A groundbreaking book at the intersection of health and economics, revealing why doctors make mistakes, how we often get too much care or too little, and how unexpected—but predictable—events can profoundly affect our health.

Why do heart attack sufferers fare better when cardiologists are out of town?  Can marathons be deadly—even if you’re not running in them?  Why are children born in August more likely to get the flu (and be diagnosed with ADHD) then those born in September?  Which annual event made people 30% more likely to contract Covid-19?

As a University of Chicago–trained economist and Harvard medical school professor and doctor, Anupam Jena is uniquely equipped to answer these questions.  And as a critical care doctor at Massachusetts General who researches health care policy, Christopher Worsham daily confronts their impact on the hospital’s sickest patients.  In this singular work of science and medicine, Jena and Worsham work together to reveal the hidden side of medicine, and its effect on everyone that touches the healthcare system.

Relying on ingeniously devised natural experiments—random events that unknowingly turn us into experimental subjects—Jena and Worsham do more than offer readers colorful stories.  They help us see the way our health is shaped by forces invisible to the untrained eye.  Do you choose the veteran doctor or the rookie?  Do you take the appointment on Monday or on Friday?  Do you get the procedure now or wait a week?  These questions seem trivial and yet they are rife with significance; their impact can be life changing.  In a style that’s animated and enlightening, this book empowers you to see past the white coat and find out what really makes medicine work—and how it could work better.

ANUPAM B. JENA, MD, PhD, is an economist, physician, and professor at Harvard.  Named one of the 100 Great Leaders in Health Care by Becker’s Hospital Review, Jena hosts the Freakonomics, MD podcast, which explores the hidden side of healthcare.
 
CHRISTOPHER M. WORSHAM, MD, MPH is a researcher, pulmonologist, and critical care physician at Harvard. Jena and Worsham practice medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and their research and writing have been published by the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, British Medical Journal, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.