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Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine
Flatlined lifts the veil of secrecy on twenty-first century health care and delves into the realities of good people caught in a bad medical system. Dr. Guy L. Clifton, a practitioner as well as a policy advocate, reveals first-hand accounts of needless tragedy, such as the young man who died after a car wreck for lack of a bed in a qualified hospital and the surgeon who was dejected by the scarcity of resources needed to enable him to perform heart surgery on an uninsured man.
Arguing that a lack of coordinated care and quality medical practice benchmarks result in high levels of redundancy and ineffectiveness, Clifton proposes that the key to reducing health care costs, improving quality, and financially protecting the uninsured, is to reduce wastefulness, and offers a solution for achieving success. Flatlined sounds the warning By 2018 Medicare and Medicaid will consume about one-third of the federal budget. American businesses now pay three times as much of their payroll for health care as global competitors, expected to worsen as health care grows at twice the rate of the U.S. economy. Based on his years of experience in policy and medicine, Clifton offers an attainable solution through the development of an American Medical Quality System.
Arguing that a lack of coordinated care and quality medical practice benchmarks result in high levels of redundancy and ineffectiveness, Clifton proposes that the key to reducing health care costs, improving quality, and financially protecting the uninsured, is to reduce wastefulness, and offers a solution for achieving success. Flatlined sounds the warning By 2018 Medicare and Medicaid will consume about one-third of the federal budget. American businesses now pay three times as much of their payroll for health care as global competitors, expected to worsen as health care grows at twice the rate of the U.S. economy. Based on his years of experience in policy and medicine, Clifton offers an attainable solution through the development of an American Medical Quality System.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published December 2, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 27, 2019
One of the most insightful books I've read about the US health system and I have read many of them. I'm amazed that this book got so little attention - probably because Clifton is not your typical "celebrity academic". He is, however, very reputable within the circle as a skilled and honest neurosurgeon who ran the neurosurgery department of a large healthcare system in Texas, as well as a policy analyst and advocate. The book systematically dissects what's wrong with the US health system, covering how the misaligned incentives of hospitals, physicians, pharmaceuticals, insurance industry and employers form a "perfect storm" that results in the frankenstein that is the US health system. Clifton tapped into patient stories to illustrate the gravity of each of these issues. This book is almost 10 years old now, but all of the points that are raised are still salient. 6 years into the ACA, we certainly see a lot of attempt at addressing many of these points, but the results are yet to be seen.
January 5, 2020
One of the most insightful books I've read about the US health system and I have read many of them. I'm amazed that this book got so little attention - probably because Clifton is not your typical "celebrity academic". He is, however, very reputable within the circle as a skilled and honest neurosurgeon who ran the neurosurgery department of a large healthcare system in Texas, as well as a policy analyst and advocate. The book systematically dissects what's wrong with the US health system, covering how the misaligned incentives of hospitals, physicians, pharmaceuticals, insurance industry and employers form a "perfect storm" that results in the frankenstein that is the US health system. Clifton tapped into patient stories to illustrate the gravity of each of these issues. This book is almost 10 years old now, but all of the points that are raised are still salient. 6 years into the ACA, we certainly see a lot of attempt at addressing many of these points, but the results are yet to be seen.
October 18, 2017
Insightful
June 22, 2016
The premise in this book is that the healthcare system is broken and the author proposes the creation of a new medical quality system group set up like the almighty Federal Reserve to monitor and change the practice of medicine. This book was written in 2009, and predates Obamacare. As such, some of the suggestions have been put in place, particularly in the quality arena. There is way too much emphasis on the uninsured-perhaps there are other solutions to get our own house in order in this country. Immigration is certainly a contributor to this problem. Sadly, the author doesn't address this.
The author is sort of making the case for a single payer system. Comparing a country of over 300 million to much smaller countries (Canada-39 million) is a bad comparison and is akin to comparing apples to oranges. At the end of the day, it's the regular folks who will suffer. There aren't enough doctors or nurses and the greed of insurers and other folks in the industry will not disappear.
The author is sort of making the case for a single payer system. Comparing a country of over 300 million to much smaller countries (Canada-39 million) is a bad comparison and is akin to comparing apples to oranges. At the end of the day, it's the regular folks who will suffer. There aren't enough doctors or nurses and the greed of insurers and other folks in the industry will not disappear.
August 17, 2017
Excellent book on how the US medical system developed into what it is today and on the problems it faces. Dr. Clifton gives poignant anecdotes, personal experience from his career as a neurosurgeon, and when working in Congress. All of his thoughts and examples are backed up by at least 5 statistics or note worthy papers. He neatly dissects all that is wrong in the US healthcare system today and offers some great thoughts into how this can be fixed. Anyone who is interested in healthcare today should read this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews