Why Not Better and Cheaper?

Healthcare and Innovation

By: James B. Rebitzer, Robert S. Rebitzer

Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne

An engaging account of innovation in healthcare and why the results fall short for patients and society.

The evolution of the cell phones we carry in our pockets demonstrates that quality can increase while prices fall. Why doesn't healthcare also get better and cheaper?

In Why Not Better and Cheaper?, James B. Rebitzer and Robert S. Rebitzer offer an answer to this question. Bringing together research on incentives, social norms, and market competition, they argue that the healthcare system generates the wrong kinds of innovation. It is too easy to profit from low-value innovations and too hard to profit from innovations that reduce the costs of care. The result is a healthcare system that is profusely innovative yet remarkably ineffective in discovering ways to deliver increased value at lower cost.

Why Not Better and Cheaper? sheds new light on the trajectory of innovation in healthcare, and how to point innovation in a better direction.

©2023 Oxford University Press (P)2023 Tantor

A well-written summary of problems and inspiring solutions

The authors did a fine job of summarizing the current problems in healthcare. I recently took a 6000-level college course on healthcare market dynamics, and many of the same topics were discussed. In this book, you get a good description of the problems without listing all of the studies that support the ideas. Also, the authors have several ideas for solutions that go beyond what was included in the college course. Great book!

Excellent blueprint for healthcare reform

The content is an excellent compilation of ideas that have been swirling in the healthcare industry. The book combines these and discusses them in a context where you can see the relationship between concepts whereas others frequently focus on challenges and opportunities in a single context without a broader interrelated view. This should be a must “read” for healthcare leaders.

My only critique of the audio book is the narration. It is exceptionally dry and academic sounding - virtually no enthusiasm or emotion despite the authors’ clear passion in the text.