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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My Weekend as an Emergency Patient and What I Learned

Anne Polta | May 13, 2013
If you want to see what health care is really like, there’s no better way than by becoming a patient yourself. To paraphrase the wisdom of Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the things you’ll learn!”

How Easily We Can Misinterpret the Benefits of Patient-Centered Innovation!

Jessie Gruman | May 8, 2013
Here's the bad news: We will not benefit from the health care services, drugs, tests and procedures available to us unless we pay attention, learn about our choices, interact with our clinicians and follow through on the plans we make together.

Are We Finally Getting Closer to Price Transparency?

Trudy Lieberman | May 8, 2013
The revelations by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday that hospitals vary widely in what they “charge” for the same procedure—sometimes as much as 10 or 20 times more than Medicare reimburses—confirms what health policy wonks have known for a long time. There’s no consistency in pricing for health care services…

‘Healthy Privilege’ – When You Just Can’t Imagine Being Sick

Carolyn Thomas | May 6, 2013
What I’ve learned since my heart attack is that, until you or somebody you care about are personally affected by a life-altering diagnosis, it’s almost impossible to really get what being sick every day actually means…

The Best Health Care Decision is Realizing That There Are Choices

Wendy Lynch | May 2, 2013
Perhaps the most powerful influence we can have in health care is simply acknowledging that we have choices and wondering, out loud, what those might be. Whether or not you plan to do in-depth research about your treatment options, consider asking your doctor three simple questions.

The "True Grit"-tiness of Sharing Health Care Decisions with Our Doctors

Jessie Gruman | May 1, 2013
In the Coen brothers remake of the 1969 movie True Grit, Mattie Ross, an intrepid 14-year-old, is determined to hunt down and kill the man who murdered her father. To accomplish this, she hires U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, (played by a mumbling Jeff Bridges) a rough, one-eyed veteran of many such quests then announces that she plans to come along. She figures she is prepared.

Is “Guaranteed Coverage for Life” in the Cards for Medicare Seniors?

Trudy Lieberman | May 1, 2013
A few days ago, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield sent me one of those Medigap sales brochures that seniors usually expect during the fall open enrollment season.

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