Fact checked by Jim Lacy
From racism to the Magic Kingdom, these five books explore some of healthcare’s most pressing issues — including compassion, reproductive rights, and consolidation — while challenging the status quo. Each offers unique insights from the author’s lived experience. And one thing on which they all agree: Change is needed — urgently and across the board.
Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes a Difference
by Stephen Trzeciak, MD, and Anthony Mazzarelli, MD (2019)
If healthcare is in crisis — focused more on profits than on care — how might caring make a difference? Compassionomics argues that delivering compassionate care benefits every part of healthcare: patients and clinical outcomes; providers and burnout prevention; and health systems, payers, and financial outcomes. The book combines science with stories, showcasing how compassionate care produces measurable results.
Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine
by Uché Blackstock, MD (2025)
Blackstock grew up knowing she would become a doctor like her mother, who led an organization for Black women physicians. The pair became Harvard Medical School’s first Black mother-daughter legacy. And the younger Blackstock learned the harsh realities of being a Black female physician in the U.S. — and the profound inequities facing Black doctors and patients alike.
Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America
by Shefali Luthra (2025)
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the decision had an almost immediate effect on women’s reproductive rights across the country. By 2023, 21 states had severely restricted or banned abortion access. This book follows the impact on multiple women, framing abortion as a matter of bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.
Big Med: Megaproviders and the High Cost of Health Care in America
by David Dranove and Lawton Robert Burns (2022)
The consolidation of healthcare providers and organizations over several decades has led to today’s expensive, underperforming healthcare system, Dranove and Burns argue. Since the 1990s, megaproviders have absorbed independent practices, increasing market share while failing to deliver on promises of improved care. The book explores the steps needed to improve the current state of U.S. healthcare.
If Disney Ran Your Hospital: 9½ Things You Would Do Differently
by Fred Lee (2004)
More than 20 years after publication, this 2005 ACHE Book of the Year remains a classic on the business of healthcare. Lee examines what sets Disney — and potentially hospitals — apart: deep, long-lasting loyalty achieved through experience. Through this framework, Lee aims to inspire and empower hospital leaders to adopt a customer-centered mindset.
