Wounded Profession: American Medicine Enters the Age of Managed Care

(Hardback)

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Examines how American health care has evolved in the last decade and considers the challenges ahead. Birenbaum examines how American health care has evolved in the last decade and the changes in public support and policy. In the 1990s the country moved toward a realization that health care had become unaffordable or an enormous financial burden for people who otherwise earned decent incomes. Health care reform was seen as one of the crucial issues facing the country. The feeling that things were getting out of control spread to providers of health care as well as to consumers. Doctors saw their autonomy and control eroded. Employers saw their costs rising significantly and began to shift costs to their employees and other approaches to cost containment were explored. The impact of a growing aging population as well as the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies helped drive costs to new levels and led to the emergence of managed care plans and provider groups. At the same time academic medical centers were threatened by the growth of managed care and their unwillingness to utilize such institutions. Medical school faculty and medical students began to resent and resist the changes. By the middle of the 1990s, a consumer backlash and increased utilization of the courts to force change helped stimulate a re-examination of public health policy and new legislation to broaden coverage and flexibility. Birenbaum examines where the interests of consumers and professionals have dovetailed and where they differ. He concludes with a look at how the health care system might look by 2025, and suggests ways the system needs to be adjusted to provide better and wider coverage at reasonable costs. This volume is essential reading for scholars, students, and professionals in the medical field as well as general readers concerned with health care issues.

Reviews

[a] far-ranging, thought-provoking book about recent changes in the U.S. health care system and how they have affected the medical profession.-Inquiry
[A]rnold Birenbaum has done an exceptional job in explaining the realities of managed care, as well as the changes that brought us to the point where we are today....Anyone involved in health care, whether it be student, professional or consumer would benefit from reading this book. It presents a balanced, informative narrative on where health care has been, where it continues to go and how all can contribute to its new forms of orgamization to produce social change.-Research News and Opportunities in Science and theology
All Americans should have health insurance, access should be more equal, and everyone should take some financial responsibility for their health care. What is happening with the elderly and prescription drugs is the tip of a nasty iceberg that creates stress for other age groups.-Future Survey
Anyone involved in health care, whether it be student, professional or consumer, would benefit from reading this book. It presents a balanced, informative narrative on where health care has been, where it continues to go and how all can contribute to its new forms of organization to produce social change.-Research News and Opportunities in Science and Theology
Birenbaum offers an excellent book about the state of health care in the U.S. It is an accurate assessment of where the interests of the American people and the medical professionals have dovetailed and where they have differed....This book is extremely informative and easy to read. All health care providers should read this detailed account of the historical, present, and future of health care, and it should be required reading for all students of health care. Essential. General readers; upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; faculty; researchers, and professionals.-Choice
"a far-ranging, thought-provoking book about recent changes in the U.S. health care system and how they have affected the medical profession."-Inquiry
"Arnold Birenbaum has done an exceptional job in explaining the realities of managed care, as well as the changes that brought us to the point where we are today....Anyone involved in health care, whether it be student, professional or consumer would benefit from reading this book. It presents a balanced, informative narrative on where health care has been, where it continues to go and how all can contribute to its new forms of orgamization to produce social change."-Research News and Opportunities in Science and theology
"[a] far-ranging, thought-provoking book about recent changes in the U.S. health care system and how they have affected the medical profession."-Inquiry
"[A]rnold Birenbaum has done an exceptional job in explaining the realities of managed care, as well as the changes that brought us to the point where we are today....Anyone involved in health care, whether it be student, professional or consumer would benefit from reading this book. It presents a balanced, informative narrative on where health care has been, where it continues to go and how all can contribute to its new forms of orgamization to produce social change."-Research News and Opportunities in Science and theology
"All Americans should have health insurance, access should be more equal, and everyone should take some financial responsibility for their health care. What is happening with the elderly and prescription drugs is the tip of a nasty iceberg that creates stress for other age groups."-Future Survey
"Anyone involved in health care, whether it be student, professional or consumer, would benefit from reading this book. It presents a balanced, informative narrative on where health care has been, where it continues to go and how all can contribute to its new forms of organization to produce social change."-Research News and Opportunities in Science and Theology
"Birenbaum offers an excellent book about the state of health care in the U.S. It is an accurate assessment of where the interests of the American people and the medical professionals have dovetailed and where they have differed....This book is extremely informative and easy to read. All health care providers should read this detailed account of the historical, present, and future of health care, and it should be required reading for all students of health care. Essential. General readers; upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; faculty; researchers, and professionals."-Choice

Author Bio

ARNOLD BIRENBAUM is Professor in the Pediatrics Department of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Associate Director of the Rose F. Kennedy University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability Education, Research, and Service.