Health Care Nation

Whether a patient, health consumer, physician, nurse, health executive, or elected official, somewhere deep in our brains is this simple truth: the American health system isn't working, and it will only get worse if we don't do something about it. Despite spending more money per capita on health care than any other country in the world, the United States struggles to match other nations in life expectancy, health outcomes, and general well-being. Meanwhile, the system spends more on unnecessary, ineffective, and wasteful services than what we collectively invest in K-12 education in America. All the while, our health status is declining. This is a book about the interconnectedness between the health of people and the health of a nation. It's about the opportunity and responsibility each of us has to reimagine and reengineer a system that focuses on keeping all citizens healthy and caring for them when they are not. We can and must take back the right we all have to be in better control of things that impact our health and well-being. This book awakens readers to the possibilities that exist today that are right in front of us if only we choose to see them. This book is for those who want to change American health care from what it is to what they believe it should be.

Tom Lawry is a leading transformation advisor to health and medical leaders around the world, a top keynote speaker, and the best-selling author of Hacking Healthcare - How AI and the Intelligent Health Revolution Will Reboot an Ailing System. He's the Managing Director of Second Century Tech and a former Microsoft executive who served as National Director for AI for Health and Life Sciences, Director of Worldwide Health, and Director of Organizational Performance for the company's first health incubator. Prior to Microsoft, Tom was a Senior Director at GE Healthcare, the founder of two venture-backed health care software companies, a health system executive, and a hospital board member. Tom's work and views have been featured in Forbes, CEO Magazine, Harvard Business Review, CNET, Inside Precision Medicine, and numerous webcasts and podcasts. In a Harris Poll, Tom was named one of the most recognized leaders driving change and engagement in health care today. He has also been named one of the Top 20 '24 Voices to Follow in AI and Digital by Medika.

Section I: Awareness. 1. 100 Billion and Counting. 2. America's Largest Escape Room. 3. Changing Health Care Starts with Changing Our Minds. 4. America's Health Paradox. 5. If Health Care Was a Sport, We Wouldn't Make the Playoffs. 6. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of a Low-Deductible Health Plan. 7. Economic Whack-a-Mole-The Impact of Cost-Shifting. 8. The Pervasive and Perversive Nature of a Break-Fix Model. 9. The Price of Self-Inflicted Disease. 10. Health Is More than Medicine. 11. What Would Martin Think? Section II: The Awakening. 12. The Pandemic Showed Us That Change Is Possible. 13. The Great Health Awakening. 14. Achieving Health Dividends-The Economics of Health and Well-Being. 15. Raising the Bar for Health Outcomes-The Happiness Factor. 16. The Butterfly Effect Takes Flight. Section III: New Beginnings. 17. In Honor of Medical Misfits-The Art and Science of Thinking Differently. 18. Let's Stop Wounding Our Heroes. 19. Healthy People Require a Healthy Planet. 20. Sustainable Health Care. 21. Welcome to the Intelligent Health Revolution. 22. Welcome to the Planet of the Apps. 23. Intelligent Aging Is Health Care's Moonshot. 24. Changing Our Health Investment Strategy. 25. From Aspiration to Action. 26. The Future Is Not What It Used to Be.