The Secret of Great Health Care
Chronic disease leads to death if not managed properly. Health care providers have a responsibility to heal the sick, but the constraints of the current medical system limit their ability to do this. Therefore, it is critical to partner with your doctor to manage chronic disease. This book provided an overview of twelve common chronic diseases. New research comes out every day, continue to educate yourself about the chronic diseases that afflict you.
Take the responsibility for managing your health and disease seriously. No one is more interested in you staying healthy than you. You have a responsibility to partner with your doctor to manage your disease. Part of the reason the American health care system is ranked so poorly is because health care consumers do not take responsibility for their health.
Severe issues face America’s health care system. It is ranked as the 37th best health care system in the world. This does not seem right for a country with world-renowned medical institutions and health care providers. The best resources in the world are here, they are just not utilized by the average health care consumer.
KOC System
Health care responsibility is the act of taking control of the health care that you receive. It requires three areas: knowledge, organization, and communication.
Knowledge, organization and communication are the three factors associated with getting great health care. Knowing your own health is accomplished partially through study and reading but also through organization of your health care information. When health care information is organized, it is easily communicated. Knowledge
You need to understand your health and disease. Understanding your health requires you have a full understanding of your past medical history, past surgical history, medications, allergies to medication, your history of medical tests, hospitalization histories, health care wishes and chronic diseases.
Having a full understanding of your chronic diseases will help assure that they are cared for properly. Diseases are complicated and proper care is challenging. Disease management is made even more challenging in today’s health care setting. Rushed health care providers do not have the time to properly care for those with chronic diseases.
The responsibility of taking care of your chronic disease falls on the shoulder of each individual. No one is more concerned with your health then you are. Take this responsibility seriously, it may save your life.
Understanding your disease also means that you are know where to find resources. Knowing who can help you is critical. Family and friends are good resources for some types of help. There are also community resources that can help you manage your chronic disease.
Support groups – often found through local hospitals - are available and can be great sources of help. People in the support group can provide you with some tips and resources. Other potential places you can turn for some help may include the resources listed in table 25.
Table 25: Community resourses that may help with chronic disease
Many things can be done to assure you understand your diseases. Read books related to each of your diseases. Not all books provide reliable information, but finding ones that are backed by major organizations is one way to assure the information contains quality medical advice. Make sure someone writes the book with expertise in the area the book is written for. For arthritis books, find books with the seal of approval of the American Arthritis Foundation. For diabetes books, find books written by an endocrinologist or a certified diabetes educator. The local reference librarian can be helpful in pointing you towards reputable books. Quality web sites enhance your knowledge of the latest research on disease. Below I have listed a number of reputable websites. Resources
Mini-Medical School Website – http://www.mini-medicalschool.com
Sign up for the free newsletter on this website it will be emailed to you periodically. The email will also be posted on the website. It will include the latest medical information to help the health care consumer assume health care responsibility. Medlineplus - http://www.medlineplus.gov
This is a great website that is updated daily that provides information on the most recent medical breakthroughs. Easy to read articles are posted daily and are broken down by topic.
National Institute of Health - http://www.nih.gov
This site is run by the National Institute of Health and provides information on a variety of health conditions, healthy lifestyles, child and teen health as well as senior health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - www.healthfinder.gov
This is a website that provides information on breaking medical news and a variety of health topics. It also provides a variety of personal health tools to help you improve your health.
InteliHealth - http://www.intelihealth.com
This website provides a multitude of tools to enhance health. It offers updates on breaking medical news, information on diseases, information on dental health and drug resources. It also provides tools to enhance understanding of health conditions. Mayo Clinic - http://www.mayoclinic.org
Run by the world famous Mayo Clinic, this website provides health care information on a variety of health care topics that are reviewed by world-class doctors.
RxList – http://www.rxlist.com
A reliable website that provides information about medications.
WebMD http://www.webmd.com
This is one of the most comprehensive websites. It provides reliable, easy to read medical information on almost any topic.
This is a listing of a few good websites, but there are many other good ones. Use the World Wide Web to enhance your knowledge of how to care for yourself.
Organization
Without organization, your knowledge will be useless. If you walk into a doctor’s appointment without a plan, you will walk out confused and without answers. Without organization, you are sure to be frustrated by the health care system.
Each chronic disease that afflicts you needs to be organized. You need to understand how the disease affects your body. In your personal health record (as described in Improve Your Communication: How Talking Can Improve Health Care), maintain a copy of each form in the appendix for each chronic disease that you have. For example, if you have diabetes, you should have each of the following forms in your personal health care record.
The question and answer sheet should be filled out by you after talking to your doctor. This form will help assure that you understand your disease.
The diabetes flow sheet will guarantee that essential measures are taken to assure that your disease is being managed properly.
The blood sugar tracking form allows your doctor to evaluate your blood sugars and make adjustments of your diabetes medications.
Proper management of chronic disease requires knowledge and organization. But, all the knowledge and organization will be useless without communication.
Communication
Now that you understand your health and disease and have all the information organized, it is time to talk. Proper communication relies on knowledge and organization.
Before each health care encounter, get organized. Bring your personal health care record. Record a list of questions – with the most important questions listed first - before the appointment. Make a copy for you and for your doctor.
Bring any information that the doctor will need to evaluate your health. When being seen for an acute problem bring an accurate description of the problem. When you are being followed up for a chronic problem, it is important that you accurately describe any symptoms that you are having as well as provide important data to help the doctor care for you.
Your doctor will help you understand how your chronic diseases affect you personally. Asking the questions at the end of each chapter will help you understand the disease. Understanding the answers to these questions will improve your health care.
Much of what doctors do is based on getting a good history. Many patients are unable to provide a good history to their doctors, thus compromising their care. One doctor does not care for all of your medical conditions. Today’s health care setting relies on multiple health care providers. Each health care provider needs an accurate history to care for patients safely. If the patient is unable to provide this history, the doctor will likely never get it, resulting in poor health care.
Your Job
After reading this book you can now partner with your doctor to improve the health care of your chronic diseases. Take this responsibility seriously – it may save your life.
Now you are on the way to achieving the best health care that the best health care system in the world has to offer. If everyone took Health Care Responsibility this country would be ranked much higher than number 37 in the world.
