Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Percent of books published in each country that were translated works: South Korea: 29% Spain: 25% Italy: 22% China: 4% U.S. (adult fiction): 3.5% U.S. (total): 3% Kushner, Aviya (2009) “McCulture” Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2009, 33(1):22-29.
A new book by Dr. Michael Ozner takes on the cardiovascular surgery industry head-on. The aptly titled Great American Heart Hoax claims that although insurers pay $60 billion per year invasive cardiovascular surgery, 70%-90% of these procedures are unnecessary. The book has three major themes: What is heart disease? Why is heart surgery a…
I was recently read the book Free Market Madness by Peter A. Ubel. The book may be interesting for those who are unfamiliar with recent work by behavioral economists, but overall I was not overly impressed. The main thesis is that individuals do not always act rationally (duh) and that the government can do some…
I just finished reading an interesting book on plumbing. I can just see that I lost half my readers with that last sentence. How can plumbing be interesting? It turns out that if you are interested in health, you must be interested in plumbing. Disposing of human waste is one of the biggest health problems,…
I recently finished reading Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic by Leonard Berry and Kent Seltman. The book provides a glimpse inside one of the most successful health care organizations. While the book illuminates how Mayo Clinic has solved many of its operational issues and how it has built its reputation, the book is overwhelmingly positive.…
In 2006, Columbia/HCA was forced to return $1.7 billion to the federal government for defrauding Medicare. How was the federal government able to amass such strong evidence against HCA in order to win such a large settlement? The answer to the question is revealed in a book called Undercover by John W. Schilling. The book…
What is life really like working in a hospital? The Economist reviews a recent book by Julie Salmon titled Hospital: Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity, Plus Red Tape, Bad Behavior, Money, God and Diversity on Steroids. Here is an excerpt from The Economist: “…the fine grain of Ms Salamon’s observations allows her to paint a…
Paul Polak’s book Out of Poverty could have just as easily been titled “How to get rich: a guide for small-time farmers in developing countries” or “Marketing to dollar-a-day earners.” Polak’s book states that donations –especially those run through the developing country government–will not end poverty. They have not so far. One reason is that…
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler is a unique novel which describes the imprisonment of Communist revolutionary Nicholas Rubashov. Rubashov was a loyal supporter of the Communist cause in Russia, but his subsequent imprisonment on bogus charges causes him to reflect on whether his fight to bring Communism to Russia was truly beneficial to Russian…
Are you a bibiophile? Are you always on the lookout for a good book recommendation? If this is the case you should try GoodReads. The website is a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace. Instead of using a social network to keep up with friends or the latest gossip, GoodReads allows users to list…