Great Health Care: Making It Happen 2012th Edition

This book is composed of several articles that seem to be directed to consumers with a good knowledge of medicine--and to persons in the health care industry.Most articles have an underlying theme that good medical care is often far more than just the science of medicine, it involves caring professionals and creative minds. The book also has a warm cover of philosophy. In a medical age, in which residents, spend their time earning grades, and then preparing for licensing exams, this is a call to THINK beyond the classroom and the "rounds" at hospitals.The openings of the chapters are small anecdotes that ppay upon a theme of interesting life experiences that the authors will then relate to the message of the story. Some of the better life-experiences are by Eric Newman, one of the two editors, who is witty and informative.This is a book meant to be read on a now-and-then basis. It needs to be absorbed, one chapter at a time. Digested. Analyzed. Thought about. And then applied.There is a major negative, though. The publisher should have hired a better designer--and should also have allowed for larger type. The tight design, with the publisher tryong to get too many words on one page, is in confict with the purpose of the book. This is as simple a design as possible, with the effect to reduce readability. A little more money (the book retail is a bit pricy) in the design would definitely promote better readability.

As a grief therapist and an oncology/health care social worker, issues within the health care setting that are often left open as a challenge for our field were addressed in this book. The authors discussed relevant concerns to patient care from a strengths based and whole person perspective as opposed to the type of care that is all to often the norm where symptomatology is identified and treated, while the other aspects of the person are not taken into consideration. I have worked with many doctors and nurses who struggle to find the balance of time and the pressures of money with truly caring for their patients in more than just their physical care, but addressing what the patient's unique needs are on an individual basis. This is not taught or stressed with enough frequency. The authors identify this struggle and offer tools and insight into how to make this balance a reality. This book should be required reading for any health care professional to invite a climate of health care where all professions are taught to treat patients in a manner that is simultaneously time-efficient, cost-efficient, and most importantly, care-efficient. The success stories told by champions offers individual practitioners' perspectives of how this model of exceptional health care is experienced in the real world. The use of humor and personal stories make reading this book particularly enjoyable.

This is truly a GREAT book!It is no secret that there are may components of our health system that are in urgent need of improvement. This book targets the chronic diseases that currently result in 70% of our ballooning health care costs. The basic message of the book is simple. If patients with chronic diseases can be kept in the "early" stages of the disease, costs are modest and quality of life is good. But, if they slip through to the "middle" stages of the disease the costs go up substantially and their quality of life drops significantly as well. And, if they slip further into the "critical" stage of the disease, costs increase dramatically while quality of life is severely diminished. For example, patients with diabetes, if well addressed early, can lead a good life at very low cost. But, if they slip through to the point of being on dialysis, quality of life deteriorates and costs skyrocket. Nine health centers that do a good job with one of the chronic diseases describe how they did it and the editors bring it all together based on their own distinguished careers. Great Health Care: Making It Happen

With this book, Tim Harrington and Eric Newman (along with the other authors) join a growing chorus of voices describing the many problems with our health care system and how to fix it. But their book stands out, in my mind, for two reasons. First, they've been thinking about these problems for longer than most of their peers and their insights are based on a wealth of experience gained through successful and unsuccessful attempts at change. Second is their sense of humor and decency. I can honestly say this is the only book about health care reform that has ever made me laugh out loud. (If you buy the book, read chapter 5 first.) But more importantly, they never stray far from the patient. The business side of medicine is complex, frustrating and sometimes mind numbingly boring. They tackle it head on without losing sight of the goal: great care for our patients.

I liked the examples of the different health care systems. It is good to see what is being done around the country without government help or intervention. As ideas and concepts can be extracted from other areas and synthesized into what will work in a particular environment(urban, rural or suburban) systems can pick and choose and extract what will work for their area.

I bought copies to give to others interested in re-designing the US health system, physicians and the public. We have received many complements from readers. The content is even more important as the Accountable Care Act is being implemented.