Patient's Playbook

In addition to the readings on Doctor's Don't Listen, another reading from last Wednesday was on The Patient's Playbook. Here is a short (2 min) video from the CEO, Leslie Michelson.



Here is a quote from the article (linked):

Getting a scary diagnosis can be emotionally overwhelming. While it’s not always easy, the best approach is to summon the courage to ask tough questions, do more research on your condition, and get additional expert opinions. It’s essential to do this before before agreeing to powerful therapies or surgeries, as diagnostic error isn’t just inconvenient and frustrating: When you are misdiagnosed, you run the risk of receiving unnecessary and potentially harmful treatments.

Here are 8 essential questions to ask your doctor about a diagnosis. You should supplement them with questions that are relevant to your specific circumstances.

1. I understand that you believe I have this disease, but how confident are you in the diagnosis?
2. Is there anything else could this be?
3. Are there more tests that can be done to confirm this diagnosis?
4. Was the lab test sample good/the imaging clear? Would it make sense to 
get a second read?
5. Have you read all my medical records to get the full picture of my symptoms? Would it help if I went over them with you?
6. You say I have an abnormal blood test/a lab abnormality and that we can treat it with medication. But is it possible that this is indicative of a bigger problem? Are there other tests we should be doing to rule out serious diseases?
7. Before we move forward with treatment, are you confident we’ve explored all my options?
8. I appreciate what you’re saying, and it sounds very serious. I’d like to get copies of my lab reports/imaging/medical records in order to get a second opinion.

Here is a link to the book, Patient's Playbook. You can read more about this.  After the 8 essential questions, I clicked on Toss Your Diet Books! Good Health Comes Down to 5 Simple Steps. There is a PBS video on "In Defense of Food" by investigative journalist Michael Pollan There's even a documentary about it (trailers shown below on this page - scroll down).