I picked this book up not because of the Microsoft-specific solution, but for the HIPAA overview. Sounds like the other reviewers already had that, but for me this is the first place I've seen it all laid out.

As for it being Microsoft-specific, I just feel obligated to point out that this book documents a very specific solution that Microsoft put together with one of its partners. So, while the "comprehensive strategies" part of the title may be a misnomer, taken in context it's not a bad document. In Microsoft's document model this would be a Planning and Architecture document, aimed at the Business Decision Maker to give them an overview and get them interested in a particular architecture. (Disclaimer, I write these kinds of documents for Microsoft.) I do think the book, which appears extracted from a P&A document fails to adequately define the audience and that could cause some confusion.

So for a high-level view of both the landscape and a particular architecture, this is not a bad book. For a "comprehensive" solution, this is probably just the first step in a long journey.

This book contains nothing valuable. The case studies in it are superficial and tells the readers nothing about what's actually going on behind the scene. For example, in the first case, there's an explanation about mapping between X12 837 to some other formats. The example shows a screenshot of a nice GUI that allows the user to map elements of X12 to some other format presumably by using XML mapping. But where does the screen gets its information from? This example doesn't tell us anything about how to come up with a good XML representation of the X12 837 spec. Which is the first thing that any "solutions" would have to start from. I guess it's because of the closed-source nature of everything that Microsoft is doing, that they are afraid of showing the actual processes that they went through. Furthermore, they are actually proud of a solution that employs 6 different servers? the licensing costs alone are enough to put most clearinghouses out of business. If you're looking for an insight on how to actually help someone with HIPAA compiance, don't count on this book to be anything but a waste of money and time.

How can someone write book about a solution to a national problem where all they are doing is promoting the WPC product lines and some shallow Microsoft explanation of a server that can be found for FREE from the Microsoft Website. I could not find this book in the store to check it out before buying so I had to buy it. Don't repeat my mistake. Look for a more objective view and solution elsewhere.
Is this ethical to charge money for this book??

If you are looking for practical assistance with HIPAA compliance, look elsewhere. This is nothing but a very long adervertisement for Microsoft products.