Jordan Braverman is a native of Boston and after graduating from Harvard College — he was a William Stoughton Scholar at Harvard Graduate School of Design and Graduate School of Arts and Science — received a MPH from Yale University Medical School and an MS from Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Foreign Service.
His new book is “Your Money & Your Health” (Prometheus Books, 2006); and he is the author of several others. He directed health policy activities at Georgetown University’s state health policy center, Blue Cross Association, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, the American Pharmaceutical Association and other organizations. He has also been the managing editor of a health finance journal, a newspaper columnist, a book publisher’s manuscript reviewer and a published photographer and poet. He lives in Washington.
What made you decide to take on such a daunting task? How long did it take you?
I decided to write this book and deliberately put all these topics into this one reference volume because I have not seen another on the market that addresses all these topics from this global viewpoint and as a single source book of information. The information is cross-referenced [and] I created a directory of Web site addresses by chapter topic that is unique. Consumers can obtain more information beyond the book’s confines and take control of their own health status and personal or organizational expenses.
It took four to five years to write this book.
How did you organize your research and writing?
I organized each chapter around three central questions that concern the consumer: How do I find various health services, judge the quality of the care I am receiving, and pay for the services as economically as possible so as to lower my medical bills.
The stories you use periodically in chapters bring the discussion to a human level. Did you base them on real conversations?
Most were based on my own personal experiences, some on actual conversations and/or incidents, and in other cases they were based on listening to and absorbing over the years the experiences of others in dealing with our health care system. I tried to re-create how consumers might sound in voicing or trying to convey a particular point of view about a given issue. The issues being discussed are real-world, everyday worries that people. The answers have immediate relevance because of the reader’s interest or need to identify and find a solution to a personal health problem.
How did you come up with the questions/issues you have in every category?
From my own past research and writings, as well as my listening to the concerns of others when confronting a personal health issue. I also researched information published by government agencies, trade associations, magazines and journals (lay and professional), newspaper articles/columns, consumer groups, business organizations and other entities. I believe that the worst question in health care is the one you never asked and wished you had or the one you were not even aware of to ask and for which you need information in order to maintain your own health or that of a loved one in as healthy a state as possible.
One of the things that set your book apart is the historical background you provide on each topic.
Health care, especially its costs, is usually listed in public opinion polls among the top concerns of the American public today. Public and private officials have stated that our health system is broken and has to be fixed. In order to fix it, all Americans should be involved in the solution. We all finance the system and receive its services and benefits. [I]t is important for all Americans to understand how our current health care problems developed … so both professional and layman … can work together and be on the same playing field … to understand as well offer solutions to correcting the system’s deficiencies. Good and fruitful ideas can have many fathers, whether they work directly in the health care field or not.
Are there other helpful books on healthcare that you would recommend?
For family health care, “American Medical Association Family Medical Guide, 4th Edition” (2004) and the “Mayo Clinic Family Health Book, 3rd Edition” (2003).
For women, “Prevention’s Ultimate Guide to Women’s Health and Wellness: Action Plans for More than 100 Women’s Health Problems” by Susan J. Blumenthal and “Editors of Prevention Health Books for Women” (2002) and “Our Bodies Ourselves for the New Century” by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (1998).
For men, “The Harvard Medical School Guide to Men’s Health: Lessons from the Harvard Men’s Health Studies” (2004).
What is your favorite bookstore in the Washington area?
Barnes & Noble on M Street in Georgetown.
