A visionary investigation that will change the way we think about health care: how and why it is failing, why expanding coverage will actually make things worse, and how our health care can be transformed into a transparent, affordable, successful system. In 2007, David Goldhill’s father died from infections acquired in a hospital, one of more than two hundred thousand avoidable deaths per year caused by medical error. The bill was enormous—and Medicare paid it. These circumstances left Goldhill angry and determined to understand how world-class technology and personnel could coexist with such carelessness—and how a business that failed so miserably could be paid in full. Catastrophic Care is the eye-opening result. Blending personal anecdotes and extensive research, Goldhill presents us with cogent, biting analysis that challenges the basic preconceptions that have shaped our thinking for decades. Contrasting the Island of health care with the Mainland of our economy, he demonstrates that high costs, excess medicine, terrible service, and medical error are the inevitable consequences of our insurance-based system. He explains why policy efforts to fix these problems have invariably produced perverse results, and how the new Affordable Care Act is more likely to deepen than to solve these issues. Goldhill steps outside the incremental and wonkish debates to question the conventional wisdom blinding us to more fundamental issues. He proposes a comprehensive new way, where the customer (the patient) is first—a system focused on health and maintaining it, a system strong and vibrant enough for our future. If you think health care is interesting only to institutes and politicians, think again: Catastrophic Care is surprising, engaging, and brimming with insights born of questions nobody has thought to ask. Above all it is a book of new ideas that can transform the way we understand a subject we often take for granted.
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"Surprising, innovative, lucid, disruptive. There's no reason to feel resigned about our current health care system. It could be so much more, and David Goldhill's book is both a wake-up call and an interesting manual for how to proceed." — Pamela (4 out of 5 stars)
"Surprising, innovative, lucid, disruptive. There's no reason to feel resigned about our current health care system. It could be so much more, and David Goldhill's book is both a wake-up call and an interesting manual for how to proceed."
“David Goldhill has written a devastating and utterly original analysis of what has gone wrong with the American health care system. Read it, and take a deep breath. He will convince you that our ‘solutions’ are not solving our problems. They are making our problems worse.”
“A powerful—edge-of-the-seat riveting—because it is not, in any sense, a policy book.”
“Goldhill’s reasoned, logical alternative to the current system goes beyond political finger-pointing, and while his take is sobering, it’s one that offers sound solutions.”
“Highly readable presentation of one businessman’s solution, likely to provoke discussion if not agreement.”
" Super smart. Best analysis out there of what is wrong. And the other way we are screwing our kids "
" A great look at aAmerican health care from a largely nonpartisan viewpoint. "
" giving me completely new insights on health care system. "
" I wanted the book to be more of a personal story and instead it was a much more political-science based representation of American healthcare. There were some extremely interesting facts - it just wasn't what I was expecting or wanting from the read. "
" An interesting look at the problems of our current healthcare system (and some interesting proposed fixes). "
" Nothing new to me. Good explanation of ACA "
" After reading 3 chapters, I felt I got the information I needed. After that, it got wordy. "
David Goldhill is president and chief executive officer of GSN, which operates a US cable television network seen in more than seventy-five million homes and is one of the world’s largest digital games companies. He is a member of the board of directors of The Leapfrog Group, an employer-sponsored organization dedicated to hospital safety and transparency. Goldhill graduated from Harvard University with a BA in History and holds an MA in History from New York University.
Dean Sluyter has spent a lifetime learning authentic methods of natural meditation from Eastern and Western sages and sharing them with thousands of students, including prisoners, tech innovators, filmmakers, high school students, and entrepreneurs. He has completed numerous retreats and pilgrimages in Tibet, India, Nepal, and Europe, and for decades has led workshops throughout the United States.
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