Deb Gordon and the Health Care Consumer's Manifesto

Join Gayle and Joyce as we talk with Deb Gordon, author of The Health Care Consumer’s Manifesto: how to get the most for your money.  Deb’s research starts with the observation that Americans consume health care differently than we consume other goods and services and seeks to understand why.  Deb explained the genesis of her research, which involved a trip to Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to learn how healthcare consumers in those systems behave.  

Manifesto is full of fascinating insights including 

• that shopping is a complex process and that many Americans don’t connect a notion of shopping with their healthcare expenditures
• that the American healthcare system is not built around consumers the way other industries are, and this implies that the root of the problems in our healthcare system are deep structural problems
• that empowerment in other economic transactions is bottom-up and a great example of this in healthcare is Direct Primary Care 
•  some areas of healthcare will continue to be a challenge even if we are able to make American healthcare more consumer-focused; one such area is cancer care – cancer patients will continue to need others to advocate for them
• it’s not easy to define quality in healthcare; each patient has their own view and their own values
•  Medicare is one of the most consumer-centric areas of American healthcare; seniors have many coverage options and they have better financial protection than other healthcare consumers
• prices for mental health services are more transparent than other healthcare prices because insurance is less prevalent and many patients pay out of pocket; therapists are motivated to provide value to patients and naming one’s fee involves declaring one’s worth 

Deb’s fresh perspective about American healthcare from the consumers’ vantage point provides valuable insights about why we behave differently when purchasing healthcare vs anything else, and these insights offer important clues to what is wrong in our system and how to fix it.  You don’t want to miss this fascinating conversation! 

You can find out more about Deb and purchase her book at debgordon.com.