Healthcare in the U.S. is at a critical juncture. We face a continued upward spiral in the number of people with chronic diseases and disabilities. As demands on our current health system grow, so will costs. But as a society we are approaching the upper limit of how much we are willing (or able) to spend on health care. Health care industry leaders and policy makers know this. That is why they have embraced the so-called Second Curve focus on population health and value-based care. But these initiatives will not achieve the desired results. They are being implemented within an overall industry that is structurally dysfunctional. We are not addressing the root causes of this dysfunction. We are asking a system to do things that it was simply not designed to do. Key features of this book include: An objective and sometimes scathing look at current industry structure: a change-resistant government and industry medical-administrative complex that is motivated by entrenched self-interests. An overview of how the industry is changing with the exploding availability of Big Data and its downstream information products, and the growing ability of an informed market to make rational health care purchase and consumption decisions. A perspective on how this informed market-the economic human-will be the force that defines and actualizes value in the Next Curve of health care. A comprehensive, macro-level approach to remedying the root causes of industry dysfunction. A practical approach to solution-the author has extensive experience working with all major segments of the industry, and has had first-hand exposure to both issues and solutions cited. Book jacket.