Next book

HEALTH AGAINST WEALTH

HMOS AND THE BREAKDOWN OF MEDICAL TRUST

A hard look at how for-profit health management organizations have come to be the force they are in our health care system and how their emphasis on the bottom line threatens quality medical care. Wall Street Journal reporter Anders (Merchants of Debt, 1992) reveals how corporations in the 1980s turned to managed care as a way to hold down the mushrooming costs of employee health plans by taking power away from doctors, hospitals, and patients and putting it in the hands of businessmen. Over 55 million Americans are now covered by HMOs, and their numbers are growing at the rate of 100,000 a week. The entrepreneurs who led the way in this astonishing revolution in our health care system come in for some sharp scrutiny (Anders seems to enjoy deploring their greed and flashy lifestyles), but the main focus is on how HMOs function. Anders examines their impact on hospitals, doctors, the pharmaceutical industry, and of course consumers. Hair-raising stories about the refusal to treat seriously ill patients are featured prominently in his discusion of how cost-conscious HMOs handle heart disease and breast cancer, emergency medicine, mental health, and care of the elderly and the poor. The picture that emerges is disheartening, even alarming, but not hopeless. Anders shows how consumers, doctors, employers, and regulators have been able in specific instances to challenge stingy treatment guidelines, negotiate for better access to specialists, change the rules about use of emergency rooms, and help set better standards of coverage. He concludes by summarizing various courses of action these groups can take to improve the medical care provided by HMOs and by warning HMOs that as society develops a cost-effective medical system, they may find themselves expendable. Highly readable and downright essential for anyone—patient or doctor—in an HMO or considering joining one. (Author tour)

Pub Date: Nov. 13, 1996

ISBN: 0-395-82283-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996

Next book

THE NEW GEOGRAPHY OF JOBS

A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's...

A fresh, provocative analysis of the debate on education and employment.

Up-and-coming economist Moretti (Economics/Univ. of California, Berkeley) takes issue with the “[w]idespread misconception…that the problem of inequality in the United States is all about the gap between the top one percent and the remaining 99 percent.” The most important aspect of inequality today, he writes, is the widening gap between the 45 million workers with college degrees and the 80 million without—a difference he claims affects every area of peoples' lives. The college-educated part of the population underpins the growth of America's economy of innovation in life sciences, information technology, media and other areas of globally leading research work. Moretti studies the relationship among geographic concentration, innovation and workplace education levels to identify the direct and indirect benefits. He shows that this clustering favors the promotion of self-feeding processes of growth, directly affecting wage levels, both in the innovative industries as well as the sectors that service them. Indirect benefits also accrue from knowledge and other spillovers, which accompany clustering in innovation hubs. Moretti presents research-based evidence supporting his view that the public and private economic benefits of education and research are such that increased federal subsidies would more than pay for themselves. The author fears the development of geographic segregation and Balkanization along education lines if these issues of long-term economic benefits are left inadequately addressed.

A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's more profound problems.

Pub Date: May 5, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-547-75011-8

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012

Next book

HOW GOOGLE WORKS

An informative and creatively multilayered Google guidebook from the businessman’s perspective.

Two distinguished technology executives share the methodology behind what made Google a global business leader.

Former Google CEO Schmidt (co-author: The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business, 2013) and former senior vice president of products Rosenberg share accumulated wisdom and business acumen from their early careers in technology, then later as management at the Internet search giant. Though little is particularly revelatory or unexpected, the companywide processes that have made Google a household name remain timely and relevant within today’s digitized culture. After several months at Google, the authors found it necessary to retool their management strategies by emphasizing employee culture, codifying company values, and rethinking the way staff is internally positioned in order to best compliment their efforts and potential. Their text places “Googlers” front and center as they adopted the business systems first implemented by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who stressed the importance of company-wide open communication. Schmidt and Rosenberg discuss the value of technological insights, Google’s effective “growth mindset” hiring practices, staff meeting maximization, email tips, and the company’s effective solutions to branding competition and product development complications. They also offer a condensed, two-page strategy checklist that serves as an apt blueprint for managers. At times, statements leak into self-congratulatory territory, as when Schmidt and Rosenberg insinuate that a majority of business plans are flawed and that the Google model is superior. Analogies focused on corporate retention and methods of maximizing Google’s historically impressive culture of “smart creatives” reflect the firm’s legacy of spinning intellect and creativity into Internet gold. The authors also demarcate legendary application missteps like “Wave” and “Buzz” while applauding the independent thinkers responsible for catapulting the company into the upper echelons of technological innovation.

An informative and creatively multilayered Google guidebook from the businessman’s perspective.

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014

ISBN: 978-1455582341

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Business Plus/Grand Central

Review Posted Online: July 21, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014

Close Quickview