"The Empowered Patient" A Book Review

I have worked as a source with Elizabeth Cohen, CNN senior medical correspondent for years on stories about fertility, infertility, and sexuality. For as long as I have worked with Elizabeth, her stories always put the patient first. I cannot tell you how unique that is in the world of media medical reporting. Elizabeth never looked for the sensational edge - she looked for what people needed to know so that they could get the best care possible.

So it didn't surprise me one bit when I heard she wrote a book called "THE EMPOWERED PATIENT: How to Get the Right Diagnosis, Buy the Cheapest Drugs, Beat Your Insurance Company, and Get the Best Medical Care Every Time(Ballantine Trade Paperback Original). In fact - I couldn't wait to get my hands on it!

If you have ever needed to be a patient - are a patient - or might be one in the future - go buy this book. Elizabeth shows readers how to ensure they get the best medical care for themselves and their families every time they set foot in the doctor’s office - and in this age of managed care, rushed doctor’s visits, and healthcare reform, Cohen’s book is a rallying cry. And you know how much I love rallying cries!

What I like the best about THE EMPOWERED PATIENT, is that Elizabeth's message is simple and positive - that "we, as patients, have the power to influence our medical care and save our own lives. Not only can we do it, we must do it".

In the book, she introduces us to real people who have used their brains, common sense, and the Internet to diagnose their own illnesses, uncover medical mistakes, and insist on life-saving treatments their doctors never told them about.

In chapters such as “Finding Dr. Right (and Firing Dr. Wrong) and “How to Get Good Drugs Cheap,” Cohen gives actionable advice such as:
• How to be a “bad” patient: ask a lot of questions and don’t worry if the doctor likes you or not.
• How to avoid a misdiagnosis: the questions that could save your life.
• How to become an “Internet medical detective:” how to go beyond Google and harness the full power of the Internet.
• How to save money on prescription drugs: it can be as easy as making one phone call to your doctor.
• How to make sense of healthcare reform: what you need to know about the best policy for your family and avoid the scams.
I also found the book very readable, through recounting her own personal stories and cases from her years of reporting, the book arms readers with practical solutions and rational approaches for improving their medical care.

You know - sometimes it seems that everybody has book these days - but this book is an essential. Buy it!

You can tell them that The Fertility Advocate sent you!