Right Care, Right Now [Kindle Edition]

Stuart D. Heaslet (Author)

Book Description

"What makes this book different? There isn't a lot of fluff. Just solid, useful information and tools that will help you make good decisions for a loved one." -IJH, San Francisco, California

"RIGHT CARE, RIGHT NOW" is a practical no-nonsense guide written for people short on time who need information about representing a patient in today's U.S. health care system.

Included are powerful strategies and techniques to plan and process health care decisions for a patient.

This is an easy to read reference that is to the point and heavily linked to essential research, physician, hospital, drug and government insurance websites.

Features:

-How to avoid the top ten mistakes made by most health advocates.

-How to research medical treatment options (and why you shouldn't rely on Google).

-How to find the best doctors, surgeons and hospitals, and which questions you should ask before you hire them.

-How to do background checks on doctors and hospitals.

-Learn when teaching hospitals tend to make the most mistakes.

-When and how to fire a doctor.

-Why second and third opinions matter.

-How to get get the best second and third medical opinions, and why it is often best NOT to get them from colleagues of the primary care physician.

-How to research and source the best and most economical medications.

-How to work with Medicare and private insurance companies, and deal with excessive charges and billings.

-How to appeal insurance denials of insurance coverage.

-How to establish your legal and practical role as a patient advocate, or outsource to a professional or volunteer advocate.

-And much more...

This is the book for non-medical people who must deal with one of the most complex medical bureaucracies on the planet, and who don't have a lot of time to learn how to do it.

EXCERPTS FROM CHAPTER 1:
Your role as a health advocate can mean the difference between life and death for someone you love. Every year more than 200,000 deaths in the United States result from hospital errors that could have been prevented. They happen because of distractions, shift changes, miscommunication, or natural human error. Every day there are thousands of examples of misdiagnosis, mistakes with prescriptions and dosages, procedural errors in hospitals, and other problems, nearly all of which could be prevented with quality and procedural control measures.

EXCERPTS FROM CHAPTER 9:
"It's not good enough that Aunt Gertrude likes the doctor and the hospital. Do background checks."

You don't have to be at the mercy of a website or a referral. You can find the answers about a doctor's license for yourself...

Useful Websites:

DocFinder
www.docboard.org
This remains the only combined database of all licensing jurisdictions that has its direct source of data from state licensing boards.

Federation of State Medical Boards
www.fsmb.org/directory_smb.html
This website has links to state medical and osteopathic boards.

Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)
www.pacer.gov
This electronic public access service allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, district and bankruptcy courts, and the PACER Case Locator via the Internet. PACER is provided by the federal judiciary in keeping with its commitment to providing public access to court information via a centralized service.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stuart D. Heaslet is a professional researcher, writer and businessman whose life was transformed when he became a health advocate for his father who had suffered a major stroke. In addition to the author's experience, the book draws upon the advice and recommendations of health care professionals and patient advocate experts.

Product Details

• File Size: 307 KB
• Print Length: 241 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1938148029
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: SPX Media (May 10, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0082CW65A
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #867,566 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book June 19, 2012

By John

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're looking for Senior care for your mom or dad. This is a great book to navigate your way through the healthcare waters.

5.0 out of 5 stars The right book, right now. June 5, 2012

By James

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is a valuable resource for every breathing person who has family. It addresses an issue, patient care, that affects all of us.
The book is easy to read, well organized, and the go-to source of information for quality health care. The list of web sites for specific areas of interest makes the book a very convenient tool. A real time saver!

Everybody benefits when we are all more prepared and better informed about caring for those who mean the most to us.

James

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent advice June 3, 2012

By BookMan

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am not an expert in health care but rather an individual who is expecting to be a caretaker for a loved one in the not so distant future. This is an excellent compilation of advice to prepare me for that difficult journey.

5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant and to the Point May 24, 2012

By Sara

Format:Paperback

I am a health care professional in the acute medical setting and this book hit the nail on the head. It was concise and straight forward. The chapters were well organized and offered specific and relevant information that was written in laymen's terms.
For those who are caught off guard and are suddenly in the position of being a health care advocate, this book is designed so that one can go right to the chapter that is relevant to their situation and find the information they need.
This book is also a great resource for anyone who could potentially be thrown into an advocate role. As I have seen in my professional experience, that could be any of us! This book gives you tools and tips on how to prepare yourself and your loved ones for that transition if it were to arise. For example, the importance of completing an Advanced Directive and other critical documents is clearly laid out and tools to help you get started on that critical step are provided. I frequently see patients and their loved ones in situations where this process had not been completed and the stress it creates can be devastating to those trying to make critical decisions at the most inopportune time.
The chapters are packed with relevant and credible resources that can be accessed on the internet or via phone. There is nothing more difficult than experiencing the emotional trauma of having someone you care for who is afflicted by an illness and relying on you to be their voice and not knowing where to find the answers you need. I would recommend this book to my patients as well as my family and friends.

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading May 23, 2012

By shane

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Three years ago my mother went to the doctor's office because she was suffering from flu symptoms and was suddenly admitted to the hospital with leukemia. Within hours decisions were having to be made concerning location, doctors and procedures. Bombarded with medical forms, medicine fact sheets, prognosis information and more I felt overwhelmed and completely unprepared.

While perfectly comfortable doing research on the web this is no time to figure out which websites are credible, how to find a top rated doctor or even look up the purpose of a DNR form. You have very little time and the patient's outcome is very dependent on the speed and quality of the decisions you are about to make.

This book is very straight to the point and very quick to read. While most of the information is common sense you'll be glad to have it when put into this situation. Use it as a reference guide when you get to the hospital and use the listed websites to quickly find reputable information about hospitals, doctors, drugs, procedures, etc.

Do you have a spouse, child, parent or friend who may one day depend on you to make quality decisions if admitted to a hospital? Do yourself and them a favor and read this book and keep it in a safe place in case it's ever needed.

This is not the sort of book you read out of fun but should be required reading for anyone who may need to be a patient's advocate.

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and practical resource for both patients and their caregivers May 15, 2012

By Jennifer

Format:Paperback

This book provides a wealth of information for anyone who suddenly finds it necessary to navigate the health care system. I found many effective tips for researching, interviewing, and selecting doctors and surgeons. The author includes many useful links to websites I would have never thought of looking at in order to learn more about the doctor that I was selecting. I also found it helpful that the author included questions that could be used to interview doctors and surgeons. There is a lot of organization that is required to be a patient advocate and this book gives you the tools do it. Overall I found this book to be an extremely informative and practical resource for both patients and their caregivers and am quite satisfied with my purchase.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Book for Everyone May 15, 2012

By L. James

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

At two o'clock in the morning, Stuart Heaslet's phone rang. When he answered, he found himself on the phone with a surgeon on the other side of the country. Heaslet's father had suffered a stroke, and the surgeon was asking the half-awake Stuart for permission to drill holes in his father's head.

"I didn't know it then," Heaslet writes, " but I had already been thrust into the world of the health care bureaucracy as a patient advocate.

And that's when I started making mistakes." (from the Preface)

This situation could happen to any of us. It will happen to most of us, and when it does, the life and well-being of someone we love may well depend on us. To be an effective patient advocate means being to navigate a complex medical system with its own unique culture and rules, to educate ourselves quickly about complex issues, to build strong working relationships with the patient's care team, and to make critical decisions. Right Care, Right Now equips us for the job. Heaslet offers a balanced, carefully researched and thorough travel guide through the US medical system, based on his own experience. He offers advice on every aspect of patient advocacy, lists of questions to ask, tips, links, checklists and more. Even those of us from outside the US - Canada in my case - can learn much from this book. A wise investment for anyone's bookshelf.