Questions Patients Need To Ask

Doctors are taught how to cure people. But they don’t always know how to care for them. Hardly anyone is happy with American healthcare these days. Patients are getting sicker and going bankrupt from medical bills. Doctors are burning out and making dangerous mistakes. Both parties blame our nation’s outdated and dysfunctional healthcare system. But that’s only part of the problem. In this important and timely book, Dr. Robert Pearl shines a light on the unseen and often toxic culture of medicine. Today’s physicians have a surprising disdain for technology, an unhealthy obsession with status, and an increasingly complicated relationship with their patients. All of this can be traced back to their earliest experiences in medical school, where doctors inherit a set of norms, beliefs, and expectations that shape almost every decision they make, with profound consequences for the rest of us. Uncaring draws an original and revealing portrait of what it’s actually like to be a doctor. It illuminates the complex and intimidating world of medicine for readers, and in the end offers a clear plan to save American healthcare.

"I'd prescribe this book for every patient entering a hospital" Robert Galvin, M.D. Director of Global Healthcare General Electric "David Shulkin is a national role model for all hospital CEO's who want to walk the walk and talk the talk with real integrity, brutal honesty, and a total can do attitude,-- I hope other hospitals are listening" David B. Nash, M.D., MBA Founding Dean, the Jefferson School of Health, Policy and Population Health "Full of great, useful information, patients and families should read this book to be better informed and get better healthcare" Maulik S. Joshi, Dr.P.H. CEO, Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement "Just what the doctor ordered! This book, edited by one of the world's leaders in hospital quality, provides insights that every hospitalized patient needs to keep themselves safe. Read it and stay well." Robert Watcher, M.D. Professor and Chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine UCSF Medical Center "An exceptionally valuable books that every patient, family member, and caregiver should read" Ken Raske President, Greater New York Hospital Association "Shulkin in this book has given patients an inside look at how to actively participate in helping even the best healthcare professionals improve their performance. Don't leave home without it" Larry Wellikson, M.D. CEO, Society for Hospital Medicine

Primary care medicine is the new frontier in medicine. Every nation in the world has recognized the necessity to deliver personal and primary care to its people. This includes first-contact care, care based in a posi tive and caring personal relationship, care by a single healthcare pro vider for the majority of the patient's problems, coordination of all care by the patient's personal provider, advocacy for the patient by the pro vider, the provision of preventive care and psychosocial care, as well as care for episodes of acute and chronic illness. These facets of care work most effectively when they are embedded in a coherent integrated approach. The support for primary care derives from several significant trends. First, technologically based care costs have rocketed beyond reason or availability, occurring in the face of exploding populations and diminish ing real resources in many parts of the world, even in the wealthier nations. Simultaneously, the primary care disciplines-general internal medicine and pediatrics and family medicine-have matured significantly.

Every minute of every day, in thousands of doctor office visits, there is information people should know about their medical condition that is not being discussed. People often forget key questions to ask about their condition or sometimes dont even know the right questions at all. Top 5 Questions to Ask Your Doctor gives you those important questions you need to ask at each visit and the book is categorized by medical condition for easy reference. These questions have been submitted and reviewed by hundreds of primary care doctors, specialists, nurses, medical students, and patients. If these simple questions are asked at the time of your visit, you will walk away knowing more and being more confident about your health care. Active, informed patients and families can play a key role in protecting and improving the safety and quality of their own health care. To do this well, they need coaches and good ideas about how to get involved. This book is full of useful tips to help them speak up with confidence and become the empowered participants that they can and should be. Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPPPresident and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement This gem of a book not only covers the specifics of what you should ask during your medical visit, but also addresses key critical issues and questions to address with regard to specific diseases. Read it and learn how to make the most out of the limited amount of time you have with your doctor. Edward B. Noffsinger, Ph.D.Author, Running Group Visits in Your PracticeHealthcare Consultant and former Vice President of Shared Medical Appointments and Group-Based Disease Management at Harvard Vanguard

When you see your doctor, it's not always easy to know what to ask - especially if you only have a short time with them and you're feeling worried about your health. Not all of these questions will be relevant to every situation. Choose the ones that fit your circumstances and who you're speaking to in time with the doctor. This book may give you: Questions You Should Know To Ask Doctors: Easily Prepare To Have Effective Talk With Doctor Talking With Doctor: Reasons And Questions You Can Ask Doctor Questions To Ask Doctor: A Guide To Talking With Your Doctor

Fundamental Skills for Patient Care in Pharmacy Practice enables students and new pharmacists to master the skills associated with clinical care in either the inpatient or outpatient setting. In accessible steps, this valuable resource provides the tools for gaining medication histories from patients and counseling them on the most effective and safe manner to take medications. Each chapter explores the background and practice of a critical skill, tools that aid in its development and mastery, and tips for success. Students and pharmacists will come away with the knowledge to identify drug-related problems and formulate plans for solutions to these problems. Fundamental Skills for Patient Care in Pharmacy Practice prepares future pharmacists to communicate effectively in verbal and written formats with health professionals and special patient populations as they prepare and present SOAP notes, patient cases, and discharge counseling.

This book is the attempt of a few dedicated medical students to fix a gap in the delivery of health care and improve YOUR medical care! Collectively serving thousands of patients in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York City's five boroughs, these student doctors were able to observe an alarming trend: patients do not know what questions to ask before surgery! And how could they know? To add to this, being told you need surgery is, of course, very scary. It can be downright terrifying and it is easy to forget to ask some simple but very important questions about your medical care. This book was created as the ideal easy-to-read guide of questions and answers for patients who are about to undergo surgery. Ranging from questions about anesthesia and pain management, to life altering decisions in emergency, brain, and heart surgery, to elective considerations in plastic surgery - all evidence-based and validated by highly regarded medical experts from multiple medical specialties. This book is a must-read before you or your loved ones go into the operating room! Included are 100 of the most important patient-relevant questions every patient should ask before surgery, presented in a quick-read question-and-answer format.

In the heat of the moment, it is difficult to know what to ask our doctor so that we can reach the best possible solution or treatment. How can a doctor know to go through a list of risks, treatments and alternatives if the patient does not ask? This list of ten open-ended questions can help every type of patient get some control over the decisions that affect their help. Covering everything from tests to drugs to lifestyle issues, any or all of these ten questions can guide you to better decisions whether you ve been told you have high cholesterol, your child has an ear infection, or that you need a CAT scan."