Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure | 
 enlarge | Author: Regina Herzlinger
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 14758
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0071487808
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.10973
EAN: 9780071487801
ASIN: 0071487808
Publication Date: June 1, 2007
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Product Description
In the battle for U.S. health care, patients and doctors are losing. Who Killed Health Care? shows how to win the war. One of the nation's most respected health care analysts, Regina Herzlinger exposes the motives and methods of those who have crippled America's health care system-figures in the insurance, hospital, employment, governmental, and academic sectors. She proves how our current system, which is organized around payers and providers rather than the needs of its users, is dangerously eroding patient welfare and is pushing costs out of the reach of millions. Who Killed Health Care? then outlines Herzlinger's bold new plan for a consumer-driven system that will deliver affordable, high-quality care to everyone. By putting insurance money in the hands of patients, removing the middleman in the doctor-patient relationship, and giving employers cost relief, consumers and physicians will be empowered to make the system work the way it should. Herzlinger describes in precise detail how her innovative program will provide - Smaller, disease-focused medical facilities that provide complete care for patients
- A national system of medical records that provides privacy with confidential access by approved practitioners
- Mandatory performance evaluations of all hospitals and all other medical organizations
- Mandatory health insurance with subsidies for those who cannot afford it
Who Killed Health Care? is a call to arms that must be answered; the welfare of every American hangs in the balance. “A brilliant analysis… A must-read.” – Bill George, Professor, Harvard Business School and Former CEO of Medtronic “As it becomes more and more obvious to everyone that our current health care system is unsustainable, this is the book that had to be written.” – Daniel H. Johnson, Jr. MD, former president of the American Medical Association “Regina Herzlinger’s ideas to tackle the crisis of the U.S. health care system are based on keen knowledge of the system’s existing difficulties along with insights that introduce the reader to new streamlined choices that have the potential of getting both quantity and cost under control.” – Joseph Kennedy, founder, chairman, and president, Citizens Energy Corporation, CEO, Citizens Health Care, former representative (D-Mass) “Regina Herzlinger… offers a vision of the way things can be, should be, and will be sooner or later. The only question is: how long do we have to wait?” – Greg Scandlen, founder, Consumers for Health Choices “Regi Herzlinger has brilliantly articulated a better way – embracing the principles of competition and innovation that cause every other sector of our economy to thrive. Discharging American health care from the ICU can only happen by putting individual Americans – not politicians and bureaucrats – back in charge of their health care decisioins.” – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla), M.D. “Following on the heels of her landmark Market-Driven Health Care, Herzlinger lays it on the line with her expose of what many who work in the health care industry have felt in their gut. Now it is articulated in an entertaining and must-read portrayal, with you and me as the only way out.” – Dennis White, executive vice president for strategic development, National Business Coalition on Health “A wonderful Orwellian romp through issues which carry a deadly irony. The killers of health care are, of course, the third parties, each of which has an itchy palm and a commitment to profit or power which exceeds the commitment to service, with each engaging the others within a politically shaped box. Rarely has the case for the public been made with so much force, foresight, and wit, and a better way forward shown so clearly.” – James F. Fries, MD, Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine “You can practically hear the war chants as Professor Herzlinger sets out her view of what’s wrong with the health care system and how to fix it. You’d best read it so you can decide which side you will be on when the battle is joined.” – Paul Levy, CEO, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA “Regina Herzlinger, the nation’s leading expert on consumer-driven health care, has given us a brilliant analysis of the flaws in our health care system and what it will take to get it back on track. Her latest book is a must-read.” – Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School, Former CEO, Medtronic, and author of Authentic Leadership “You don’t have to agree with her diagnosis and prescription for the U.S. health care system, but you do have to read her book. Once again, Professor Herzlinger has put together a well researched, well written, and very provocative blueprint for the future of health care.” Peter L. Slavin, MD, President, Massachusetts General Hospital
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Tip of the iceberg, see the image June 22, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I've been thinking about publishing a book on health intelligence, and borrowed this from a colleague.
My contribution will be the image I created while thinking about what the book should look like--the inner square was co-created with another person.
This book can be summarized with three words: *corruption* killed health; *transparency* can heal us; and only we, the *patients* (or victims) can come together to demand resolution.
In the comment, where Amazon does allow URLs, I am pointing to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report online, which documents 50% of all health costs as waste.
The author ends with very specific recommendations that are excellent as far as they go, but that ignore the 80% of solutions that are outside the existing hospital-pharmaceutical complex. The Japanese have started weighing and measuring their population--a population's health and vitality is the single greatest contributor to national power and prosperity, ergo, we need a "360" approach to national health, and I try to depict that in the image above.
See also:
The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink
Fast Food Nation
The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead
Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy
Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health
The Health of Nations: Infectious Disease, Environmental Change, and Their Effects on National Security and Development
Diet for a Small Planet (20th Anniversary Edition)
Human Scale
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
innovative approach for radical improvement June 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Jack Morgan was a great guy and when he died, a lot of people mourned him. He could have lived another 20 years, but he died because of an inept, malfunctioning, costly healthcare system. Jack thought this system was protecting him, but it killed him.
The hospitals, employers, managed care insurers, the Congress and executive branch, and health policy academics, all conspired, according to Dr. Regina Herzlinger, Harvard Business School Professor and accomplished author, to kill Jack and hundreds of thousands others, and to make enormous profits in the process.
Her solution? Consumer-driven healthcare, more or less following the Swiss model. It would enable innovators who have great ideas about how to get more value for the money to enter the space and allow providers compete for Jack's business. It would encourage multiple revolutionary innovations in the supply of health care and result in significantly better and less expensive service.
A truly innovative approach for radical improvement that can be accomplished incrementally and tremendously benefit all of us. Read it and think about wonderful possibilities!
Yuval Lirov, Practicing Profitability - Billing Network Effect for Revenue Cycle Control in Healthcare Clinics and Chiropractic Offices: Collections, Audit Risk, SOAP Notes, Scheduling, Care Plans, and Coding
Courageous insight May 26, 2008
Professor Herlinger has once again tackled the single greatest problem in the United States: the antiquated, patronizing, and profit-driven system of health care. Almost everyone who has the authority to do something about our system seems to be too closely tied to industry to make any significant change. This book lays it out simply and directly: we need to return to a consumer-oriented system
A must read! April 28, 2008
This book was absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend it! Dr. Herzlinger does a remarkable job of explaining the complex (and inefficient) healthcare system that we currently have and clearly outlining the steps that need to be taken to fix it. Her ideas are simple, yet complex because they will revolutionize healthcare and take great steps towards the better care and coverage we all deserve.
Consumer-Driven Healthcare Is The Way To Go! March 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Consumer-driven healthcare means that we shop for our healthcare services just like we shop for a car, furniture, a handyman or a plumber. We try to get the best value for the dollar. We leave it up to the entrepreneurs to provide us with the best for the least. Competition brings down the cost of most everything, and healthcare costs are no exception. Regina Herzlinger makes an excellent argument for this in her book in a most passionate manner. It is quite obvious by the tone of her book that she wants to get her message across.
I am a licensed nursing home administrator, who owned and operated a skilled nursing home from 1986 to 2001, with as many as 60 employees, and like most employers, I provided healthcare coverage for my employees. As an entrepreneur I never worked so hard in my life! Before purchasing the nursing home and becoming an entrepreneur, I had worked 18 years for the State, at the University of Washington. Although during those 18 years I felt I was really working hard from 8 am to 5 pm, I rarely took any work home with me. Not so when I was operating my own business. It was 24/7! This is not unusual for entrepreneurs. This is the way it works, and this is the reason consumer-driven healthcare will work. Doctors, nurses, and all healthcare providers will all compete for the same consumer dollar. And Dr. Herzlinger explains succincly and explicitly how this can be done. Moreover, individuals who cannot afford healthcare will be empowered with tax monies to shop for their own services.
Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, set up a program similar to what Dr. Herzlinger proposes. and, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt, from what I've read supports a radically different healthcare model from what is in place today. If we could get the three of them together, perhaps the $2 trillion healthcare problem would be solved! What an idea!
Let the entrepreneurs (who like to work hard. I know. I was one of them.) keep costs down by competing with one another hard and strong. This will bring about more innovation, research and invention than ever before. America can and should be the leader in providing the best affordable healthcare in the world. Spending more on healthcare doesn't always translate into making it better--at least not so far.
Dr. Herzlinger identifies brilliantly who killed healthcare, how they did it, and why they did it. Her book makes for fascinating reading. And she names names. Her book covers much of the history of healthcare in America. But, most importantly, she explains exactly what she thinks can and should be done and the difficulty that most assuredly will be encountered in "turning this big ship around." It's up to us to make it happen. She can't do it alone.
Virginia Frost DeBord
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