. The concept of ecosystem services - the benefits humans derive from ecosystems - offers a means to make this link explicit, resolving the conflict between human water use and biodiversity protection. Ecosystem services thus serve as a proxy for biodiversity, assuming that maintaining the former will serve to protect the latter, representing a win-win conservation solution. While relevant for fisheries (a provisioning service), the substitution may be less applicable to supporting services that depend upon maintaining ecological functioning, not maximizing final services for humans. While valuation of biodiversity (and its subsequent monetization) is problematic, payment for ecosystem (or watershed) services can incentivize land-owners to protect sources of clean water for downstream users.