First published 2014
Jonathan Bush examines America's $2.7 trillion healthcare system and finds it broken. The athenahealth cofounder draws from his experience as a New Orleans ambulance driver, army medic, and entrepreneur who launched a birthing startup in San Diego. When that business nearly failed, his team created software that became athenahealth, now serving over fifty thousand medical providers nationwide. Bush argues that government regulations protect expensive incumbents while slowing innovation. He points to emerging disruptors like Florida birthing centers and West Virginia urgent care facilities that prioritize efficiency and customer service. Digital startups equip providers and patients with apps to access medical data and control care. Bush contends that focused, profit-driven competitors can chip away at hospital dominance by offering routine procedures at lower costs. He envisions patients making informed choices about their care and payment while accepting more responsibility for their health. The book offers a plan for transforming healthcare through new business models, payment systems, and technologies that give patients greater control and enhance doctor-patient relationships.
Genres: medical, business, non-fiction, health
Vibes: fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: disruptive-innovation, underdog
Setting: America, New Orleans, San Diego, Florida, West Virginia
Period: 21st-century
240 pages · Hardcover · Portfolio