The Health Care Handbook: A Clear and Concise Guide to the United States Health Care System

Fantastic book to provide a non- healthcare worker insights into the inner workings of the healthcare industry & all the challenges it faces with the aging population. Only a bit more than ~200 pages, it lays out the issues - by topic - & provides potential solutions. After a recent hospitalization & witnessing a lot of “warts” with respect to healthcare I now have a much better understanding of how to navigate many of the issues.

I loved this book! You could hardly choose a more ambitious target: creating a clear, concise and readable guide to the whole US Healthcare system, from economics to nurse training to medical devices. The authors succeed wonderfully, giving a broad, comprehensive and approachable introduction to all the major topics in a relatively breezy 220 pages.It is, by definition, only a fairly light touch on areas of great complexity, but what it does cover it covers with confidence, clarity and evidence. There is strength in its breadth: it delivers a comprehensible view of an entire system, the tensions and balances between health, care practice, money and policy. It is also bang up-to-date in the third edition, discussing the impacts of COVID on care and staffing and the ongoing changes around policy and Value-Based Care.Finally, the text is admirably readable, even with the occasional spark of wry humor to help you along. I can't recommend this book enough as a place to start if the US Healthcare system is baffling you.

I have the second edition of this book and use it all the time with my students. When the third edition came out I had to get it!

I’m earning my board certification and this book has helped me tremendously!

I have owned each version of this book which is necessary to keep up to date with a rapidly changing system. It is an invaluable resource for both a broad overview of the health care system and to understand its intricacies. There is no substitute for this book in my opinion.

The Health Care Handbook by Drs. Elisabeth Askin and Nathan Moore is a concise guide to understanding 21st century US healthcare. Now in its third edition (2024), this handbook has evolved from its initial publication in 2012, when the co-authors were medical students.The authors present complex topics in a clear and straightforward way. The 3rd edition begins with a foreword by Robert M. Wachter, MD. The introduction sets the context for the rest of the book’s focus on the US system with a quick comparison of the US to other nations in terms of health spending, access metrics, life expectancy at birth, and overall performance rankings. The book is then structured into seven chapters:Chapter 1 - Health Care Delivery and SystemsChapter 2 - InsuranceChapter 3 - Health Care Economics and FinancingChapter 4 - Quality and TechnologyChapter 5 - Research, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical DevicesChapter 6 – Policy (which includes a summary timeline of major health care policy developments in US history)Chapter 7 - Health Care WorkforceThe book includes real-world case studies and examples, such as a case study on hospital re-admissions, which provide excellent material for in-class or group discussions. It includes a complementary e-book that offers adaptive tools to cater to diverse reading needs.Overall, the book sets the stage with requisite key information to begin to unravel big questions such as “does health insurance even accomplish what we want?” and provides a quick guide to questions as seemingly straightforward - but often not so widely-understood as who exactly makes up the “health care team?”I highly recommend The Health Care Handbook as a resources to be used as 1) a central, required text or 2) optional, supplemental reading for any health professions, MPH, MBA, MHA or other learners involved in any way in the provision of health care in the US or 3) anyone interested in learning about and furthering their understanding of health care in the US.

Healthcare is confusing, but this book is not. I've got 5 solid reasons why you should get the book:1) This book simplifies an incredibly complex, fragmented, and sometimes controversial topic. In contrast, this book is the opposite; it's clear, well-organized, thoughtful, nuanced, and brief.2) It presents the basic facts simply, so that you spend more of your thinking and problem solving on the implications and next steps. This is NOT a textbook. I reads like an executive memo. It's like a high-powered 3 Tesla MRI scanner. You can see the inside of healthcare.3) It's authoritative. Written by 2 practicing physicians. Well-referenced with lots of links to AHA, CMS, IHI, KFF, and other sources of healthcare data, insight, and perspectives.4) It's balanced. There are pro/cons of any complex issue, and trust me, US healthcare is complex. How do we balance the quadruple aim of quality + cost + access + provider well-being? Dr. Askins and Moore are too smart to say they have the singular answer (hint: there is not one), but they give you dozens of frameworks, research articles, and perspectives to work with.5) US healthcare needs your help. For all the incredible heart and effort clinicians give to their patients, there is a woeful amount of complexity, paperwork, inefficiency, poorly aligned incentives, and obstacles to high quality, low cost, broad access, and happy providers. This book will help you become that person.

As a Chief Medical Officer, I am frequently asked for an easy to read book that can cover the breadth of the American Health System. Drs. Askin and Moore did a great job breaking down complex and monotonous concepts and making it incredibly practical and enjoyable to read. I cannot imagine how much time went into creating this but they have created a tremendous resources for so many people that want to better understand our healthcare system!