Book Club
Book Club — The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind
By Jonah Berger There are lots of books on persuasion. Most don’t add much to the last one. But The Catalyst is worth the time. Well-written — a high-value read. The author builds on newer science to break down how to change minds. Pushing and lecturing rarely work. First, figure out what people think now,…
Read MoreBook Club: Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism
By Anne Case and Angus Deaton Reversing a century of progress, life expectancy has fallen for three years in a row but only in the US. Rising rates of suicide, drug overdoses and alcoholism are largely to blame. There were early media reports about the trend, but this detailed yet readable book goes much farther.…
Read MoreBook Club: Everything you need to know to understand, and fact check, data claims
The pandemic has placed us all in a crash course on health claims, science and data – what we know and what we don’t know. It can be confusing and scary. The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data by David Spiegelhalter is here to help. The book describes how statistics and probability can…
Read MoreFor the Book Club — Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
If you’ve sat next to me in a meeting this month, you probably already know I’m reading this book. I can’t stop talking about it. The author debunks the common myth that specialization is the key to success using detailed evidence explained so anyone can understand. The experts’ consensus is that you need to devote…
Read MoreFor the Book Club — The Truth Matters: A Citizen’s Guide to Separating Facts from Lies and Stopping Fake News in its Tracks
As we get more and more information from new, untested sources, untrustworthy sources and fake news grow, undermining trust in media and politics. This short book offers real-world tips and resources to counter the trend. Chapters include how to read critically, using fact-checking sites, finding trustworthy sources and experts (and how to spot the fakers),…
Read MoreFor the Book Club: The Tyranny of Metrics
As the world moves toward data and analytics to evaluate progress (and it should), we need to be careful that the movement is meaningful. This must-read is full of cautionary tales, including a chapter on medicine, of mis-use of metrics to evaluate performance that ended up doing more harm than good and box-checking in place…
Read MorePractical Wisdom – The Right Way to Do the Right Thing
New to the Book Club Why do our institutions and systems, including healthcare, seem to be getting more complex and more costly but not better? This fascinating book argues that we have lost practical wisdom – the ability to balance the need for reasonable rules and standards with doing the right thing. The law of…
Read MoreSummer reading — What the Eyes Don’t See
To save money in 2014 the state of Michigan switched Flint’s drinking water supply, with disastrous consequences. The latest addition to the CT Health Policy Project Book Club, What the Eyes Don’t See by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, follows her journey as a pediatrician with a conscience fighting the state to protect Flint’s kids. Not an…
Read MoreBook Club — Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions
For the Book Club– Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions By Johann Hari, 2018 Depression and anxiety are becoming growing epidemic across the globe. This fascinating book by a sufferer explores the medicalization of the illnesses and over-reliance on drugs as a solution. Instead he explores social causes related…
Read MoreNew to the Book Club: Distracted: How Regulations are Destroying the Practice of Medicine and Preventing True Health-Care Reform
I knew that doctors face increasing administrative burdens, but I had no idea how bad it was. Distracted is 201 pages of examples of bureaucratic burdens and Catch 22’s that make no sense placed on practices trying to provide the best healthcare they can. The author concedes that costs are out of control, the healthcare…
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