Review
Joe Flower provides us all with reason for hope for the future of healthcare that we can make it better, faster, and cheaper no matter what happens in Washington or the state capitals. Joe's clear insight about meaningful transformation of healthcare delivery coupled with compelling stories from the front, provides a blueprint for organizations to make progress to a better future. —Ian Morrison, author, consultant, and fellow healthcare futurist
Flower has done a terrific job. This book truly needs to be read by the entire healthcare industry. In fact, this book is a must read for anyone even remotely associated with healthcare. Because it really can be done better for half the cost, the impact of this book will not only benefit Americans everywhere, but bless the lives of generations to come. —Darrell Moon, healthcare consultant and CEO of Orriant
Joe Flower’s optimism is in scarce supply these days, and it may be the most compelling reason to read his book. Flower believes a lot of our health system’s problems can actually be solved, and not by people in Washington, but rather people on the front lines. Worth reading. —Jeff Goldsmith, author, consultant, and fellow healthcare futurist
Joe Flower has produced a realistic blueprint for aligning America's medical marketplace with today's clinical, economic, and political realities. This book meets the need for a new and better approach to reform. — Jeffrey C. Bauer, Ph.D., medical economist and healthcare futurist
Flower clearly outlines and untangles the many complex forces that act upon and create the U.S. healthcare ‘system.’ More importantly, Flower thoughtfully proposes the way forward. This is an impressive contribution to creating better health and healthcare in the U.S. —Deryk Van Brunt, Associate Clinical Professor, UC Berkeley School of Public Health; and CEO of the Healthy Communities Institute
About the Author
Joe Flower is an independent healthcare analyst and futurist, a veteran of 30 years of studying, reporting on, consulting with, and speaking to organizations across the industry. His clients spread from the World Health Organization and the Department of Defense, to Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, and health plans, to local community hospitals, free clinics, physician groups, nursing associations, start-up companies, and small employers. He is on the board of the Center for Health Design, and on the speaking faculty of the American Hospital Association.
Joe has written a book on healthcare for everyone. First, it's very readable. Rather than a lot of complex jargon, he lays out the situation in plain English. Almost everyone grumbles about the American health care system and gigantic political fights are underway about it.
But just about everyone does not realize exactly how and why the system is broken, why costs are so high and results are so bad. For example, CAT scans in the US typically cost $1000 to $1500. But in Japan they only cost about $150. That's a ten times difference for something that is a standard test.
Besides charges that are all over the map, he also writes about how the best hopsitals in the US have vastly different prices for the same services. This is not comparing good and bad hospitals, but comparing top quality hospitals.
He then explains one serious problem - that the market does not operate. When you buy something, say a car, there are lots of competitors and buyers. You know what the sellers are charging and can go from one to the other to get a good price. With health care, the buyer and the seller are messy because you have the patient, the doctor, the insurance company and often a hospital with no reasonable competition.
Another part of the problem is that medical billing systems are not clearly set up to tell hospitals what is really costs to deliver a specific service. That number is hidden and obscured by their real accounting systems.
When it comes to solutions, he's very down to earth and sensible. He does not see what Republicans and Democrats fight over as being a key to the solution. Rather he discusses structural reforms. Sensibly, he does not advocate one size fits all solutions, but rather lays out reasonable principles that would seriously control costs.
One obvious solution is to help those with chronic illnesses avoid costly hospitalizations. If a diabetic can avoid an amputation, for example, it saves everyone money.
Whether you accept his thesis that we can cut the cost of health care in the US by 50% or believe the number is not quite as good, I'm convinced that if we adopted his ideas patients would get better served, doctors and nurses would be happier and we'd save a lot of money.
I therefore highly recommend this book to everyone who cares about health care whether it be delivering better care or saving money.
Product Details :
- Hardcover: 296 pages
- Publisher: Productivity Press (April 24, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1466511214
- ISBN-13: 978-1466511217
- Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 5.8 x 9 inches
More Details about Healthcare Beyond Reform: Doing It Right for Half the Cos, 1st Edition
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