This book provides a unique insight into the United States' health system a growing US$2 trillion industry and an increasing focus of public concern. The author's extensive experience as an educator, consultant, researcher and author of five well-received books on that system provides a unique resource of largely unreported cases to mine. These vivid case studies weave the history, richness and complexity of the problems faced by patients and service providers into fascinating Byzantine intrigues. They illustrate the underlying structural problems that have produced disparities in treatment, escalating costs, unsafe and inadequate care, and the demoralization of the many decent and committed people who work within the system. Highly readable, the book also offers a candor and richness in detail that is typically lacking in textbooks, academic journal articles and the popular press.

This book provides a unique insight into the United States' health system - a growing US$2 trillion industry and an increasing focus of public concern. The author's extensive experience as an educator, consultant, researcher and author of five well-received books on that system provides a unique resource of largely unreported cases to mine. These vivid case studies weave the history, richness and complexity of the problems faced by patients and service providers into fascinating Byzantine intrigues. They illustrate the underlying structural problems that have produced disparities in treatment, escalating costs, unsafe and inadequate care, and the demoralization of the many decent and committed people who work within the system. Highly readable, the book also offers a candor and richness in detail that is typically lacking in textbooks, academic journal articles and the popular press.