Health Reform Christmas Books

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and a few to be chewed and digested

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Essays

December 8, 2011 -These are books I recommend as gifts for those engaged in health reform. I have written some of them. I know the authors of most of them. I have read all of them.

1. Obama, Doctors, and Health Reform. Richard Reece, 290 pages, IUniverse, 2009, paperbck. $17.12, Ebook $9.99,1-800-228-4467, or amazon. A doctor’s prediction on odds for success of health reform.

2. In Their Own Words: 12,000 Physicians Reveal Their Thoughts on Medical Practice, Philip Miller, Louis Goodman, Tim Norbeck, soft cover, 2010, $11.66. What doctors really think about health reform.

3. Doctor in the House: A Physician Turned Congressman, Michael Burgess, hardcover,2010, $16.43. A view from top-down from someone who has practiced from bottom-up.

4. Sailing Seven “Cs” of Hospital Physician Relationships, James Hawkins and Richard Reece, paperback, 68 pages, $17.95. What practice and hospital-doctor relationships looked like before we had Accountable Care Organizations.

5. The Health Reform Maze: A Blueprint for Physician Practices, Richard L. Reece, 290 pages. Greenbranch Publishing , 800-933-3711, $48.50. Describes the way it is, fiendishly complicated, not the way it ought to be, understandable for ordinary mortals.

6. Innovation-Driven Health Care: 34 Concepts for Transformation, Richard L. Reece, 375 pages, hardcover, Jones and Bartlett, $101.95. It’s never too late to innovate.

7. The Heart of Power; Health and Politics in the Oval Office, David Blumenthal and James Morone, 2009, hardcover, $35.17. The view from Massachusetts General and Harvard Medical School.

8. Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle for Health Reform, Yale U. Press, 324 pages, 2011,hardvoer, $17.49. A balanced book by long-time advocate for reform.

9. Inside National Health Reform, John McDonough,California Milbank books, 2011, hardcover, 339 pages, $22.60. By a Democratic insider.

10. Why Obamacare is Wrong for America, Grace-Marie Turner et al, Broadside-Harper Collins, 259 pages, 2011, paperback, $10.94. How health care law drives up costs, puts government in charge, and threatens constitutional rights.

11. The Truth about Obamacare, Sally Pipes, Regnery Publishing, 2011, paperback, 274 pages, $6.28 paperback, $8.23 Kindle, By a passionate Canadian expatriate who is president and CEO of Pacific Research Institute.

12. Health Care Reform Now! A Prescription for Change, George C, Halvorson, John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 361 pages, hardcover, $16.28. By CEO of Kaiser, a systems thinker and supporter of structural change.

13. Time to Sell? Guide to Selling a Physician Practice: Value, Options, Alternatives, Randy Bauman. 2011, 124 pages, $86.50, Greenbranch Publishing, 800-933-3711. Important because reform pressures are driving physicians out of practice into the arms of hospitals.

14. Road to Reform; The Future of Health Care in America. Eli Ginzberg, The Free Press, 216 pages, 1994, $4. A reminder that more things change the more they remain the same by a veteran of failed Clinton reform.

15. And Who Shall Care for the Sick? The Corporate Transformation of Health Care in Minnesota, Richard L. Reece, 278 pages, 1988, $46.97. A blast from the past by one who was present at the birth of United Healthcare and who predicted doctor shortage.

16. Consumer-Driven Health Care: Implications for Providers, Payers, and Policymakers, Regina Herzlinger, 2004, 892 pages, 43.33, This is still the bible of those who espouse market-driven reform.

Tweet: Christmas is wonderful time to give thoughtful gifts, especially if those gifts require thought.