This book provides unique insights into the current heated healthcare reform debate in the United States and the expanding US$2 trillion industry that is the focus of public concern. The author's extensive experience as an educator, consultant, researcher and author of five well-received books on that system provides a unique resource of largely unreported cases to mine. These vivid case studies weave the history, richness and complexity of the problems faced by patients and service providers into fascinating Byzantine intrigues. They illustrate the underlying structural problems that have produced disparities in treatment, escalating costs, unsafe and inadequate care, the demoralization of the many decent and committed people who work within the system and passionate calls for reform. Highly readable, the book also offers a candor and richness in detail that is typically lacking in textbooks, academic journal articles and the popular press.

Contents: Introduction: Fixing Healthcare in the United States Governance: Who's in Charge? The Medical Staff: Villains of Victims? Nursing: Where Is It Going and Why Does It Never Get There? Financing: How Gold Rules The Market: Why It Doesn't Work -- Or Does It? Forecasting Trends and Repackaging the Future Diagnosing and Treating the Pathologies of the US Health System