Miami, Florida—"Last week's Presidential debate demonstrated once again that neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump have a plan to fix our shattered health care system," says Dr. Alejandro Badia. (Bah-DEE-aah)
"Healthcare represents 17.7% of our GDP; how can that be ignored?" says Badia, "There was a cursory mention of reducing prescription drug prices… but in reality neither candidate demonstrated intimate knowledge of the issues faced 'in the trenches' by the people who actually do the work of caring for patients."
CNBC's Jim Kramer said the day after the debate, "No shot was taken at health insurers." The evidence is Wall Street's reaction with stock price gains across the industry group.
Badia further stated, "The presidential debate affirmed what the American public already knows: Neither candidate has an actual solution for spiraling healthcare costs and they won't until they discuss a plan with those of us in the trenches of healthcare." Read his plan on KevinMD at: http://bit.ly/KevinMDBadia
Dr. Alejandro Badia is no stranger to the flaws and frustrations of the U.S. healthcare system. A leading hand surgeon with a medical degree from NYU, multiple accolades, and decades of experience, Dr. Badia has spent more than a quarter-century in the trenches of U.S. healthcare. His new book Healthcare from the Trenches: An Insider Account of the Complex Barriers of U.S. Healthcare from the Providers and Patients' Perspective is an open discussion of the failure of the U.S. healthcare system from the perspectives of its "providers" and patients—perspectives today's healthcare debate sorely lacks.
"People are challenged because of a flawed system," says Dr. Badia. "Staff at insurance companies with no medical training dictate what constitutes reimbursable care. The result is that their interference disrupts the doctor-patient relationship, delays or prevents delivery of care, and presents new obstacles to new approaches that would improve patient outcomes and reduce costs."
In Healthcare from the Trenches, Dr. Badia challenges the entrenched bureaucracy in the U.S. healthcare system—a bureaucracy that is only growing with each attempt to "fix" it.
"Since the implementation of the [U.S.] Affordable Care Act, healthcare in America has become an even greater bureaucratic nightmare than before," Dr. Badia says. "What started as incremental interference in the relationship between doctor and patient with the passage of the Medicare Act of 1965 is now an impenetrable barrier made up of governmental and health care insurance industry red tape. The result is higher costs and greater inefficiencies."
In early 2019, results of a Gallup poll showed that 70 percent of Americans believe the U.S. healthcare system has "major problems" or is "in crisis". With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, these inefficiencies have only become more apparent.
Dr. Badia explains, "A May 5, 2020 New York Magazine online article reports survey results indicating 14 percent of all U.S. adults would avoid treatment if they developed COVID-19 symptoms because of health cost issues. Despite the political debates and media coverage on health care policy and reform, there remains little or no feedback from the people in the trenches—the physicians and other health care professionals who provide care to the patients. That's why I wrote Healthcare from the Trenches. My hope is that a broader discussion of the issues can be a catalyst to positive change."
Healthcare from the Trenches was recently named an Amazon Bestselling book in dozens of categories in the USA, UK, Canada and Germany including these to name a few:
#1 Health Insurance
#1 Health Care Delivery
#1 Medical Law and Legislation
#1 Personal health
#1 Physician & Patient Medical Ethics
#1 Health Policy
#1 Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industry
#1 Biographies of Medical Professionals
#1 Public Policy
#1 Insurance
#1 Industries
#1 Medical Admin. And Policy
#1 Medical ebooks**
#1 Family Health and Law
Dr. Badia is the founder and chief medical officer of the Florida-based OrthoNOW®, a pioneering network of single-specialty, immediate orthopedic care centers in South Florida.
"The goal is to provide the patient with the care they need, at the time they need it, minimizing any interference to that process," says Dr. Badia. "Further complexities only serve to drive up cost and increase delays…We can roll up our sleeves and provide better care for less cost."
Dr. Badia also treats patients with hand and upper limb issues at the Doral (Miami) based Badia Hand to Shoulder Center, which, like OrthoNOW®, is a one-stop shop outpatient facility.
"This is a life and death matter and people are dying because of a flawed system," says Dr. Badia. "It's time for every American to be educated about the root causes of our healthcare crisis and demand meaningful reform."
"Dr. Badia passionately believes that the key participants in every healthcare transaction deserve a voice, and this is just what Healthcare from the Trenches does." - Susan Keefe, Midwest Book Review and Columbia Book Review, 5-stars
"Instead of simply squatting under the dark cloud of our current healthcare system, Dr. Badia stands tall and offers the opinions and perspectives of healthcare providers and patients."- Grady Harp, Amazon Top 50 Hall of Fame Reviewer, 5-stars
Healthcare in the Trenches: An Insider Account of the Complex Barriers of U.S. Healthcare from the Providers and Patients' Perspective, ISBN 978-0-57868-099-6 (Paperback) $19.97, AISN B088PSH2RL (eBook) $2.99, 2020, Badia Hand to Shoulder, 465 pages, available at Amazon and www.DrBadiaBook.com Watch the book trailer here: http://bit.ly/DrBadiaBookTrailer
Alejandro Badia, M.D., F.A.C.S. has been in the trenches with our broken healthcare system since 1989. A hand and upper extremity orthopedic surgeon at Badia Hand to Shoulder Center in Miami, Florida, Dr. Badia previously served as Chief of Hand Surgery at Baptist Hospital of Miami. He studied physiology at Cornell University and obtained his medical degree at New York University, where he also trained in orthopedics. A hand fellowship at Alleghany General Hospital in Pittsburgh was followed by an AO Trauma fellowship in Freiburg, Germany. He runs an active international hand fellowship and previously organized a yearly Miami meeting for surgeons and therapists that was devoted to upper limb arthroscopy and arthroplasty. In 2005, Dr. Badia cofounded the Miami Anatomical Research Center (M.A.R.C.), one of the world's largest surgical cadaveric training labs.
In 2008, he completed the Badia Hand to Shoulder Center, a fully integrated clinical facility for the upper limb also encompassing the Surgery Center at Doral, rehabilitation and an MRI imaging facility. More recently, Dr. Badia inaugurated OrthoNOW®, the first intermediate orthopedic urgent care center in South Florida. OrthoNOW® was officially licensed in 2018 and is actively engaging healthcare entrepreneurs and surgeons, in North America and abroad, to open immediate orthopedic care facilities.
For more information on Dr. Badia, visit DrBadia.com, Orthonowcare.com, and DoralDOC.com.
Media Contact: For a review copy of Healthcare from the Trenches or to arrange an interview with Dr. Alejandro Badia, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on twitter @abookpublicist