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Good But Not Perfect: A Case Study of Managed Care

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Listen folks, if you are a social worker, physician, pharmacist or physical therapist or nurse in hospitial practice, or if you teach one of the health professions, this is a must-read. Although written by health care social workers, the material is relevant to anyone in interdisciplinary (or multidisciplinary) health care pactice. The authors present the experience of a "case", an appealing person whose traumatic accident interrups her career and her marriage. Parallel to this tale, is the saga of the health care team working with her. The reactions of the team to the crises of transitioning to managed care are similar to those of the patient. (Teams experience denial, anger, bargaining, and resistance on their way to adaptation, just like individuals.) It's clever and it has the ring of real life. Although much of the material is written like a novel, the purpose of the book is to instruct; introductory and closing chapters are serious discussions of the history and dilemmas of managed care, with upbeat prescriptions for the future; each chapter includes analysis of the material, questions for discussion, and exercises to bring home the teaching points. I am a faculty person in a graduate school of social work, and our students love it. I read it just for the pleasure of its literary craft and for its insight and information.