Features
Proposes a new model for the delivery of health care utilizing a virtual system in which teams of doctors, connected by a web of technology, practice medicineProvides a historical look at the healthcare system and its current trajectoryDiscusses the opportunity to employ technology to reconstruct the delivery system into a more efficient modelExamines the treatment of disability as opposed to illnessExplores the actions that need to be taken by purchasers to help the system become more compassionate and effective
Summary
Despite more than a decade of change, the U.S. health care delivery system is still in the early stages of its transformation into a truly effective, cost efficient and compassionate system. In Healthcare.com: RX for Reform, Dr. David Friend, trained in both medicine and business, delineates the symptoms of our ailing healthcare system and offers a vision for the future.
Even with the enormous turmoil our health care system has undergone - from the proliferation managed care to the closing of hospitals - large numbers of people continue to receive sub-optimal care. The author discusses several symptoms including:
increasing costs
uncertain quality of care
eroding trust in health care vendors
increasing prospect of shareholder liability
declining access to providers
unclear impact on employee productivity
It is time to discard the old, traditional way of thinking about healthcare and take a fresh look at its issues and challenges. To tackle these challenges we must strike a balance between the seemingly dissimilar disciplines of economics, medicine, technology, and politics. Dr. Friend proposes that we tear down the brick and mortar delivery model and replace it with a Virtual Health Care System.
This new model changes the roles of everyone involved in the healthcare system, from the patient to the healthcare provider. It utilizes technology to redesign health care so that it can be delivered with higher quality and greater efficiency. Healthcare.com: RX for Reform examines the actions necessary for the evolution of our current system into a Virtual Health Care System.
Features
Table of Contents
Three Powerful Forces. New Deal, New Values. From Wastecare to Hollowcare. Opening the Door to Efficientcare. The Virtual Healthcare System. Changing Roles. Paying Hippocrates. Disability: The Hidden Health Care Dilemma. Value Purchasing and Partnerships.