Unaccountable Lib/E: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care

Dr. Marty Makary is codeveloper of the life-saving checklist outlined in Atul Gawande's bestselling The Checklist Manifesto. As a busy surgeon who has worked in many of the best hospitals in the nation, he can testify to the amazing power of modern medicine to cure. But he's also been a witness to a medical culture that routinely leaves surgical sponges inside patients, amputates the wrong limbs, and overdoses children because of sloppy handwriting. Over the last ten years, neither error rates nor costs have come down, despite scientific progress and efforts to curb expenses. Why? To patients, the healthcare system is a black box. Doctors and hospitals are unaccountable, and the lack of transparency leaves both bad doctors and systemic flaws unchecked. Patients need to know more of what healthcare workers know, so they can make informed choices. Accountability in healthcare would expose dangerous doctors, reward good performance, and force positive change nationally, using the power of the free market. Unaccountable is a powerful, no-nonsense, non-partisan diagnosis for healing our hospitals and reforming our broken healthcare system.

About the Author :
Marty Makary, M.D., is a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a professor of health policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He is a regular medical commentator for CNN and FOX News, and appears weekly on a wide variety of programs to discuss health topics. He is a leading patient safety researcher and led the World Health Organization effort to develop ways to measure healthcare quality. He lives in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. Marty Makary, MD, is a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a professor of health policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He is a regular medical commentator for CNN and FOX News, and appears weekly on a wide variety of programs to discuss health topics. He is a leading patient safety researcher and led the World Health Organization effort to develop ways to measure healthcare quality. He lives in the Baltimore/Washington, DC, area. Robertson Dean has recorded hundreds of audiobooks in most every genre. He's been nominated for several Audie Awards, won nine Earphones Awards, and was named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, where he records books and acts in film, TV, and (especially) on stage. Robertson Dean has recorded hundreds of audiobooks in most every genre. He's been nominated for several Audie Awards, won nine Earphones Awards, and was named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, where he records books and acts in film, TV, and (especially) on stage.

Review :
Makary's book makes it perfectly clear that data transparency not only allows people to make informed decisions about their health but also nudges hospitals and physicians to be more vigilant and efficient.-- "Booklist" "A galvanizing book full of shocking truths about the current state of healthcare." -- "Kirkus Reviews" "Every once in a while a book comes along that rocks the foundations of an established order that's seriously in need of being shaken. The modern American hospital is that establishment and Unaccountable is that book." -- "Shannon Brownlee, author of Overtreated" "This thought-provoking guide from a leader in the field is a must-read for MDs, and an eye-opener for the rest of us." -- "Publishers Weekly"