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Four out of five provider directory listings in major health plans are wrong. That bad data drives higher costs, delayed care, and fear for millions of Americans already worried about getting sick. This isn’t a complex problem to fix. It’s a neglected one. This article is worth reading. T.

Childbirth is one of the oldest human experiences — yet America is becoming one of the hardest places in the developed world to safely have a baby. A new report shows 27 hospitals have shut down or will shut down their labor-and-delivery units by the end of 2025. In the last five years, 116 hospitals have shuttered maternity services. That’s not a statistic. It's a warning siren. Maternity care deserts are expanding in every direction. They are places where women are being left behind. For families, this means: • A one-hour drive just to reach a delivery room • Emergencies that turn deadly • Babies born in ERs never designed for childbirth • Women facing higher risks simply because they’re pregnant While Congress spent the past month fighting over a government shutdown and whether to extend the ACA, the real question they should be debating never made the agenda: 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨? Coverage doesn’t save mothers’ lives when maternity services are gone. Subsidies won’t revive hospitals that have shut their doors. And no “reform” matters if it props up a system that can’t even guarantee safe childbirth. I wrote my last book, Health Care Nation, to say what too few are willing to: 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺. 𝗜𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗻𝗲 — 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁. If this hits you the way it hits me, say something. Silence is how systems fail — and keep failing.  T.

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I just published an op-ed piece in MedPage Today, which is an excerpt from a chapter in Health Care Nation. In many ways, health care has become America’s largest escape room. We’ve locked our most talented health care experts and consumers in with a staggering $4.7 trillion of our own money. The problem is that we haven’t figured out how to escape the maze of convoluted policies, skewed financial incentives, and entrenched traditions that are steering amazing people and 17.3% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the wrong direction. Go here to learn more…

Maria Ngo hosts a talk show in Las Vegas called THE STRIP LIVE. She typically interviews celebrities like Tony Bennett, Kevin Costner, and Sir Richard Branson. Needless to say, I was surprised to have a text from Maria wanting to talk when I landed in Las Vegas to speak at HIMSS and attend a launch event for my new book, Health Care Nation. Go here for this fun interview . Maria brings an energy level to her work that is contagious. We covered everything from the new book, the future of AI, to mentoring advice.

Medika Life provides a thoughtful review of Health Care Nation , seeing it as a departure from other books written about health reform. They call it "a soulful, purposeful, and powerfully personal invitation for Americans to reclaim their role in shaping a sustainable, people-centered health system." I couldn't have said it better myself  Today marks the third week since the book was published. Yesterday, Amazon named Health Care Nation the #1 New Release for Health Care. Special thanks to those who ordered and are already reading the book. I wrote it for those who believe health care is a noble cause and are ready to change the system to be more equitable, intelligent, and human-centered. T.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Jane Sarasohn-Kahn to talk about my new book, Health Care Nation - The Future is Calling and It's Better Than You Think . From defining why the American Health System is going in the wrong direction, to discussing the power of a citizen-driven movement, this review gets at the heart of why I wrote this book. Go here for our discussion. Go here to bookmark this highly-rated blog reporting on transformation issues and opportunities in health and medicine. T.