Title: Valuing Health in Practice: Priorities, QALYs, and Choice
Author: Douglas McCulloch
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
ISBN: 979-8823088800
Pages: 178
Genre: Health / Fitness & Dieting
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina

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In the world of health, especially health care, one of the most difficult things a person
can come to understand about the industry from a care and business perspective is the
way in which healthcare is valued. The means of placing value on new procedures or
practices which have more of an impact, and measuring those against the cost of care
and balance between cost-effectiveness and cost-benefits, all fall under the careful eye
of valuation of overall health, and shows a complex system of healthcare that few ever
see behind closed doors.

Exploring the health industry takes center stage in author Douglas McCulloch’s Valuing
Health in Practice: Priorities, QALYs, and Choice. The book takes several steps to
explore the ways in which industry experts place value on healthcare, including the
arguments made to justify new medical procedures, as well as the arguments against
outdated and inefficient older procedures. The book also delves into the limitations
which so many face in the medical science field, in particular the hardships in medical
trials and lattice analysis when dealing with situations where a quality of life is
immeasurable.

Immediately the first thing which stands out is the straightforward writing style the author
employs. The book introduces new concepts to those not familiar with the business,
including QALYs, or quality-adjusted life year, and its impact and main measure of the
overall outcome of health. The book also focuses on choice as a running theme
throughout the book. The idea that much like any consumer product, one must measure
the needs of a product versus the pricing, and one must also make decisions based on
how best to improve one’s health while also measuring that against the overall cost of a
procedure/medicine/healthcare plan overall, really was explored in great detail and
provided readers with information and background in an industry not really understood
outside of the field.

The book speaks overall to readers who enjoy non-fiction works, especially those who
deal in health, fitness, medicine and business practices in the medical field. The book
will speak to those who wish to have a more thorough understanding of the business
and overall running of the healthcare system. Interestingly, the book did a great job of
exploring trials, and how hard it is when health professionals use survival rates to place
values used in QALY, and the implementation of MEQI, or Mean Expected QALY
Indicator, which uses assessment of performances in cardiac and other sectors over a
period of time, based on health impacts and the costs associated with it. The detail and
knowledge that readers can gain from this book help to have a firmer understanding of
the field overall.

Douglas McCulloch’s Valuing Health in Practice: Priorities, QALYs, and Choice, albeit
written for a specific audience, is an eye-opening book which can reach many readers
interested in exploring new ideas for reaching one’s personal health goals.