Kicking the Can (30 page)

The discussion of drones in Chapter 57 was adapted from the transcript of the documentary
Rise of the Drones
produced by NOVA. Found online at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_buPcY3qbsE

The dialogue in Chapter 58 regarding average census among community hospitals was obtained from the American Hospital Association. Found online at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2011/116.pdf

The dialogue in Chapter 58 regarding the health care industry’s high fixed-cost, cost structure originates from the author’s familiarity with the financial statements of health care provider organizations.

The dialogue in Chapter 58 pertaining to the variations in surgical payments is from the following citation: Miller DC, Gust C, Dimick JB, Birkmeyer N, Skinner J, Birkmeyer JD, Large variations in Medicare payments for surgery highlight potential for bundled payment programs, Health Aff (Millwood) 2011; 30(11): 2107–2115.

The dialogue in Chapter 62 regarding twenty-five percent of Medicare expenditures are incurred in the last year of a patient’s life was obtained from a study done by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, prepared by Steve Calfo, Johnathan Smith, and Mark Zezza available online at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2838161/

The dialogue in Chapter 63 regarding pharmaceutical pricing was obtained from a
Health Affairs
article authored by Patricia M. Danzon and Michael F. Furukawa entitled “Prices and Availability of Pharmaceuticals: Evidence From Nine Countries.” Found online at
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/early/2003/10/29/hlthaff.w3.521.full.pdf+html

The dialogue in Chapter 66 regarding tort reform was obtained from the following citation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_rule_(attorney's_fees
)

The incidence of obesity discussed in Chapter 67 originates from the OECD website. Refer to the article found online at
http://www.oecd.org/health/49716427.pdf

The dialogue in Chapter 69 pertaining to labor statistics was obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Establishment Data Table B-1 Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail. Found online at
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm

The dialogue in Chapter 78 regarding market capitalization for the health care industry, and sub-categories for pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, health care services companies (health plans), and hospital operators is available online at Yahoo Finance and
StandardandPoors.com
.

Examples of the key measures discussed in Chapter 82 for clinical outcomes, efficiency, infrastructure, patient safety, and patient experience may be found on the website of Advocate Physician Partners. Found online at
http://www.advocatehealth.com/valuereport

The dialogue in Chapter 93 regarding the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds originates from the Federal Reserve Statistical Release. The balance sheet of Households is disclosed in B.100. Found online at
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf