Product Description Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize in American History, this is a landmark history of how the entire American health care system of doctors, hospitals, health plans, and government programs has evolved over the last two centuries.
the benefit of timeAugust 31, 2010 William R. Welter(Chicago, IL) I recently asked the newly retired COO of a Chicago area hospital for a book that might help me understend the evolution of hospitals in the U.S. He told me to get a book from 1984!! I'm glad he did -- well written -- very interesting -- and, given the benefit of having watched the heathcare industry evolve since it was written, enlighening.
Slightly dated, but as prize-worthy now as it was then, and still quite relevant.June 11, 2010 James V. Holton(Lakeland, FL United States) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book should have been required reading of politicians and talking-heads engaged in the health care reform debate a few months ago. The Social Transformation of American Medicine has aged only a bit. The last chapter is out of date, but its predictions are somewhat chilling--that doctors have more to fear from the corporate takeover of medicine than putative reform.
Starr takes a long historical view of the medical profession and the role of doctors in it, paying attention to ancillary issues like hospitals, public health policies, among others. Starr's book should shake loose a lot of commonly held chestnuts about medicine in the US, most prevalently that doctors always enjoyed unprecedented social status or that doctors used to operate in a free-market atmosphere. As the title suggests, Starr points out that medicine and medical care has transformed from being home-based to being, more or less, "industrial" (albeit controlled but what might be considered a cartel). Key to this transformation is the sovereignty accorded this profession, often at the expense of health care's accessibility, not to mention cost.
Starr is not afraid to mince words or leave inferences unstated. In particular (as stated before) that doctors always operated in a free market free from government regulation (indeed, regulation is one of the ways doctors "captured" medical care, that government intervention/investment had nothing to do with the reputation the US enjoys in experimental medicine or research, that health care "crises" have long roots in American history, and that the role of corporations in present-day medical care has again transformed American medicine (and will continue to do so. Part history, part sociology, and part public policy analysis, this book provides much useful info in judging the heal care debate.
good jobJanuary 31, 2010 Bill Evans(Los Altos, CA USA) delivered in the condition advertised, on time. The book is a treatise on the state of the American medical system (In 1984), and how it got there.
A relevant history of medical care systemsAugust 23, 2009 Carol Kasper Winet(Pasadena, California United States) This outstanding history of the system, or lack of it, of health care delivery in the USA is exceptionally relevant now, 2009, during the health care debates. It's a long, detailed book, but it's objective and well-referenced. Although this reflects history up to 1980, many of the forces set in motion during the period covered continue to this day. Some details are fascinating, e.g., the author believed that the best opportunity for national health care came in 1974, in motions proposed by Ted Kennedy but likely to be credited to Nixon who was then enduring the revelations of Watergate. That scandal and the opprobium then attached to Nixon probably can be blamed for the death of that attempt.
A Physician's MustAugust 20, 2009 Jitesh Chawla(olympia, wa) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I came across this book first as part of my academic studies and initially felt it to be purely historical with no basis for current public health implications. But, if you read the text fully and deliberate on the issues present the information presented give you an accurate view of how the current geo-political atmosphere in US healthcare has been shaped to this day. The reader can see how many transformations have taken place. Namely, medicine as an artistic medium not highly regarded to one that is the primodial center of scientific acheivement. Another example is hospitals as refuges for storing the deceased to now institutions of recovery and training for young physicians. Starr divides this book into 2 parts - the rise of sovereign profession and the struggle for medical care. In invidual chapters he highlights the key historical events and intermixes this with insightful commentary where practical implications can be drawn in regards to the profession as it stands today. As a healthcare practitioner who has worked anywhere from managed care to community health centers to the private sector, I feel this book has helped me realize largely why the system is the way it is. I would recommend this to any aspiring healthcare leader who wishes to be effective in his/her organization.
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