accountable care organizations (ACOs), xxi–xxii
Affordable Care Act. See Obamacare; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
Agent Orange, 19, 125, 129, 131–32
lessons of, 128–34
Agent Orange Act, 128–29
Algood, Terry, 43
Alzheimer’s, 105
American Legion, x
Baker, Nicole Johnson, 75
Baltimore VA Medical Center, 10
Bauman, Robert E., 2
Berwick, Donald M., xxii, 6, 59, 69
“Best Care Anywhere,” xi
Beth Israel Medical Center (New York City), 75–76
Board of Veterans’ Appeals, 132
Bradley, Omar, 16
Brown, Jesse, 63
Bunker, John P., xxxix
Bush, George W., 118
cancer care, 4
cardiologists, overpaying, xix
Carlson, Russ, 67
Carvey, Dana, 65
Casalino, Lawrence P., 73–75
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles), 25
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 112–14
cholesterol drugs, 85
Christensen, Clayton, 141
Cleland, Max, 21
Clinton, Bill, 48
Cogan, Richard, 46
computerized medical records. See electronic medical records
consumer satisfaction, VA and, 5–6
cost containment, VA and, 7
Costa Rica, xli
Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims, 132
Cutler, David M., xxxix
“death panels,” xx–xxi
Department of Defense (DOD), viii, 119, 120
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). See also Veterans Health Administration (VHA); veterans hospitals
affiliation with medical schools, 16–18
as benchmark of quality, 9–12
consumer satisfaction and, 5–6
cost containment and, 7
early history of, 13–17
full disclosure of medical errors and, 62–64
as the Honda of health care, 7–9
medical efficiency and, 7–9
population served by, 8
VA model of care, 140
Vietnam veterans and, 18–21
Deukmejian, George, 50
Deutsch, Albert, 15–16
Dickie, Kenneth, 23, 27, 30, 32–33
dispensing errors, 38
doctors, selecting, 87–89
Dole, Bob, 17
drug-dispensing software, 65–67
Duke Medical Center, 76
electronic medical records, 31–33. See also VistA software program
benefits of, 40
investing in, 79
VA doctors and, in 1970s, 31–34
Ellwood, Paul, 104
employers, U.S. health-care system and, 80–86
Epic Systems Corporation of Wisconsin, 117
errors. See dispensing errors; medical errors; omission, errors of
evidence-based medicine, 52
family medicine, VA and, 134–37
Forbes, Charles R., 13–14
Fort, Wally, 27
Gavazzi, A. A., 30
Gayton, Peter, 5
Germany, electronic medical records in, 79
Gittlesohn, Alan, 91–92
group health insurance, 81
Grove, Andrew, xxvii
Gruenberg, Ernest M., 105
Hagel, Chuck, 30
Hardhats, 22, 23, 28. See also VistA software program
“underground railroad” period, 29–31
Harding, Warren G., 13
Hawthorne effect, 106–7
health care. See also specific topics
declining pace of progress of, xxxiii–xli
rising cost of, xxxii
health-care benefits, VA
family medicine and, 134–37
health-care monopoly power, 82–83, 86
health-care providers, consolidation among, 82–83
health-care reform, xiv. See also Obamacare; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
eligibility rules and, 133
family medicine and, 134–37
health-care spending
projected increases in, xvi, xxxii
health-care system, U.S., xli–xlv
employers and, 80–86
expenditures on, xl
market forces and, 80
“Health for Life” network. See Vista Health Network
health information technology (IT), 10, 79
market failure, 121–22
proprietary, 114–23
wants to be free, 115–18
health maintenance organizations (HMOs), 140
shortcomings, 103–9
health records. See electronic medical records
health savings accounts, 11
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), 120–22
Hines, Frank T., 15–16
hospitals. See veterans hospitals; individual hospitals by name
Hurricane Katrina, 43
Hurricane Rita, 43
iatrogenic medicine, xiv–xv, xviii, xxiii, xli. See also overtreatment
Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), xx–xxi
information technology. See health information technology (IT)
Institute of Medicine (IOM), 128–30
insurance, health, xiii, xv–xvi, 133, 134. See also group health insurance
Intermountain Healthcare, 77
Johnson, Martin E., 27, 28, 30
Kingsbridge VA hospital (New York City), 20
Kizer, Kenneth W., 62–63, 67–68, 133
appointment of, 47–53
drug review process and, 56–58
transformation of VHA and, 53–58
Klein, Robert, 20
Kolodner, Robert M., 39
Korchik, William, 58
Kovic, Ron, 19
Krasnow, Steven, 37
Kreis, Greg, 34
Laine, Erick, 78
Leape, Lucian, 69
Leshner, Alan, 102
Lovell, Vic, 17
Lushene, Bob, 27
Madrona Medical Group (Bellingham, Washington), 78
managed-care organizations, 144
Meadows, Oliver, 20
medical efficiency, VA and, 7–9
medical errors, xi–xii, xiv–xv, xviii, xxx, 59–63, 65–66, 68–69. See also iatrogenic medicine
VA’s full disclosure of, 62–64
VistA software for preventing, 37–38 (see also VistA software program)
medical records. See electronic medical records
turning it into a voucher program, xiii, xviii, xix, 146
Medicare providers, cutting reimbursement rates for, xix–xxii
Medicare retirement age, raising, xviii–xix
medications costing more than the medical costs they save, 84–85
Merck, 40
Meyerson, David A., 123
Midland Memorial Hospital (Texas), 79, 111–13
mistakes, medical. See medical errors
Montgomery, G. V. (Sonny), 30–31, 129
Moreshead, Gordon, 27
National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, 4
Nickel, Gary, 124–26, 130, 132
Nickel, Terry, 124–26
Noah, Tim, 90
Oates, Alan B., 131
Medicare and, xvii
Obamacare, vii, xii, xx, 4–5, 145. See also Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
after, vii–xxv
Office of Data Management and Telecommunications (ODM&T), 26
omission, errors of, 61
open-source health IT, 116, 118, 120–21
“open-source” software, 113–17. See also VistA software program
Orszag, Peter, ix
Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center (Lafayette, Louisiana), 101–2
insurance against, 94–96
Parkinson’s disease (PD), 124–25, 130
Patel, Mehmood, 101–2
patient-centered health care, 49, 51, 159n5
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), xii, xx, 4–5. See also Obamacare
Patient Safety Event Registry, 63
Pear, Robert, 64
pneumonia, 105
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 8, 19, 124
proprietary health IT systems, 114–23
quality of care, 71–73
finances of, 75–79
radiation, medical, 95–96
radiologists, overpaying, xix
reimbursement rates. See Medicare providers
Reinecke, Ian, 80
Rockefeller, John D., IV, 54–55
Roemer, Milton I., 97–98
Roemer’s law, 97–103
Ryan, Paul, xiii
safety. See also medical errors
Scully, Thomas, 25
Shafer, Paul, 30
Shalley, Andrew V., 17
Shinesky, Eric K., 130
Simpson, Alan K., 46
single-payer system, 152n7
socialized medicine, xi
statin drugs, 85
sulfa drugs, 105
surgery at wrong site, 65–66
Tatarczuk, Joe, 27
technology, investing in, 78–79
treatments, determinants of, 92–97
Tucker, Chris, 67
undertreatment, 140
VA. See Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
value equation, 52
Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 9–10, 47. See also Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); specific topics
Kizer’s transformation of, 53–58
Veterans’ Health Care Eligibility Act of 1996, 127
Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture. See VistA software program
veterans hospitals. See also Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
consumer satisfaction and, 5–6
medical efficiency of, 7–9
quality of care at, 2–6
reputation of, 1–2
veterans groups and, 5
Vietnam veterans, 18–21, 124–26. See also Agent Orange
Vioxx, 40
Vista Health Network, 141–43
VistA software program, 23–25, 79, 80, 113, 118, 119, 123, 139
in action, 35–37
development of, 25–34
identification of environmental factors behind diseases and, 42
identifying ineffective medical procedures and, 41–43
as management tool for doctors, 37–41
natural disasters and, 43
origins of, 26–29
preventing medical errors and, 37–38
safety and, 66
tracking down new disease vectors and, 42
voucher programs, xiii, xviii, xix, 138
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, viii
Washington DC VA Medical Center (DCVAMC), 35
Welch, Jack, xxvii
wellness programs, 84
Wennberg, John E., 91–93
White, Kerr, 106
Wickizer, Bob, 29
Williams, Marjorie, 90–91
Wollstein, Jarret B., 1–2
X-rays, harmful effects of, 95–96
Yalow, Rosalyn, 17
Zakaria, Sammy, 123