Tracking medicine : a researcher's quest to understand health care / John E. Wennberg.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In health care, geography is destiny -- The Vermont experience -- Tonsillectomy and medical opinion -- Interpreting the pattern of surgical variation -- Understanding the market for preference-sensitive surgery -- Learning what works and what patients want -- The birth and near death of comparative effectiveness research -- Understanding supply-sensitive care -- Chronic illness and practice variation -- Is more better? -- Are America's "best hospitals" really the best? -- Ten top reasons why we need to reform the way we manage chronic illness -- Promoting organized care and reducing overuse -- Establishing shared decision making and informed patient choice -- Six ways to control costs, and accelerate health care reform -- The challenge of practice variations.