Failure to Treat
About this book
Stories of healthcare disasters abound in America today. Who among us does not know of one? In this anthology of composited true stories, a veteran clinician shares the details of practitioners and patients who were harmed-in some cases fatally-by a terribly broken healthcare system. Each of the twenty stories addresses a common problem: insurance denials, physician burnout, drug overpricing, limited physician access, fragmented care, frivolous lawsuits, medical deserts, misleading medical advertising, administrative harm, and corporate takeovers. Dr. Kowey discusses these issues, and more, in layman's terms, concluding each vignette with practical advice for patients and caregivers to help them avoid a catastrophe. His goal is to partner with practitioners and patients to promote real change before American medicine runs completely off the tracks.
"Dr. Kowey has done an outstanding job of explaining how profit has utterly corrupted the US healthcare system-driving caring, capable physicians out of practice, while lining the pockets of hospital administrators, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device manufacturers. Read and weep." -Barbara H. Roberts, MD, FACC, author of The Truth About Statins
"These clinical anecdotes are poignant, precisely chosen, and fluently written."
-Robert Fenichel, MD, former Director, Cardiorenal Division, FDA
"An engrossing compendium of medical stories that expose serious flaws in our increasingly heartless healthcare system. This book is a call to action. Changes must occur so practitioners no longer face systemic hurdles that waste their time and block their ability to provide high quality care to their patients." -Andrea Leonard-Segal, MD, former Director, Division of Nonprescription Drugs, FDA
"Dr. Kowey has illuminated brilliantly many of the pitfalls in U.S. healthcare today, along with their causes, using patient vignettes. Helpful guidance is offered to patients as they navigate our dysfunctional healthcare system until vast improvements in US healthcare delivery are in place."
-Ralph Brindis, MD, MPH, MACC, Past President, American College of Cardiology
"Failure to Treat explains the problems with U.S. health care and how we got here.Kowey uses stories of failure in the medical system to explain how we can advocate for our care. It will be a great addition to health humanities classes and a resource for patients who want to know more. Given the current failures of U.S.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Praise for Failure to Treat
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Disclaimer
- Contents
- Prologue
- Story 1: Medical Insurance Companies Do Not Care About You • Ms. Ping and Dr. Xavier
- Story 2: Healthcare Screening for Fun and Profit • Mr. Jay
- Story 3: The Medical Malpractice Disaster • Mrs. Apple
- Story 4: The Rise of the Administrators • Mrs. Lopez
- Story 5: The Electronic Medical Record: Boon or Bane? • Mrs. Francis
- Story 6: Precertification Doesn’t “Certify” Anything • Mrs. Dowd and Dr. Thom
- Story 7: Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Other Drug Company Nonsense • Mrs. West and Dr. Shah
- Story 8: Technology for its Own Sake • Mr. Lee and Dr. Gold
- Story 9: Regulatory Failings and the Billion-Dollar Alternative Medicine Mess • Mr. McCabe and Dr. Nuff
- Story 10: Physician Burnout is Real and Really Bad for Everyone • Mr. Han and Dr. Robb
- Story 11: It’s All About the Money: For-Profit Outpatient Procedural Centers • Ms. Nell and Dr. Bank
- Story 12: Physician Reimbursement and Perverse Incentives • Mr. East and Drs. Silver and Wynn
- Story 13: The Medical Education Fiasco • Mrs. Uler and Dr. Yeats
- Story 14: Acquisition Mania and the Private Equity Mess • Mr. and Mrs. Epps and Dr. Herr
- Story 15: Affiliated Healthcare Professionals Are as Good as Doctors. Really? • Mrs. Hernandez and Nurse Practitioner Antman
- Story 16: Research Data and How to Manipulate Them • Mr. Quinn and Dr. Vijay
- Story 17: Diversity and Inclusion: Do We Need a VP or a Dean for That? • Mrs. Engle and Dr. Isaac
- Story 18: Those Big Centers Love to Tell You Just How Great They Are • Mrs. Lynch and Drs. Keats and Wolf
- Story 19: Medical Clearance or How to Blame Somebody Else • Mr. Coyle and Drs. Wynn and Singh
- Story 20: Fragmentation of Care: Doctor, Who Are You Again? • Mrs. Anders and Dr. Orly
- My Overall Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Author Bio