The cost of the American healthcare system is spiraling out of control at $1 trillion annually. Bad Medicine argues that the real solutions require a complete overhaul of the medical mindset of doctors and the institutions that train them. By recognizing physicians themselves as the principal cause of the crisis now facing the nation, it becomes possible to arrive at some explanation for the house of cards which is the American medical establishment today. O'Brien contends that American medicine has gone from being general-practitioner based to being overrun by specialists who treat only certain parts of the body and certain ailments, who recommend unneeded surgeries, and who ignore the important questions of ethics. He also exposes the perverse supply-and-demand formula within the medical system with doctors determining the demand for their services while patients have little say in these decisions. Bad Medicine outlines needed reforms to physician education, reconstruction of the medical pecking order, and redirection of government policies. By following this clear and distinct path toward reconstruction and reform of medicine, America will have the health care it needs and deserves in the twenty-first century.

Theories of Surplus Value (Great Minds Series)

Business & Money

Lawrence J. O'Brien

Economics

Prometheus+books

Reformers have tried to solve the U.S. healthcare crisis by focusing on costs, coverage, and benefits. But this doesn't get to the heart of medicine's problem, says veteran health services consultant Lawrence J. O'Brien, who argues that the real solutions require a complete overhaul of the medical mindset of doctors and the institutions that train them.O'Brien exposes this "bad medicine" by penetrating the core issues at the center of our $1 trillion a year system: the elitist education, narrow-minded training, and egotistic "infallible" attitudes of the doctors themselves; the inverted system of health insurance; and the many costly congressional reforms that have ended in failure. He contends that medicine has gone from being general practitioner-based to being overrun by specialists who can only treat certain parts of the body, and only certain ailments, who recommend unneeded surgeries, and ignore the important questions of ethics. He also exposes the supply/demand formula within the medical system with doctors (the suppliers of healthcare) determining the demand for their services.O'Brien prescribes needed reforms to doctor education and reconstruction of the government's policies within the healthcare system to clean up the growing medical mess.

Bad Medicine: How the American Medical Establishment Is Ruining Our Healthcare System

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Prometheus

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lawrence J. O'Brien. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lawrence J. O'Brien