Health Guidance

The quality and the cost of medical care depend more on you than on your doctor.
To become a wise medical consumer, start with three basic principles:

* Work in partnership with your doctor and health care team.
* Share in every medical decision.
* Become skilled at obtaining medical care.

By following these three principles, you will gain more control over the quality and cost of your health care than you have ever had before.

Work in Partnership With Your Doctor

Good partnerships are based on a common goal, shared effort, and good communication. If you and your doctor can make these things happen, you will both gain from the partnership. You will get better care and your doctor will practice good medicine.

Five Ways to Be a Good Partner

1. Take good care of yourself. Both you and your doctor would prefer that you don’t get sick in the first place. And if problems arise, you both want a return to good health as soon as possible.

2. At the first sign of a health problem, observe and record your symptoms. Your record of symptoms will help both you and your doctor make an accurate diagnosis. And the better job you do recording early symptoms, the better you and your doctor can manage the problem later.

- Keep written notes on the symptoms. Record when, how long, how painful, etc., for each symptom.

- Note anything unusual that might be related to the problem.

- Measure and record vital signs.

- Add regular updates and watch your progress. Are your symptoms getting better or worse? Continue reading ‘The Wise Medical Consumer: Work in Partnership With Your Doctor’ »

Except in an emergency, you cannot be given a treatment or test without your “informed consent.” You must be informed of the risks and agree to the treatment. In a partnership, however, informed consent may not be enough. The real goal is shared decision-making, where you actively participate in every medical decision.

Why should you help make decisions with your doctor? Aren’t you paying him or her to know what to do? Well, the choices aren’t always black and white. With many health problems, there is more than one option. Consider these examples:

• You have moderately high blood pressure (160/95). Your doctor says that exercise and diet might bring it down, but most people don’t succeed that way. Your doctor recommends that you start on medication to control it. You would rather try exercise and lose weight than take pills for the rest of your life. The best decision depends on your values.

• Your three-year-old has a headache and a fever. The doctor says it’s probably nothing to worry about. Then you mention your hunch that it might be meningitis. Some testing may be appropriate.

• You have been suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome for several months. Your doctor is now recommending a wrist splint and a steroid injection. You would prefer Continue reading ‘The Wise Medical Consumer: Share in Every Medical Decision’ »

The quality and the cost of medical care depend more on you than on your doctor.
To become a wise medical consumer, start with three basic principles:

* Work in partnership with your doctor and health care team.
* Share in every medical decision.
* Become skilled at obtaining medical care.

By following these three principles, you will gain more control over the quality and cost of your health care than you have ever had before.

Work in Partnership With Your Doctor

Good partnerships are based on a common goal, shared effort, and good communication. If you and your doctor can make these things happen, you will both gain from the partnership. You will get better care and your doctor will practice good medicine.

Five Ways to Be a Good Partner

1. Take good care of yourself. Both you and your doctor would prefer that you don’t get sick in the first place. And if problems arise, you both want a return to good health as soon as possible. Continue reading ‘The Wise Medical Consumer – Part 1’ »