Last June, during our fellowship orientation, the book Coronary by Stephen Klaidman was recommended to us.
I was able to read it a few months ago - here’s the background:
- The author, Klaidman, is a journalist by trade and the entire book reads like an enormous newspaper article or, perhaps, a long essay in The New Yorker.
- The story centers around two doctors practicing in Redding, California who were accused of performing unnecessary heart surgeries. And the hospital in question, Redding Medical Center, was, at the time, a part of the Tenet Healthcare Corporation.
- Interestingly, this scandal was made public by a Catholic priest by the name of John Corapi.
From the perspective of an administrative fellow in mission integration (read: mine), the book was great to learn about the healthcare industry. I learned some terminology of cardiac service lines - one of the doctors ran the cardiac catheter lab and funneled patients to the other who did the heart surgeries. Also, the book provided great insight to physician / administrative relationships. The fact that hospital (and system level) administrators can either encourage or discourage unethical practices implies great responsibility.
Although a little dry at times, I do recommend this book to others and consider it a must read for anyone interested in organizational integrity.
