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The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care T. R. Reid Bestselling author T. R. Reid guides a whirlwind tour of successful health care systems worldwide, revealing possible paths toward U.S. reform.
In The Healing of America, New York Times bestselling author T. R. Reid shows how all the other industrialized democracies have achieved something the United States can't seem to do: provide health care for everybody at a reasonable cost.
In his global quest to find a possible prescription, Reid visits wealthy, free market, industrialized democracies like our own-including France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and Canada-where he finds inspiration in example. Reid shares evidence from doctors, government officials, health care experts, and patients the world over, finding that foreign health care systems give everybody quality care at an affordable cost. And that dreaded monster "socialized medicine" turns out to be a myth. Many developed countries provide universal coverage with private doctors, private hospitals, and private insurance.
In addition to long-established systems, Reid also studies countries that have carried out major health care reform. The first question facing these countries-and the United States, for that matter-is an ethical issue: Is health care a human right? Most countries have already answered with a resolute yes, leaving the United States in the murky moral backwater with nations we typically think of as far less just than our own.
The Healing of America lays bare the moral question at the heart of our troubled system, dissecting the misleading rhetoric surrounding the health care debate. Reid sees problems elsewhere, too: He finds poorly paid doctors in Japan, endless lines in Canada, mistreated patients in Britain, spartan facilities in France. Still, all the other rich countries operate at a lower cost, produce better health statistics, and cover everybody. In the end, The Healing of America is a good news book: It finds models around the world that Americans can borrow to guarantee health care for everybody who needs it. |
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Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care - Text and E-Book Package, 5e Diana J. Mason RN PhD FAAN, Judith K. Leavitt RN MEd FAAN, Mary W. Chaffee RN PhD FAAN This money-saving package is a must-have for nursing students! It includes Mason's Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care 5th edition text and an electronic version of the textbook that allows students to search, highlight information, take notes, share notes and more. This package makes it simple for students to make the most of their study time and get more use out of their textbooks! |
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The Best Care Possible: A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life Ira Byock MD A palliative care doctor on the front lines of hospital care illuminates one of the most important and controversial ethical issues of our time on his quest to transform care through the end of life. It is harder to die in this country than ever before. Statistics show that the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die at home, yet many of us spend our last days fearful and in pain in a healthcare system ruled by high-tech procedures and a philosophy to "fight disease and illness at all cost." Dr. Ira Byock, one of the foremost palliative-care physicians in the country, argues that end-of-life care is among the biggest national crises facing us today. In addressing the crisis, politics has trumped reason. Dr. Byock explains that to ensure the best possible care for those we love-and eventually ourselves- we must not only remake our healthcare system, we must also move past our cultural aversion to talking about death and acknowledge the fact of mortality once and for all. Dr. Byock describes what palliative care really is, and-with a doctor's compassion and insight-puts a human face on the issues by telling richly moving, heart-wrenching, and uplifting stories of real people during the most difficult moments in their lives. Byock takes us inside his busy, cutting-edge academic medical center to show what the best care at the end of life can look like and how doctors and nurses can profoundly shape the way families experience loss. Like books by Atul Gawande and Jerome Groopman, The Best Care Possible is a compelling meditation on medicine and ethics told through page-turning, life or death medical drama. It is passionate and timely, and it has the power to lead a new kind of national conversation. |
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Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It's Necessary, How It Works Jonathan Gruber You won’t have to worry about going broke if you get sick. We will start to bring the costs of health care under control. And we will do all this while reducing the federal deficit. That is the promise of the Affordable Care Act. But from the moment President Obama signed the bill into law in 2010, a steady and mounting avalanche of misinformation about the ACA has left a growing majority of Americans confused about what it is, why it’s necessary, and how it works. If you’re one of them, buy this book. From how to tame the twin threats of rising costs and the increasing number of uninsured to why an insurance mandate is good for your health, Health Care Reform dispels false fears by arming you with facts. |
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The Innovator's Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman M.D., Jason Hwang M.D. A groundbreaking prescription for health care reform--from a legendary leader in innovation . . . Our health care system is in critical condition. Each year, fewer Americans can afford it, fewer businesses can provide it, and fewer government programs can promise it for future generations. We need a cure, and we need it now. Harvard Business School’s Clayton M. Christensen—whose bestselling The Innovator’s Dilemma revolutionized the business world—presents The Innovator’s Prescription, a comprehensive analysis of the strategies that will improve health care and make it affordable. Christensen applies the principles of disruptive innovation to the broken health care system with two pioneers in the field—Dr. Jerome Grossman and Dr. Jason Hwang. Together, they examine a range of symptoms and offer proven solutions. YOU’LL DISCOVER HOW - “Precision medicine” reduces costs and makes good on the promise of personalized care
- Disruptive business models improve quality, accessibility, and affordability by changing the way hospitals and doctors work
- Patient networks enable better treatment of chronic diseases
- Employers can change the roles they play in health care to compete effectively in the era of globalization
- Insurance and regulatory reforms stimulate disruption in health care
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Understanding Health Policy, Sixth Edition Thomas Bodenheimer, Kevin Grumbach Understand how the healthcare system works – and how you can succeed in it Covers the 2010 Affordable Care Act The most trusted and comprehensive guide to healthcare available, Understanding Health Policy provides everything students and professionals need to build a solid foundation on the field’s most critical issues. Expert practitioners in both the public and private healthcare sectors, the authors cover the entire scope of our healthcare system—from the concepts behind policy decisions to concrete examples of how they affect patients and professionals alike. Understanding Health Policy, 6e makes otherwise difficult concepts easy to understand—so you can make better decisions, improve outcomes, and enact positive change on a daily basis. Features: - Coverage of structure, organization, and financing of the health care system
- Key principles, descriptions, and concrete examples are skillfully interwoven in each chapter to make important issues interesting and understandable
- Clinical vignettes clarify difficult concepts and demonstrate how they apply to real-world situations
- Comprehensive list of review questions reinforce what you have learned
Understanding Health Policy, 6e will help you develop a clearer, more systematic way of thinking about health care in the United States, its problems, and the alternatives for managing and solving these problems. |
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Dying Well Ira Byock MD Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock's dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, and conflict. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, talk to loved ones—and make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning. - Exceptional praise from M. Scott Peck, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and many others
- Dr. Byock is a nationally recognized leader in hospice care
- The hospice community is comprised of over 5,000,000 professionals and volunteers
- The tremendous success of How We Die (215,000 hc) and Final Gifts (150,000 pb) proves the market's viability
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Understanding Health Policy, Fifth Edition (LANGE Clinical Medicine) Thomas Bodenheimer, Kevin Grumbach An engaging and clinically applicable work on the principles and structure of the U.S. healthcare system A Doody's Core Title for 2011! "Eminently readable...Anyone wanting to gain insight into the forces that shaping health policy and the future of health care will appreciate this book."--Critical Care Nurse Magazine Understanding Health Policy is the best-written, most informative book available on the subject--and it's the #1 choice for healthcare students and professionals alike. The authors carefully weave key principles, descriptions, and concrete examples into chapters that make important health policy issues both interesting and understandable. Fully updated to reflect current issues in the ever-changing world of healthcare, the newest edition addresses all the topics that affect you most, from the structure and organization of the industry to issues regarding government and private insurance, to access to healthcare. Everything you need to understand how the healthcare system works - and your role in it: - Clinical vignettes in every chapter illustrate key points
- Detailed treatment of both U.S. and international issues
- A complete chapter of review questions
- NEW Expanded coverage of healthcare workers other than physicians
- NEW Closer scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry
- NEW Brand-new chapter on the medical education system
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Delivering Health Care In America: A Systems Approach Leiyu Shi, Douglas A. Singh Given the recent and rapid developments in the delivery of health care in the United States, never has it been more important to have the most up-to-date resources for teaching students about this complex and dynamic industry. Now in its Fifth Edition, Delivering Health Care in America offers the most current and comprehensive overview of the basic structures and operations of the U.S. health system--from its historical origins and resources, to its individual services, cost, and quality. Using a unique systems approach, this bestselling text brings together an extraordinary breadth of information into a highly accessible, easy-to-read resource that clarifies the complexities of health care organization and finance, while presenting a solid overview of how the various components fit together. |
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Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans Wendell Potter Wendell Potter is the insurance industry's worst nightmare. In June 2009, Wendell Potter made national headlines with his scorching testimony before the Senate panel on health care reform. This former senior VP of CIGNA explained how health insurers make promises they have no intention of keeping, how they flout regulations designed to protect consumers, and how they skew political debate with multibillion-dollar PR campaigns designed to spread disinformation. Potter had walked away from a six-figure salary and two decades as an insurance executive because he could no longer abide the routine practices of an industry where the needs of sick and suffering Americans take a backseat to the bottom line. The last straw: when he visited a rural health clinic and saw hundreds of people standing in line in the rain to receive treatment in stalls built for livestock. In Deadly Spin, Potter takes readers behind the scenes to show how a huge chunk of our absurd healthcare spending actually bankrolls a propaganda campaign and lobbying effort focused on protecting one thing: profits. Whatever the fate of the current health care legislation, it makes no attempt to change that fundamental problem. Potter shows how relentless PR assaults play an insidious role in our political process anywhere that corporate profits are at stake—from climate change to defense policy. Deadly Spin tells us why—and how—we must fight back. |