Columbia/Hca: Healthcare on Overdrive

Throughout the year, no other business has undergone such media scrutiny and captured public attention as Columbia/HCA. With extensive coverage ranging from the government's wide-spread investigation to the dramatic ouster of the firm's hard-charging young founder, Rick Scott, Columbia/HCA's saga has become the corporate news story of the nineties. Columbia/HCA-Healthcare on Overdrive is the compelling account of this healthcare colossus, arguably the nation's most publicized business and a firm that has gone from relative obscurity to the peak of notoriety. Columbia/HCA chronicles the mercurial rise of Columbia-a company that started with a $250,000 investment and little more than a decade later had a market value of over $20 billion, was the nation's seventh largest employer and remains the world's largest healthcare system. In building the juggernaut, the firm's executives challenged the venerable world of American healthcare, pushing the envelope-perhaps too hard and too fast. Yet the story of Columbia is about more than one firm or one man. In actuality, Columbia/HCA is a conglomerate of several successful for-profit hospital chains-the history and philosophy of which are thoroughly described in this timely book. Columbia/HCA traces the genesis of for-profit hospital chains and profiles the visionaries who championed the for-profit concept, amassing personal fortunes and making believers of myriad investors. The book is filled with anecdotes and milestones that provide a backdrop against which to better understand the recent events surrounding the embattled Columbia/HCA. Columbia/HCA is rich in detail, yet highly readable, written in a style that is fast-paced and conversational. The authors have extensive knowledge of the subject matter, as well as considerable writing experience.