Health Care Will Not Reform Itself by George C Halvorson

Health Care Will Not Reform Itself by George C Halvorson

Provides a basic primer on the American health care system. This work explains how health insurance works in the US compared with the rest of the world and outlines the barriers to American reform. It also discusses why health care costs are going up so rapidly and sets realistic goals for care improvement.

When running for office, President Obama pledged to expand health insurance coverage while reducing the cost of care by $2500 per year for the average familySkeptics scoffed that industry insiders would block this goal in defense of their interests. Now George Halvorson, CEO of the nation’s largest health care delivery system, says reducing costs while expanding coverage not only should be done, but can be done, and tells us how. His book highlights the important role and many forms of connectivity in health care: electronic medical records for patients and physicians, registries and care coordination programs for chronic illness, mandates and exchanges for health insurance, the alignment of culture and incentives among the many contributors to the wellbeing of patients.— Dr. James Robinson, PhD, MPH Professor of Health Economics, UC Berkeley

Clear, concise, and compelling, George Halvorson’s latest contribution clarifies why we must change, how we must change, what we must change, and when we must change. The answer is now. Drawing on the learnings from Kaiser Permanente’s transformation to a fully digitally enabled, integrated system of care, George Halvorson shows all of healthcare how to focus on the right goals and improve our performance in reaching those goals. — Ian Morrison Futurist; Author of The Second Curve: Managing the Velocity of Change and Healthcare in the New Millennium

George Halvorson offers a timely and compelling prescription to addressing the chronic ills of our health care system. One doesn’t have to agree with every proposal to appreciate the extraordinary contribution he has made here. Students of health reform would do well to consider this book as an invaluable text for our national public policy debate.—Tom Daschle, Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader

George Halvorson’s timing couldn’t be better and his message couldn’t be more valuable. He documents in clear, vivid prose why the health care system won’t reform itself which all employers and payers need to understand so they don’t miss this pivotal moment to dramatically reform health care. He offers information, evidence and practical solutions for aggressively attacking the "crushing burden of health care costs," as President Obama described our national challenge. Halvorson also provided ways we can sharply improve quality and safety, as well as save substantial dollars. He reminds us again, through many excellent examples, how essential it is to have electronic health records for effective, appropriate care at a reasonable cost. This book provides a great checklist for healthcare reform for the public and the private sector. I strongly recommend it.— Helen Darling President, National Business Group on Health

Halvorson’s simple, direct writing style is remarkable for its clarity. He takes complex problems and makes them understandable. Halvorson’s experience as leader of one of the world’s largest and most successful implementations of health information technology makes his insights into that subject particularly valuable.— Dr. Alain C. Enthoven, PhD Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Public and Private Management, Stanford University

When running for office, President Obama pledged to expand health insurance coverage while reducing the cost of care by $2500 per year for the average family. Skeptics scoffed that industry insiders would block this goal in defense of their interests. Now George Halvorson, CEO of the nation’s largest health care delivery system, says reducing costs while expanding coverage not only should be done, but can be done, and tells us how. His book highlights the important role and many forms of connectivity in health care: electronic medical records for patients and physicians, registries and care coordination programs for chronic illness, mandates and exchanges for health insurance, the alignment of culture and incentives among the many contributors to the wellbeing of patients.— Dr. James Robinson, PhD, MPH Professor of Health Economics, UC Berkeley

Clear, concise, and compelling, George Halvorson’s latest contribution clarifies why we must change, how we must change, what we must change, and when we must change. The answer is now. Drawing on the learnings from Kaiser Permanente’s transformation to a fully digitally enabled, integrated system of care, George Halvorson shows all of healthcare how to focus on the right goals and improve our performance in reaching those goals. — Ian Morrison Futurist; Author of The Second Curve: Managing the Velocity of Change and Healthcare in the New Millennium

George Halvorson offers a timely and compelling prescription to addressing the chronic ills of our health care system. One doesn’t have to agree with every proposal to appreciate the extraordinary contribution he has made here. Students of health reform would do well to consider this book as an invaluable text for our national public policy debate.—Tom Daschle, Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader

George Halvorson’s timing couldn’t be better and his message couldn’t be more valuable. He documents in clear, vivid prose why the health care system won’t reform itself which all employers and payers need to understand so they don’t miss this pivotal moment to dramatically reform health care. He offers information, evidence and practical solutions for aggressively attacking the "crushing burden of health care costs," as President Obama described our national challenge. Halvorson also provided ways we can sharply improve quality and safety, as well as save substantial dollars. He reminds us again, through many excellent examples, how essential it is to have electronic health records for effective, appropriate care at a reasonable cost. This book provides a great checklist for healthcare reform for the public and the private sector. I strongly recommend it.— Helen Darling President, National Business Group on Health

Halvorson’s simple, direct writing style is remarkable for its clarity. He takes complex problems and makes them understandable. Halvorson’s experience as leader of one of the world’s largest and most successful implementations of health information technology makes his insights into that subject particularly valuable.— Dr. Alain C. Enthoven, PhD Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Public and Private Management, Stanford University

George Halvorson has been the chief executive officer of health plans, hospital systems, and care delivery systems in the United States for over three decades. He has also helped start health plans in Jamaica, Chile, Nigeria, Spain and Uganda.He is the current chair of the International Federation of Health Plans and he also served as chair of the Health Governors for the 2009 World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland.Kaiser Permanente, his current employer, is the largest not-for-profit health plan and care system in America — with over eight and a half million members, 160,000 employees and roughly forty billion dollars in annual revenue.He is the past chair of the American Association of Health Plans and has served on the Board of Directors for the American Diabetes Associations, The Alliance of Community Health Plans, and Safest in America.He also currently chairs the Alliance for Quality — and serves on the Commonwealth Commission for a High Performing Health System.He is a long time proponent of health care reform — regularly writing articles and books and making presentations advocating reform. Recent books include Epidemic of Care (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco) and Health Care Reform Now! (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco).Kaiser Permanente has been a pioneer in the use of electronic medical records and computer connectivity between patients and caregivers — successfully completing a four billion dollar project to computerize the medical information for its members and patients.He is a husband, father of five sons, and grandfather to five wonderful grandchildren. He is headquartered in Oakland, California.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781439816141
ISBN 10	143981614X
Title	Health Care Will Not Reform Itself
Author	George C Halvorson
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Taylor & Francis Inc
Year published	2009-05-27
Number of pages	184
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.