Written by the ultimate insider--a nurse with over twenty-five years of experience--this book provides the latest information on forty-four surgical procedures. In addition, the candid discussions of what to expect after surgery include positive and negative statements from patients who've undergone each procedure. This guidebook also includes simple explanations of medical tests, samples of common medical forms, and a glossary of medical terms.
A guide to taking charge of one's own health care offers detailed information and advice on hospitals, communicating with doctors, therapeutic options, pain management, and other health care challenges.
This User’s Guide is intended to support the design, implementation, analysis, interpretation, and quality evaluation of registries created to increase understanding of patient outcomes. For the purposes of this guide, a patient registry is an organized system that uses observational study methods to collect uniform data (clinical and other) to evaluate specified outcomes for a population defined by a particular disease, condition, or exposure, and that serves one or more predetermined scientific, clinical, or policy purposes. A registry database is a file (or files) derived from the registry. Although registries can serve many purposes, this guide focuses on registries created for one or more of the following purposes: to describe the natural history of disease, to determine clinical effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of health care products and services, to measure or monitor safety and harm, and/or to measure quality of care. Registries are classified according to how their populations are defined. For example, product registries include patients who have been exposed to biopharmaceutical products or medical devices. Health services registries consist of patients who have had a common procedure, clinical encounter, or hospitalization. Disease or condition registries are defined by patients having the same diagnosis, such as cystic fibrosis or heart failure. The User’s Guide was created by researchers affiliated with AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, particularly those who participated in AHRQ’s DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness) program. Chapters were subject to multiple internal and external independent reviews.
Gold Winner 2012 Foreword Reviews Book of The Year, Health Category The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 1.7 million people developed healthcare acquired infections in 2010. Since most people spend only a small part of their lives in healthcare facilities, this guidebook also tells readers how to avoid picking up serious infections in day care centers, schools, business offices, and other common locations. Unlike other books, which focus on how to change the hospital systems, The Patient Survival Guide focuses on empowering you with the knowledge and techniques to ensure a safer healthcare experience. The Patient Survival Guide: Inspires you to be a your own advocate Describes in vivid detail how your preparation and informed vigilance can significantly reduce the chances of harm and death to your loved one in a hospital Provides specific, practical, and outside-the-box strategies for anticipating and preventing errors, with chapters devoted to each of the most common mistakes and mishaps Provides checklists for patients to use upon admission to healthcare facilities
This one-of-a-kind guide offers easy-to-understand explanations, advice, and management options for patients or parents of patients with cystic fibrosis. The book explains the disease process, outlines the fundamentals of diagnosing and screening, and addresses the challenges of treatment for those living with CF. As one reviewer said, this book “is the only complete answer book for everyone living with the disease. It is an indispensable resource for families of children with CF, adolescent and adult patients, and physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and social workers involved in the care of CF patients.”
This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.
An insider's guide to searching online, communicating with your physician, and maximizing your health from a doctor who works at Google. We've all been there. Late at night, staring into the glow of a phone trying to make sense of some health-related issue that we know nothing about. In Searching for Health, Dr. Kapil Parakh, with Anna Dirksen, brings to life knowledge he gained from working at Google and practicing medicine. Helping readers avoid common pitfalls, get the information they need, and partner effectively with their health team to figure out a path to good health together, the book distills decades of scientific research into a set of easy-to-follow tips. It also incorporates • firsthand accounts of common challenges on the path to good health; • an inside look at how doctors approach and assess health-related information; • techniques that consumers can use to locate evidence-based information online, whether in blogs, social media postings, forums, or news stories; • guidance on how individuals can make the best use of new technologies, such as health trackers and other applications; • recommendations to help patients assess health information for themselves and make decisions based on what they find; • brief summaries of the scientific studies underpinning the recommendations; and • online and offline resources—including handy checklists and worksheets—to help readers prepare for appointments, discuss tough topics with their doctors, and take control of their health. In addition to helping readers find evidence-based information online, the book provides insights into what you can expect from a visit to a doctor or hospital, how to make a decision about surgery or other treatment, what tests doctors will order, which symptom trackers are really effective, and what questions to ask about medications, supplements, and more. Searching for Health is a valuable resource for charting a healthier path through life.
From registered nurse and public health advocate Sana Goldberg, RN, a timely, accessible, and comprehensive handbook to navigating common medical situations. From the routine to the unexpected, How to Be a Patient is your ultimate guide to better healthcare. Did you know that patients have statistically better outcomes when their surgeon is female? That you can mark-up an informed consent sheet before you sign it, or get second opinions on CTs and MRIs? That there’s a blue book for healthcare procedures, or an algorithm to decide between ER, Urgent Care, and waiting-until-Monday? In How to Be a Patient, nurse and public health advocate Sana Goldberg walks readers through the complicated and uncertain medical landscape, illuminating a path to better care. Warm and disarmingly honest, Goldberg’s advice is as expert as it is accessible. In the face of an epidemic of brusque, impersonal care she empowers readers with the information and tools to come to good decisions with their providers and sidestep the challenging realities of modern medicine. With sections like When All is Well, When It’s An Emergency, When It’s Your Person, and When You Have to Stand Up to the Industry, along with appendices to help track family history, avoid pointless medical tests, and choose when and where to undergo a procedure, How to Be a Patient is an invaluable and essential guide for a new generation of patients.
Smart Advice on the leading causes of back problems and the best ways to relieve the pain Smart Ways to stretch, exercise, and strengthen the muscles in your back Smart Tips on how today's leading medical techniques and therapies can make your back feel good again An all-you-need-to-know introduction to understanding why your back hurts and how to make it feel good again * Smart Insights into the causes of back pain and the many factors--including
America’s doctors, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen, show you how to become your own medical detective and get the best health care possible. Everyone needs to become a smart patient. In fact, in the worst cases, your life may even depend on it. Number one bestselling authors and doctors Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz have written this indispensable handbook to help everyone to get the best health care possible—by making everyone into their own medical detective. Witty, playful, at times offbeat, but always authoritative, You: The Smart Patient shows you how to become your own medical sleuth, tracing your medical family tree and wending your way through the pitfalls of any health care situation. Written in conjunction with the health care community's leading oversight group, The Joint Commission, the book shows readers in clear, easy steps how to take control of their own health care and deal with all matters that may come up when facing a medical case: from choosing the right doctor, hospital, and insurance company to navigating prescription drugs, specialists, treatment options, alternative medicine, pain management, or any problem that might arise. Accessible, humorous, and filled with information that you need, You: The Smart Patient is a book for every patient and all those dealing with a loved one's medical issues.
