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Guide Picks - Top 6 Patient Empowerment Books
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Since patients can no longer expect their individual needs to be the top
concern of their doctors, their hospitals, or their insurers (the top
concern actually being cost containment), wise patients will do everything
they can to protect themselves in any encounter they may have with the health care
system. Here are six books that can help you navigate a complex and
increasingly hostile health care system. |
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1)
Surviving Modern Medicine : How to Get the Best from Doctors, Family, and
Friends by Peter Clarke and Susan H. Evans
This book offers very practical advice for navigating our distracted health care
system. Especially good on how to get help from families and friends
when you really need it.
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2)
Managing Your Health Care : Making the Most of Your Medical Resources
by Martin Gipson, Terry Liskevych, Edwin Swillinger, and Taras
Liskevych
Practical advice on getting what you need from your doctors and other
medical personnel. The authors advocate “self-help” by working with
your doctor and other professionals, thus engaging their interest
in your care.
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3)
The Intelligent Patient's Guide to the Doctor-Patient Relationship :
Learning How to Talk So Your Doctor Will Listen
by
Barbara M. Korsch and Caroline Harding
This book analyzes every aspect of your interactions with your doctor
– all aimed at improving communications so that you get the care you
really need. Could be subtitled, “The Proper Care and Feeding of Your
Physician.”
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4)
Making Informed Medical Decisions: Where to Look and How to Use What
You Find
by Nancy
Oster, Lucy Thomas, and Darol Joseff
The authors teach an adult-education course in finding medical help on
the Internet, and this book rose from their experience with this
effort. Very strong in supplying tips for how to use the Internet and
medical libraries to learn about your illnesses, and gives an
excellent primer on understanding the risks and benefits of your
treatment options.
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5)
Take This Book to the Hospital With You : A Consumer Guide to Surviving
Your Hospital Stay
by Charles
B. Inlander and Ed Weiner
Aimed squarely at the medical consumer, this book is packed with
information on avoiding inappropriate medical charges, dealing with
intractable insurers, and on assuring your own rights as a patient.
Focuses on handling the bureaucracy, rather than on medical issues.
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6)
How to Get Out of the Hospital Alive : A Guide to Patient Power
by Elaine
Fantle Shimberg, Sheldon Paul Blau, and Gary Null
This book offers advice on all the things that can go wrong in the
hospital, and on how to avoid them. Some will find it unnecessarily scary
and sensationalistic, but it does offer many practical and worthwhile
tips.
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