Disease, Diagnoses, and Dollars: Facing the Ever-Expanding Market for Medical Care

Disease, Diagnoses, and Dollars is about the costs of health care and their impact on health. The book provides a timely criticism of the health care industry and the costs of health care. Within the U.S. health care system, there is evidence that regions that spend more do not have better outcomes, and some evidence suggests that quality of care is lower in the regions that spend more, not less, on health care. The author takes the controversial position that mass markets have been created for services that may offer little or no benefit to patients. He forcefully argues that the overuse of medications and tests runs up the costs of health care. The concluding chapters offer suggestions for policy makers and for patients. Methods for systematically evaluating the cost-effectiveness of new guidelines are discussed. The final chapter provides practical suggestions to enable patients to share in decisions about treatments or tests that can have uncertain benefits.