This book represents the effort of Michael Porter, the strategy guru at the HBS to apply his ideas on economics based strategy to health care. To do this, he has teamed up with a health economist, Elizabeth Teisberg, with whom he coauthored the papers that have been knit together to form the book. It is a good book, as these go, with some interesting insights for health care, some good references to the research literature for those who follow it, and some well worked frameworks that have been a...

1. Watch Sicko. Every American should. No, I don't care if you thought he overstepped his moviemaker bounds in previous movies.2. If you then are not convinced that social medicine could work in the US, read this book. You will then at least realize that we need massive change in the system.3. Remember that this was published by Harvard types. It can be a bit dense at times. Order lots of Starbucks (and remember in doing so that you are supporting a company that at least provides benefits for it...

Some useful examples but some content was outdated given more recent healthcare reforms.

I ended up just skimming the book, as I got bogged down in all the (extreme) details. If you like a lot of details & numbers, you will appreciate the author's hard work.

Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted TeisbergHarvard Business School PressIn this volume, Porter and Teisberg examine health care issues in three broad areas: "The first is the cost of and access to health insurance. The second is standards for coverage, or the types of care that should be covered by insurance versus being the responsibility of the individual. The third is the structure of health care delivery itself." Porter...

This book was rich with hard statistics, and explained why competition has failed to deliver the vast improvements in value for health care that it has in other markets.It went on to explain how the power of competition can be appropriately harnessed to unleash vast improvements in health care, and why better health care will indeed cost less.This should be required reading for every public official, hospital administrator, health insurance executive, and doctor in the country - and its not a ba...

Porter's take on this industry does great job in explaining why traditional market forces don't always work in healthcare.

Interesting read. Some Good ideas.

An interesting book. The first sections are extremely good at illustrating the current health care system and its dysfunctions. This section is well worth reading for anyone interested in the US health care system. Where the authors start describing how they would change the system is where I felt this book was lacking. It's not that their ideas aren't good (though I think the complexity of real medical problems would pose significant troubles in certain areas),but that they wish to restructure

Most insightful book I’ve ever read on healthcare!

call me dweeby, but this book outlines a very interesting strategy for health care policy and administration based on market-based competition

While it has good ideas it's heavy going. Very repetitive style and sometimes feels like he's trying to get word count up. But maybe that's just coz I tried to read this through in one go. Might work better as a dip in and out kind of book. Still, 4 stars because it's a worthwhile message and I want to see it get talked about more.

a lot of redundancies in the text, Porter and co-writer could have sent the message across with much less effort. I guess every book having him as an author has to be of a certain volume. with this respect, Clayton Christensen book is not only deeper but also more insightful. I rate it as a 2 1/2 stars. by the way, i did not read the book to the last page.

A great review of the American health care system, how it was created and why it's simply not working anymore. The authors address the heart of the economic issues behind rising costs and decreasing quality, and lay out a strategy to improve the delivery, organization and financing of health care services, focusing on the quality of care and value to the customer as the driving factors. It is frustrating to see such practical and logical solutions meet such industry-wide opposition. But the many...

In general, this book is a cost-benefit analysis of the american healthcare system. The author has a lot of "real world" examples of healthcare costs, misuse, and quality improvement programs. However the author basically takes 1 premise and beats you over the head with it. So I will sum up this book for you: The american healthcare system fails to function properly because it is not a free-market system ..... and here is 400 pages of why.

NEW APPROACH TO IMPROVE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM....

Visuals for Defining and Redefining Health Care - “Redefining Health Care” focuses on medical and other related services can emphasize delivery of value, not just on containment of costs as the key to reforming this vital sector of our economy. The book looks at how the health field can utilize competition centered on the treatment of medical conditions over the full cycle of care as that means of delivering value.In chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4, the authors lay out the heart of their message. In chap...

Very strong text book on issues around healthcare and possible ways to create value-based competition. Several of the ideas are to be implemented in acts of the healthcare reform bill (yet to be defined in detail by the secretary).Probably not recommended for most people who aren't looking to get in depth about this topic, as this is written in textbook style and length.

I read this book for a college class, and although it was a bit of a bear to get through, I am glad I read it. Like many Americans, I am disenchanted with the modern health care system. It seems more like a disease management system to me. This book outlines strategies for everyone involved that could help turn this train around and put health back at the forefront of healthcare. The main premise of the book is that health care needs to stop focusing on costs and instead focus on improving value...

This book attempts a new view of modern healthcare. It is provocative in approach and theory. Doable? Maybe but unlikely that we'd dismantle the current system, rebuild it for optimal efficiency, and be satisfied with the transition. Yet, it is fine to fill the mind with the possibility of the concept.