Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

Quantity:

More Buying Choices

39 used & new from $9.05

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Tell the Publisher! I�d like to read this book on Kindle Don�t have a Kindle? Get yours here.

Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care is Better Than Yours (Paperback)

by Phillip Longman (Author), Timothy Noah (Foreword)
Key Phrases: veterans health system, veterans health care system, United States, Hard Hats, World War (more...)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

List Price:	$14.95
Price:	$10.17 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save:	$4.78 (32%)

In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Friday, July 3? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

24 new from $9.09 15 used from $9.05

Frequently Bought Together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer

by Shannon Brownlee

4.4 out of 5 stars (27)

Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis

by Tom Daschle

3.4 out of 5 stars (46) $9.58

Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure

by Regina Herzlinger

4.2 out of 5 stars (31) $16.47

Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America

by Ezekiel J. Emanuel

4.1 out of 5 stars (16) $10.17

Vets Under Siege: How America Deceives and Dishonors Those Who Fight Our Battles

by Martin Schram

5.0 out of 5 stars (2) $18.94

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The long-maligned Veterans Health Administration has become the highest-quality healthcare provider in the United States. This encouraging change not only has benefited veterans but also provides a blueprint for salvaging America's own deeply troubled healthcare system. "Best Care Anywhere" shows how a government bureaucracy, working with little notice, is setting the standard for best practices and cost reduction while the private sector is lagging in both areas. Author Phillip Longman challenges conventional wisdom by explaining exactly how market forces work to lower quality and raise prices in the healthcare sector, and how U.S. medical practices have a weak basis in science. The book, expanded from a widely praised article in the "Washington Monthly," mixes hard facts with author Philip Longmans' compelling human story of the loss of his wife to cancer. Part manifesto, part moving memoir, "Best Care Anywhere" offers new hope for addressing a major problem of contemporary society that affects all of us.

Product Details

Paperback: 159 pages
Publisher: Polipoint Press (January 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0977825302
ISBN-13: 978-0977825301
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,694 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#45 in Books > Nonfiction > Government > Social Policy

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
veterans health system, veterans health care system

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Hard Hats, World War, Medical Center, New York, Ken Kizer, Kenneth Dickie, Institute of Medicine, Veterans Bureau, Veterans Administration, American Legion, New England Journal of Medicine, Great War, New Orleans

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	94% buy the item featured on this page: Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care is Better Than Yours 4.6 out of 5 stars (9) $10.17
	2% buy Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer 4.4 out of 5 stars (27)
	2% buy Vets Under Siege: How America Deceives and Dishonors Those Who Fight Our Battles 5.0 out of 5 stars (2) $18.94
	1% buy The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans 5.0 out of 5 stars (4) $17.12

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

healthcare reform(4)

va healthcare(3)

veterans hospitals(3)

health care(2)

health care delivery(2)

public policy(2)

vha(2)

See all 10 tags...

Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search

No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and right on target, May 24, 2008

By	Rick Rumford "Leadership Coach" (Houston) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Philip Longman makes the case that current U.S. healthcare is a fragmented, market driven system that lags behind much of the industrialized world in both quality and access of healthcare. According to Longman, the problem with our healthcare system is that it isn't really a system and that it doesn't reward the one thing that it should - health improvement. In fact, he offers proof that in the U.S. doctors and hospitals are rewarded for providing treatment, but not necessarily providing health to their patients. To illustrate this, he offers examples from two of the nation's premier hospitals - Beth Israel and Duke Medical Center. Both initiated programs that were so successful at improving health that they became unprofitable and were ultimately terminated.

This book is filled with understandable, but often shocking statistics. For example, every year in the United States 98,000 people die due to medical errors while in the hospital, another 90,000 die due to infections that they get while in the hospital, and 126,000 needlessly die because their doctor failed to use evidence-based protocols for just four of the most common conditions.

The solution? Longman speaks effusively about the VA healthcare system. And rightfully so. It is the only fully functioning, evidence-based healthcare system in the country. The book explores the history of the VA and speaks honestly about some of the warts that mar the VA's reputation. But the truth of the matter is that the VA has turned all of that around and is currently at the front of the healthcare revolution.

Longman's book contains sections on safety, quality improvement, the concept of lifetime healthcare, and the Kizer Revolution at the VA, which dramatically improved quality and altered forever the course of veterans' healthcare.

The section on VistA, the software program that is revolutionizing healthcare, is worth the price of the book. This open source software program is really a bundle of 20,000 programs written in open source code. Surprisingly, it is being adopted extensively around the world - but not right here at home.

Longman proposes a reform of the U.S. healthcare system that incorporates the best of VistA and many other VA best practices and innovations. If you are interested in the healthcare debate and what is possible in future U.S. healthcare, I highly recommend this book.

For those interested in learning more about the healthcare debate and want to explore other opinions, I would also recommend the following three books: A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care; Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure; and Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results.

Comment Comments (3) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth Reading, November 10, 2007

By	Concerned (Kansas) - See all my reviews

Best Care Anywhere is well-researched and well-written. It clearly shows us why our health care "system" is costly and sometimes dangerous, and it gives some great ideas about how it can be fixed.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book, July 29, 2007

By	ejp (New England) - See all my reviews

I really enjoyed reading this excellent summary of the changes that have taken place at the VA hospitals and how their successes might be duplicated in the private sector. Overall an illuminating portrait of a system that went from barely adequate to outstanding and how integration of medical informatics and dedication to preventive medicine made it happen.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 9 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Care Anywhere
As a VA health care professional, I read this book with great interest and have recommended to all my colleagues and many non-VA folks. Read more

Published 2 months ago by PetuniaMB

5.0 out of 5 stars Uniique perspective
This is a very unique perspective on looking at the broken VA health care system. What the chronically underfunded, understaffed stepchild of government accomplishes in spite of... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Donna Dean

1.0 out of 5 stars The author must work for the VA
The VA Health care system I read about in this book and the one I've experienced in real life are as different as night and day. Read more

Published 8 months ago by GI Dan

5.0 out of 5 stars ARE YOU KIDDING ?
After jumping thru the bureaucratic hoops as a disabled veteran who served his country for more than 2 decades thru two wars, the VA or Very Aggravating agency contiually denied... Read more

Published 8 months ago by N. Hamilton

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!
This book should be mandatory reading for every member of the U. S. Congress! All heads of the major media network news departments should also read it.

Published 12 months ago by Jeffrey C. Davis

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read
This was a truly interesting book that is a 'must read' for those who are looking for alternative national solutions to our healthcare situation. Read more

Published on May 27, 2007 by Peter J. Groen

› See all 9 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.

This product's forum (0 discussions)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
politics The American descent into Marxism is happening with breath-taking speed.	31	21 seconds ago
politics Bankrupt California - the Socialist End State...	86	2 minutes ago
health how do you get your wife to lose weight?	272	6 minutes ago
health Is Spanking a lovable or harmful form of disipline?	3321	21 minutes ago
medicine Medical Care in the United States	38	23 hours ago
textbook Does anyone use Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach?	3	3 days ago
medicine Medicine's Mystery	3	6 days ago

The Health Care community

Latest activity 7 hours ago

1,080 customers have contributed 813 products, 41 lists & guides and more...

› Explore the community

The Public Policy community

Latest activity 2 hours ago

636 customers have contributed 603 products, 27 lists & guides and more...

› Explore the community

The Politics community

Latest activity 1 hour ago

10,443 customers have contributed 8,549 products, 1,023 discussions and more...

› Explore the community

Explore more

› See all Customer Communities

› Your communities

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.

› See featured Amapedia.com articles

Listmania!

Earth Policy #7: Health: A list by Robert D. Steele
book club of one - part two: A list by M. Potter "luscious book lover"
Health Care: A list by Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist"

Create a Listmania! list

Look for Similar Items by Category

Books > Health, Mind & Body > Personal Health
Books > Medicine > Administration & Policy > Health Care Delivery
Books > New & Used Textbooks > Medicine & Health Sciences > Administration & Policy > Health Care Delivery
Books > New & Used Textbooks > Social Sciences > Political Science > Public Policy
Books > Nonfiction > Government > Social Policy
Books > Nonfiction > Politics
Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Administration & Medicine Economics > Health Care Delivery

Shop Tool Storage in Home Improvement

Check out the huge selection of tool storage and organization products offered by Amazon.com.

›See more in the Power & Hand Tools Store

Big Savings in Books

Find great titles at fantastic prices in our Bargain Books Store.

Solar Powered

Solar landscape lighting is the safest and easiest outdoor lighting to install and requires no wiring or electricity. Find more in the Lighting Store.

›Shop for solar landscape lighting