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Resident Publishes Book On Health Care

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By JOHN CEBALLOS

jceballos@tampatrib.com

Published: December 24, 2008

APOLLO BEACH - Jeff Knott met with a representative from Florida-based, independent publisher DC Press in October 2007.

"They asked me to write a book about health care, but they also told me they'd like the book by the following February," Knott said.

Though he had never written a book before, Knott said he had no hesitation about taking on the project, which he completed on time.

"The most I'd done was publish a few articles about health care," he said. "My editor just told me to write it as if I were talking.

"I had to quit everything else and work on the book every day."
Knott was tapped by DC Press because of his more than 20 years of experience in retail and medical companies.

He was an international vice president for Rooms To Go from 1995 to 2006 and has been the chairman for Tintagel Holdings, a retail and healthcare consulting company serving all of Florida, for the last two years.

It is Knott's fusion of his dual professional philosophies that formed his book, "Navigating the Healthcare Maze, What You Need to Know", which was published in August.

"I'm not a doctor; I'm not a lawyer. I'm a consumer who is familiar with health care providers," he said.

The book offers a review of the current state of affairs in the American health care system and seeks to force readers to examine their relationships with physicians, surgeons and other health care professionals.

"When we buy a car or a computer or anything else, we do the research, but that's not always the case when it comes to what doctor we visit," Knott said. "Also, if a restaurant has bad food or bad service, we complain or we don't go back, and something similar needs to happen with health care that's not satisfactory."

"I feel that we do not consider ourselves consumers in regards to health care."
Knott and his wife, Jan, have lived in Apollo Beach since 1995. He has spoken about the country's health care system throughout the area.

"I was very impressed by him, and I wanted to bring him over to Sun City Center to speak, since there are more people over 55 in that area," said Georgana Collins, administrator at Hanson Services, an in-home assisted living facility in the community.

"I know firsthand that some of us spend more time picking out a tomato at the grocery store than we do our health care coverage," she said.

Knott, who declined to reveal his age, was born in Southampton, England, and earned a Masters of Arts degree in education from Western Kentucky University in 1971.

He was also a professional soccer player in the early 1970s, including a stint with the Miami Toros of the defunct North American Soccer League.

In 1991, he graduated from the Harvard Business School's senior executive program and went on to earn an executive MBA from the University of South Florida two years later.

Presently, he's focusing most of his energy on writing about health care.

"I feel like this is the most important thing I've done, and I want to get it all out," Knott said.

His follow-up book will be about emergency rooms and was partly inspired by a trip to an emergency room, after an accident at home resulted in four broken ribs.

Meanwhile, Knott will continue to promote his first book, including a Jan. 3 book signing at the Brandon Barnes & Noble, 122 Brandon Town Center Drive, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

"Of course, health care providers are not the only ones at fault - we need to be a lot more honest than we are sometimes, and the process just needs to be more collaborative," Knott said. "It's especially important at this time in our lives, when younger people are getting sicker at an earlier age and older people are living longer.

"There's a phrase I use with everyone I meet, and it eventually became the tagline of my book - I say to everyone, 'Stay well, my friend.'"

Reporter John Ceballos can be reached at (813) 865-1555.

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