At some point in time, you or someone you know will spend time in a hospital. You can do things to make the stay as trouble free as possible. This book by Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen provides that guidance.
Many of the suggested ideas in the book are pretty common sense. Just as an example, keep a list of medications in your wallet or on your phone. How many times have you gone to the doctor and the doctor doesn't even know what medications you are taking? This despite it being written on your chart every time you visit. If you are taken to the emergency room, the doctor usually can't wait to verify what it is you are taking either. If you have it handy, you can give yourself a big boost.
There are many helpful suggestions like this in the book to help make you a smarter patient. Some suggestions are down right impossible for the average patient. The doctors suggest quizzing the nurses to see if a surgeon is up to snuff. I can't imagine nurses spilling the beans to anyone that asks - that could get them in trouble. Though, if you have a relationship with a clinic, that might help. Other things, like calling your doctor on the phone are also impossible. I have never been able to speak with a doctor on the phone directly - there are several gates you have to get through like a secretary or a nurse where you have to leave a message and maybe one of those overworked individuals might call you back with an answer.
Despite some silly suggestions, there are many helpful ones. The book is worth a read for anyone trying to navigate health care.
The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.
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