An indispensable resource for those involved in public health and health policy, this book uses Dr. Wennberg's pioneering research to provide a framework for understanding the health care crisis in the USA, and outlines a roadmap for real change in the future.

PART I.THE PROBLEM OF UNWARRANTED VARIATION IN HEALTH CARE 1. In Health Care, Geography is Destiny 2. The Vermont Experience PART II. SURGICAL VARIATION: UNDERSTANDING PREFERENCE-SENSITIVE CARE 3. Tonsillectomy and Medical Opinion 4. Interpreting the Pattern of Surgical Variation 5. Understanding the Market for Preference-Sensitive Surgery 6. Learning What Works and What Patients Want 7. The Birth and Near Death of Comparative Effectiveness Research PART III. MEDICAL VARIATION: UNDERSTANDING SUPPLY SENSITIVE CARE AND OVERUSE 8. Understanding Supply-Sensitive Care 9. Chronic Illness and Practice Variation 10. Is More Better? 11. Are America's "Best Hospitals" Really the Best? 12. Ten Top Reasons Why We Need Reform the Way We Manage Chronic Illness PART IV. REFORMING HEALTH CARE 13. Promoting Organized Care and Reducing Overuse 14. Establishing Informed Patient Choice as a Standard of Care 15. Six Ways to Control Cost, Accelerate Reform and Save the Economy 16. The Challenge of Unwarranted Variation Afterword with Shannon Brownlee Appendix on Methods Glossary Notes & References

"There are many books on healthcare reform, health delivery, or systems research, but none that combine the science with practical experience like this one does." --Doody's "The cost crisis now facing the US health care system urgently calls for more effective control than the new legislation provides. That is why a new book by Dr. John E. Wennberg, Tracking Medicine, is so important and timely." --The New York Review of Books "Tracking Medicine should be required reading for all health care professionals, and indeed for all who are intrested in truly reforming health care... Highly recommended." --Choice "The title of this book hints at a personal history:'researcher's quest . . .' Yet, John Wennberg has been the dominant force over several decades in studies to describe and understand American medicine. Thus, this personal narrative is also an excellent summary of our current understanding of US health care." -- American Journal of Epidemiology

Selling point: Written by a pioneer in the study of regional variations in health care delivery Selling point: Provides framework for understanding and remedying the health care crisis Selling point: With an afterword co-written with Shannon Brownlee, best-selling author of Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer Selling point: Contains real-world examples of health care systems that get it right, to be used as models for future reform

John E. Wennberg, MD, MPH, is Peggy Y. Thomson Professor (Chair) in the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, and Founder and Director Emeritus of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

Selling point: Written by a pioneer in the study of regional variations in health care delivery Selling point: Provides framework for understanding and remedying the health care crisis Selling point: With an afterword co-written with Shannon Brownlee, best-selling author of Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer Selling point: Contains real-world examples of health care systems that get it right, to be used as models for future reform