Need to Know: How to Arm Yourself and Survive on the Healthcare Battlefield

by Darwin Hale

Illness, disease, and aging aren't the only things attacking your wellness. The US healthcare system has failed to evolve like other industries, remaining fragmented and inefficient, unable to keep up with the changing needs of citizens, particularly those of Medicare age and veterans. Butthere is hope. Eventually, you or a loved one will be drafted onto the healthcare battlefield—and the best time to prepare is now. In Need to Know, Darwin Hale, a decorated retired military officer with more than twenty years in the healthcare arena, presents practical and objective strategies for managing the system’s flaws based on military lessons learned. These solutions include how to - Navigate a system that can cure or kill you - Use wellness to fight disease - Prepare for the future of personalized medicine - Arm yourself with a battle plan You don’t have to fight alone. Need to Know cuts through the red tape so you can get the care you deserve.

Genres: Nonfiction

238 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2018

Reviews

[Andrew K]

Spoiler alert! Got this book via #goodreadsgiveaways. Essentially, the book is broken down in 3 sections. 1) How our healthcare system is/is not currently working and it’s results on our health financially and physically, as well as that of the country 2) how you can be as healthy as possible (eat well, exercise, and be positive) 3) what is working in healthcare and the need to know the options in healthcare plans and to know that there will be changes in the future. I like the authors military analogies to illustrate his points and feel these are helpful for introducing his points. As a physician, I find the recommendations in part 2 somewhat simplistic and probably too generalized to be actionable. My overall view of the book can be summarized in these two sentences: Keep/make yourself healthy. Find someone to help you navigate the healthcare arena given how complicated it is with regards to insurance plans, etc. The author speaks from experience working in his own business helping people learn to navigate the system. I agree that this can be incredibly complex, however the book just gives you enough info to let you know you will need help, but not enough to tell you what to do. For the purpose he set out to attain, I give the author 4 of 5 stars on this book. I subtracted one star just due to my perception that part 2 is oversimplified and part 3 is too basic to be actionable.

[JB]

Better than expected

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I was thinking maybe I could learn something and boy did I ever. Within the first 20 pages I was tempted to put the book down, however, I am glad that I stuck with it to the end. If you take nothing more away from this book than hope for the future I think it’s a great start, however, I hope you do more that that just like the author recommends. Enjoy!

[J]

The book is short and to the point. It contains general info to help people become interested and invested in their own healthcare. It is written in a way that everyone will be able to understand. Some of the statistics listed are incredibly scary and eye opening. I received an ebook edition of this book through the give away program on goodreads.

[Kathryn]

Did not finish

As far as health management, nothing new or insightful. As far as the future of healthcare, not realistic or feasible.