A Call to Action [Hardcover]

Hank A. McKinnell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007144808X | ISBN-13: 978-0071448086 | Publication Date: April 21, 2005 | Edition: 1

Groundbreaking and provocative, A Call to Action reframes the dialogue on healthcare and offers people a way out of the zero-sum, win-or-lose game they now encounter. Distilling more than 30 years of experience in global healthcare, McKinnell provides concrete action steps to build cost-effective, inclusive healthcare that he believes can extend millions of lives and save billions of dollars over the next generation. He addresses:

• A new, prevention-based approach to employee healthcare
• Why pharmaceutical companies have lost trust, and what they must do to regain it
• Why Americans pay more for prescription drugs than people in Canada and Europe
• How competition can spur the healthcare industry to improve services and contain prices
• How new technologies can reduce medical errors and improve the dialogues between patient and doctor
• How we might lose the race between the world’s most insidious virus and the world’s best researchers
• How we can take more responsibility for our health

McKinnell also assesses the global challenge of infectious disease, particularly the pandemic of HIV. He demonstrates why this pandemic –the worst in human history –is beyond the scope of governments acting alone —and how, even in the face of devastating global catastrophes, public-private partnerships can deliver real hope.

The healthcare crisis can be brought under control. Sick-care systems can be changed to put patiens over payers. In this book, McKinnell offers a compelling case for change, and a plan of action to make healthcare systems work for us and our children.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an important read for anyone who strives to understand healthcare.” Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO, GE

"...“Healthcare in America is so expensive that businesses have often focused only on the cost of sickness, not on the value of health. Hank McKinnell deserves a lot of credit for starting the discussion.” --Mark R. Warner, Governor of Virginia

“Over three decades on the front lines of modern medicine have given Hank McKinnell a unique perspective on one of our nation’s greatest challenges.” Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts

“In this book, Hank McKinnell calls for more investment in prevention, greater individual responsibility for one’s health, and deeper compassion for the poorest and sickest among us should be heard by everyone concerned with the world we’ll hand over to the next generation.” Tommy G. Thompson, Former Secretary, US Department of Health and Human Services

“In A Call to Action, Hank McKinnell offers a particularly compelling and provocative perspective on this vital subject. Policymakers and lay readers alike will be grateful for its many insights.” Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO, AMEX

“Hank McKinnell has written a compelling, comprehensive and definitive strategy on how we can maximize individual and public health and spend our scarce resources far more wisely than we do today." Michael J. Critelli, Chairman and CEO, Pitney Bowes

(Amazon.com )

From the Back Cover

“Is our healthcare system really in crisis?”

That’s a question Hank McKinnell, one of the world’s most influential coporate leaders, encounters every day. His answer may surprise you. While McKinnell agrees that there is a crisis, he doesn’t think the problem is with “healthcare”—rather, he asserts the crisis is in “sick-care.”

Healthcare systems around the world, McKinnell argues, are focused on sickness and its management rather than health. As a result, dialogue about how to sustain health now takes a back seat to arguments about cost—containing it, avoiding it, or shifting it to someone else. The result? A near-universal belief that healthcare is becoming unaffordable, fragmented, and impersonal. “Focusing only on the cost of care is looking at the healthcare problem though the worong end of the telescope,” says McKinnell, the chairman and CEO of Pfizer. “The real focus should be on the horrific cost of disease.” In America, the “sick-care” system delivers the world’s most sophisticated procedures, while skimping on vaccines, hampering the fight against AIDS, and intruding into one of life’s most personal relationships – doctor and patient.

(20050328)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007144808X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071448086
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,730,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is Hope, May 18, 2005

By 

O. King (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Call to Action (Hardcover)

In "A Call to Action" Pfizer chairman Hank McKinnell makes the observation that the US has a "sick care" system, not a health care system. While the entitites working within this system may be the best at what they do, the lack of a true health care system will continue to impose a growing financial, social, and quality-of-life burden on all. Additionally, the health issues facing the world, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, are bigger than any one organization can handle.

Through provocative observations and insightful questions, McKinnell creates a framework for the discussion of this crucial issue. The solution can not lie solely upon private enterprise, governments, NGOs, or individuals, but must be achieved through the concerted efforts of all parties, both public and private. The questions raised in this book provide a necessary framework to both get the dialogue going as well as to organize what may otherwise be considered an overwhelming task. Importantly, this industry veteran shows that there is reason to believe the goal is achievable.

Our healthcare system has profound effects throughout every fiber of our society, from the way we live our lives to the taxes we pay to the role of government in providing for a healthful place in which to pursue our dreams. As such, it is important for all concerned citizens to understand the challenges facing the establishment and maintenance of a true health care system.

"A Call to Action" is a surprising, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful challenge to establish a true and sustainable health care system. I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in one of the biggest issues facing the US both today and in the future.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A catalyst for debate., July 27, 2005

By 

Frank Pagliusi - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Call to Action (Hardcover)

Look, there is a lot of misinformation in the media and in public forums about the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare in general. I've read and heard many stories that strike intensely emotional chords where the only purpose is to assign blame or seek out and expose the villainous (whatever moves the print I guess).

The issues in healthcare, both global and domestic, are complex. They are too complex to draw simplistic conclusions about them or apply simplistic solutions toward resolution. To add these issues in affect are intimately personal to almost everyone, almost everywhere.

We need experts who are closely related to the issues on a day-to-day basis to pull apart and reassemble our healthcare system, yes, in a pragmatic way but also with an unprecedented level of objectivity, creativity and compassion.

I believe in this book Dr. McKinnell succeeds in relaying my point above. He also provides the basic building blocks to stimulate thought and he takes us far enough down the path to suggest dramatic changes. I believe we have reached the point of dire necessity. To ignore this would be in my estimation disastrous.

READ THIS BOOK. Take the time to understand and do not draw your conclusions to quickly as some apparently have. I ask that you keep this basic thought in the back of your mind when reading: It takes on average 12 years to bring to market a new drug. Internalize this fact and apply it to your personal situation. Seek out the facts.

These are my own views, take them or leave them.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Book Raising Legitimate Questions, July 7, 2005

By 

Patrick (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Call to Action (Hardcover)

Like it or not, to discuss about the healthcare system this book raised some legitimate questions such as sick-care vs prevention-care, free riding on the global market, malpractice law suits, third party payment system, etc.

There are some industry and Pfizer PR stuffs in the book. Anyway, you cannot expect a current CEO of a company to suggest something that would hurt his company or industry. (By the way, Peter Rost seems to be an interesting exception. When he does this, you need to do some research on history and ask why.) Still Hank McKinnell discussed seriously about the overall structural loopholes and possible reforms of the system.

Don't simply blame the pharmaceutical industry as the only "bad" boy in the game. It's true that not everything the companies do seems "right" under the bright sunshine, but who does in capitalism? That's why the system is designed to have balances and checks, while money chasing is the ultimate incentive in the market and real life.

If you know fair amount of biomedical science, you understand how little we know and how difficult it is to develop a novel and really effective and safe treatment under current knowledge. Healthcare as a whole is a very large and complex system. Because of the sensitivity the system deals with, which is the length and quality of human lives, it is already under the toughest regulations among all industries.

If you are open to new ideas and want to seriously think about the healthcare, you may find this book useful to provide some perspectives.