PREPARED PATIENT BLOG

Patients and experts explore what it takes to find good health care and make the most of it.

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Hospital Ratings'What Do They Really Mean?

Trudy Lieberman | June 29, 2010

How Can We Pay Less for our health care?

Jessie Gruman | June 25, 2010
I just completed a series of radio and TV interviews about the extent to which people participate in their health care you know, those three-questions-in-90 seconds blips that currently constitute news for the viewing/listening public.

Open Wide and Say Uh-oh

Sarah Jorgenson | June 22, 2010

Is Choosing a Health Plan Like Buying a Car or Canned Goods?

Trudy Lieberman | June 21, 2010
Do consumers buy health insurance like they buy canned peas? Or should they? That's the big question market place advocates have been trying to answer now for more than a decade. The government and others have thrown gobs of money at this vexing problem trying to figure out the best combination of stars, bars and other symbols that will catch the shopper's eye.

The Inconvenient Evidence on Alzheimer's

Jessie Gruman | June 16, 2010
Lifestyle May Not Prevent Alzheimer's trumpets a headline in Time magazine. The article goes on to describe a carefully conducted review of decades of evidence examining the hypothesis that exercise, social relationships, diet or vitamins can ward off Alzheimer's disease. The study concludes that there is not sufficient evidence to be able to recommend that the public take any of these actions to prevent or delay the disease.

Some Honesty about Medicare Advantage Plans, Please

Trudy Lieberman | June 11, 2010

Watching the UK Careen Toward National Online Medical Records

Jessie Gruman | June 9, 2010
The National Health Service in the UK has rolled out its campaign to inform the public that an individual's online summary care record will soon be readily available to any health care worker. At that point, people will be able to view their summary, schedule hospital appointments and make use of health information and links to help them manage their health and lifestyle by keeping track of information like your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and medications.

Do Health Threats Migrate?

Jessie Gruman | June 7, 2010
Have you ever gotten one of those phone calls from your doctor the starts out I'm very concerned about what we saw in your mammogram/colonoscopy/echocardiogram?

What Happens When COBRA Disappears?

Trudy Lieberman | June 4, 2010

Getting to the Right Doctor at the Right Time

Jessie Gruman | June 3, 2010
One of the behaviors necessary to be a prepared patient is to seek and use the appropriate health care setting when professional attention is required.

The Perils of Consenting Adults

Jessie Gruman | June 1, 2010
Most of us like it when our health care decisions are simple and straightforward -- when the potential benefit of one option far outweighs the benefits and risks of the other. Should I smoke? No. Should I get a mammogram? Yes. However, advances in screening, preventive measures, diagnostic technologies and treatments have rendered our preference for the certainty of the simple choice obsolete.

Resources to help people find good care and make the most of it.