Catastrophic Care: How American Health Care Killed My Father- And How We Can Fix It

David Goldhill
Random House Inc, 2013

UNFORTUNATE FACT:  Thousands of avoidable deaths occur each year due to medical errors in the US and across the World!

FORTUNATE TRUTH:  When author David Goldhill’s father tragically died due to complications acquired during his hospital stay, David knew that awareness and attention needed to be paid to this horrific, frustrating an all too common problem. In writing this book, Catastrophic Care, he has not only succeeded in bringing this problem to light, but he has sparked a call for a healthcare revolution; it is now time for all of us as patient advocates to take charge of the care that we all deserve. As Family Physicians, we share his passion for reducing medical errors.

Our health care system has drastically changed in the last half century.  Fifty years ago, health care was based on urgency and necessity.  Today, the foundation of health care has become increasingly focused on preventive care and managing chronic conditions.  David takes his readers on this journey, describing not only how we got to this point, but how we must continue to move closer to what healthcare must be for all of us: affordable, personable and high quality care.  One aspect of this book that impressed us is David’s passion for how health care would benefit from patients becoming more informed buyers and/or consumers, investing in their own care, instead of simply trusting the government or various political constituents. He is supportive of regulations that are rational, that are based on quality, that can reduce the costs of care and reduce medical errors.

Millions of us patients and loved family members enter a hospital each year with too little thought to potential medical errors and ways to reduce them.  Catastrophic Care may help us exit the hospital in better condition.  This is not a book just for those interested in policy change; but a book for the everyday patient in all of us.