The Health Care Hand-book: A Clear and Concise Guide to the United States Health Care System

The Health Care Handbook has already garnered dozens of strongly favorable reviews, including a glowing one from the New York Times. So why another review? For starters, it may bring this book to the attention of more readers, which would be a very good thing. It is also an opportunity to provide information about additional content and supplemental resources that are available electronically. According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, a handbook is “a small book that gives useful information about a particular subject” [1]. If that were the only benchmark, this book absolutely succeeds. Fortunately, it also succeeds admirably at achieving the authors’ stated goal: “to provide a baseline level of facts and analysis so that readers may go forth with the ability not only to understand and evaluate what they read but also to form their own opinions.” While still medical students, the authors sought unsuccessfully to find a book that would clearly and concisely explain the health care system in which they would soon be working. When they failed to find one, they decided to fill the gap themselves. The result is a thoroughly researched yet eminently readable book. Core concepts and key facts replace the jargon, acronyms, and bureaucratese that can thwart understanding. Written in a conversational and occasionally even humorous tone, this book is also a pleasure to read. Five well-organized chapters cover topics including inpatient and outpatient health care and delivery systems; the different types of health insurance and how they are structured; health policy and government health care programs; the Affordable Care Act, challenges to that law, and other reform options; and economic concepts and the factors that make health care so expensive. Excellent graphics help to illustrate key points. Each chapter concludes with a glossary, suggestions for additional reading, and a list of references. A comprehensive index makes it easy to find specific information. There is now a website hosted by Washington University, largely dedicated to promoting this book. There is no additional or updated content here, but a link leads to an educational resource, MedEdPORTAL , from the American Association of Medical Colleges. The authors are creating curricular materials to support use of this book in educational settings, which they are making freely available . MedEdPORTAL “promotes educational scholarship and collaboration by facilitating the open exchange of peer-reviewed health education teaching and assessment resources.” Although it is a work in progress with some pages still under construction, those of us who work with students will want to explore this resource further. Despite the 2012 publication date, it may be tempting to regard this book as already outdated—given the astonishingly rapid rate of change in health care—and no longer needed in a library’s collection. But that would be a disservice to our patrons. As Carl Sagan said, “You have to know the past to understand the present,” and the Health Care Handbook helps us do exactly that. Editor’s note: The second edition of this work will be reviewed in a future issue.