Time to Care: Personal Medicine in the Age of Technology

by Bruce Makous, Norman Makous, M.D. Makous, Norman

There are thousands of how-to books for improving various areas of life. And there are nearly as many books written for believers offering a framework for the 'right' approach to a new life in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0977668614
• ISBN13: 9780977668618
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Tow Path Publications
• Length: 441 Pages
• Weight: 1.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Time to Care: Personal Medicine in the Age of Technology by Dr. Norman Makous: a Must-Read for Gene

Due to millions of dollars being spent on unnecessary tests and incorrect treatments, technology- based healthcare in the United States has caused an economic squeeze that already has led to rationing of medical care and services. Here Makous, a noted, now retired, extensively trained and credentialed, primary care cardiologist, who practiced in Philadelphia, PA until 2000 (M.D., University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, WI, 1947; American Board of Medical Specialties Certification, Internal Medicine, 1957; Subspecialty Certification, Cardiovascular Disease, 1961; faculty of The University of Pennsylvania Medical School, 1959-1995, and Thomas Jefferson Medical University, 1994; formerly, Regional President, American Heart Association; Distinguished Achievement Award, American Heart Association of Pennsylvania; author of The Road Taken (2006); [...]), with the enthusiastic, thematic and directional support of his son Bruce, a leading healthcare fundraiser and published author (Riding the Brand (2004) and Virtually Dead (2006); [...]), proposes that the patient-doctor relationship that was displaced by technology be returned to its central, fundamental position in the delivery of medical care and services in order to humanize treatment, improve the quality of care, reduce unnecessary spending and ineffective practices, increase doctor-patient satisfaction, and result in a happier and healthier society. In six parts, comprised of seventy-one, short, easy-to-read, conversational chapters, Makous discusses his medical education and healthcare services before the technological revolution, dramatic shifts in medicine resulting from technological innovations, the impact of these changes and developments in the field of cardiology, involvement by the government, hospitals, insurers, and others in the delivery of medical care and services, insights into the future of the medical system, and more. By means of his holistic approach to the subject, the author provides a wide ranging overview of the healthcare system as well as many explicit and implicit ideas and suggestions for making it better. Some of the subtopics he covers include, but are not limited to, the fundamental tenets of medical education and practice, the art of diagnosing, the art of educated guessing, shotgun testing, hospital practices, private practices, turnstile practices, medicine as an art and science, taking medical histories and doing medical examinations, patient-doctor communications and relationships, doctor-doctor communications and relationships, choosing a doctor, psychiatric cardiology, the "laying on of the hands," follow-up visits, house calls, patient worlds, patient views, lifestyles, and expectations, screenings, emergency rooms, treatment standards and guidelines, age bias, end of life issues, advance directives, technology upgrades, new drugs, paradigms of medical science, the medical reimbursement systems, doctors as servants of many masters, referrals, mal

A valuable retrospective

As a younger physician, I enjoy stories of the bygone days of medicine, when physicians were held in high esteem and enjoyed autonomy, while providing ethical compassionate care. This book was a delightful read, full of interesting anecdotes of medical cases, but written in an accessible way without using medical jargon. The reader gets the sense of the person with the disease, his world and perceptions, so the patient's behavior and choices make sense. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what medical care can be without pressures from the insurance companies and the threat of litigation. Reading this book is like sitting across the table from a seasoned, kind and compassionate doctor, and hearing him tell stories about his life and work.

Time To Care-Personal Medicine In The Age Of Technology

Dr. Norman Makous hits the nail square on the head with this book: Time To Care-Personal Medicine In the Age Of Technology. Dr. Makous realizes the virtue in personal patient-doctor relationship and the health benefits that go along with it. With the increasing impersonal and vast HMOs a patient may never see the same doctor twice. With this in mind it becomes increasingly difficult to find trust and rapport and thereby personal knowledge that may aid the Dr. in diagnoses and treatment. A Time To Care offers ideas and strategies to overcome the impersonal clinic and advance the personal touch. Love this book. Highly recommend it.