Demanding Medical Excellence
Doctors and Accountability in the Information Age
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
Demanding Medical Excellence is a groundbreaking and accessible work that reveals how the information revolution is changing the way doctors make decisions. Michael Millenson, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee as a health-care reporter for the Chicago Tribune, illustrates serious flaws in contemporary medical practice and shows ways to improve care and save tens of thousands of lives.
“If you read only one book this year, read Demanding Medical Excellence. It’s that good, and the revolution it describes is that important.”—Health Affairs
“Millenson has done yeoman’s work in amassing and understanding that avalanche of data that lies beneath most of the managed-care headlines. . . . What he finds is both important and well-explained: inconsistency, overlap, and inattention to quality measures in medical treatment cost more and are more dangerous than most cost-cutting measures. . . . [This book] elevates the healthcare debate to a new level and deserves a wide readership.”—Library Journal
“An involving, human narrative explaining how we got to where we are today and what lies ahead.”—Mark Taylor, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Read this book. It will entertain you, challenge, and strengthen you in your quest for better accountability in health care.”—Alex R. Rodriguez, M.D., American Journal of Medical Quality
“Finally, a health-care book that doesn’t wring its hands over the decline of medicine at the hands of money-grubbing corporations. . . . This is a readable account of what Millenson calls a 'quiet revolution' in health care, and his optimism makes for a refreshing change.”—Publishers Weekly
“With meticulous detail, historical accuracy, and an uncommon understanding of the clinical field, Millenson documents our struggle to reach accountability.”—Saty Satya-Murti, M.D., Journal of the American Medical Association
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Finally, a health-care book that doesn't wring its hands over the decline of medicine at the hands of money-grubbing corporations. Instead, Millenson, a journalist and senior analyst for a health and welfare consulting practice, presents a portrait of American medicine improving, thanks in part to quality-control measures imposed by HMOs and health benefits managers. "The keys to medical excellence," he says, "are information and accountability." Gone are the days when doctors were seen as magicians: Today, when patients are better informed about treatments and physicians held accountable for their results, people are getting better faster. He focuses on simple, practical measures that have already improved patient outcomes: a hospital in Salt Lake City that uses computers to prevent harmful drug interactions; a Harvard-affiliated health center that encourages asthma patients to be active in their own treatment. While Millenson is not an all-out HMO defender, he attacks the conventional wisdom that their cost-cutting puts all patients in danger; he argues that their emphasis on proven results, in fact, has forced doctors to find the most effective treatments. His research is exhaustive, including personal accounts from physicians, patients and health-care administrators across the U.S. If at times, his attempts to include all relevant information turn into unnecessary digressions, overall this is a readable account of what Millenson calls a "quiet revolution" in health care, and his optimism makes for a refreshing change.
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