Radical Surgery: Reconstructing the American Health Care System [Paperback]

Mel Hawkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 2002

There are few issues on the American agenda that affect as many people as health care and about which so little is being done. Whether access to care for the uninsured or prescription drugs for the elderly, there is a sense of urgency among the populace, and also a sense of futility. The u. S. health care system is so vast and complex even the most visionary of our leaders struggle to embrace its full breadth and scope. Reform efforts initiated by political leaders and industry professionals rarely look at the health care system as an integral whole. Reformers, guided by their own political agendas and vested interests, focus instead on symptoms and offer remedies that stretch the system into new shapes and propose regulations that restrict and complicate it. The pervasive power of special interest groups also contributes as meaningful reforms are so diluted they become meaningless.The health care system in place today is unacceptable and the evidence of a need for dramatic change is compelling. At home or at our jobs, we will fiddle with a tool or process for only so long before we conclude there must be a better way. We then step back to re-examine our purpose and we construct a new tool, one designed to serve our specific objectives. Radical Surgery leads the reader through a comparable process and offers a new vision of the American health care system, one that draws upon the author's experience as a medical group manager, as a director of a 500-bed, long-term care facility, and as a leader and problem solver in both the public and private sectors.The outcome is a National Health Care Plan that:provides comprehensive care and prescription drugs to all American citizens,gives the patient free choice of physician,enables doctors to practice quality medicine without interference of public or private bureaucrats,reduces aggregate health care expenditures by $200 billion per year,relies on free market forces to ensure quality, internal to the process, obviating the n

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A former manager of amulti-specialty medical group practice, Mel Hawkins has also served as adirector of a county-owned, 500-bed, long-term care facility, with terms asboth President and Chair of the Finance Committee. The author has also servedas Court Executive of a unified trial court, Chief Operating Officer of aindustrial distribution and inventory management company, principle of amanagement consulting practice and a small business owner, giving Mr. Hawkinsnearly thirty years of leadership experience in both the public and privatesectors. This varied leadership experience has given Mr. Hawkins a unique andeclectic perspective, one that has served him well as an innovator and problemsolver.Educated at ManchesterCollege where he received a BA degree in Religion and Philosophy and PeaceStudies, the author also earned a Master of Science in Education from SaintFrancis College and a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University.It was during histenure as a medical group manager that it became apparent to Mel, that theremust be a way to deliver health care to the whole population, withoutsacrificing the great strengths of the American health care system.Mel Hawkins resideswith his wife in Fort Wayne, Indiana, their three children now grown.Active in hiscommunity, Mr. Hawkins attended Leadership Fort Wayne. In addition to his workon the Board of Managers of Byron Health Center, he has also served on theboard of the Martin Luther King Montessori School; as a co-founder and a boardmember of the Boys and Girls Club of Fort Wayne and, as a co-founder, boardmember and former president of the South Side Business Group of Fort Wayne andAllen County.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (July 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403306257
• ISBN-13: 978-1403306258
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,058,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bled Through, October 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Radical Surgery: Reconstructing the American Health Care System (Paperback)

An excellent review of the need for capitation spending in American healthcare. Not meant to be a political guide, it explains the level of compication today in probably the largest industry in the country and provides a solution to the mix. Clear, resourceful and motivating, the author has solved the problems, if only people would listen.