Healthcare choices : 5 steps to getting the medical care you want and need / Archelle Georgiou, MD.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Making healthcare decisions is hard, but making the right choices has never mattered more.



Healthcare Choices: 5 Steps to Getting the Care You Want and Needgives you the tools you need to choose the best medical care--for you. Archelle Georgiou, MD, explainsher CARES model, the formula she developed to help family, friends, and thousands of television viewers make smart healthcare decisions that balance the best medical options with individual preferences. Using more than 30 real-life stories and insider tips, she demonstrates how to use this step-by-step guide to access the medical information you need to evaluate your options and make well-informed choices. Whether you are addressing a life-threatening illness, self-managing a minor ailment, selecting a doctor, or buying insurance, Georgiou's roadmap shows you how to be an active participant in your care.



Her "go to" approach describes how to:

Identify all treatment options for an illness, including those not mentioned by your doctor. Make treatment decisions that reflect your priorities and preferences. Find the best doctor to treat your condition. Communicate with your doctor and make shared treatment decisions. Choose the health insurance plan that's right for you. Maintain a voice in your lifestyle as you age.



Healthcare Choiceswill give you the confidence to advocate for the healthcare you want, need, and deserve.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Georgiou, an MD who served as chief medical officer of United Healthcare, knows her subject matter. To help Americans make good medical choices, she recommends following her own CARES model. She presents its five sensible, empowering steps: understand your condition, know your alternatives, respect your preferences, evaluate your options, and start taking action. A compelling storyteller, Georgiou, who also reports on health news for a Twin Cities television station, includes questions from the public about everything from bad breath to toenail fungus along with her responses. She also uses the power of numbers effectively. Noting, for example, that 40 websites provide report cards on physicians, but only 23 percent of Americans have used them. All doctors are not created equal, Georgiou reminds us, so check them out (HealthGrades.com is a good start). She also points out that only half of patients take medications as prescribed, and she offers interesting, relevant trivia. The most common reason for an office visit? A cough. What's the leading cause of bankruptcy? Unpaid medical bills. Georgiou provides readers with sound tools to be better-informed patients.--Springen, Karen Copyright 2016 Booklist

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Archelle Georgiou, MD, is a nationally recognized physician and consumer advocate. As former Chief Medical Officer of UnitedHealthcare, she changed the company's policies and eliminated the bureaucratic hassles that managed care companies impose on patients and physicians. She uses the media as a vehicle to educate consumers about their health and has a regular health news segment on KSTP-TV in Minneapolis. Archelle is an Executive in Residence at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.