The state of health care in this country is routinely discussed in the media, at the office, and around the kitchen table. Yet as consumers of medical care, Americans often blindly accept medical advice that may or may not be relevant or even appropriate. Doctor, Your Patient Will See You Now is meant to turn on its head the old notion that medical care is dictated by the doctors who offer advice. Today, it's all about the patients who receive it. Bias, financial incentives, and preventable medical error are common to the point of inevitability and have proven resistant to reform. Patients increasingly and correctly feel that they are on their own in a large, bewildering, impersonal, and dangerous medical system.

Offering an insider's perspective, Dr. Kussin provides the tools readers need to make informed decisions about their care, as well as the confidence to question their doctor's advice, seek out additional information, and discern the best path for their care. With this book, readers learn how to maintain a professional approach that, rather than straining the doctor-patient relationship, makes it stronger and more cooperative.

By Steven Z. Kussin

Epigraph
Section I:War: The Battle of Medical Epistemologies

Section II: A Medical Day
Chapter 1. The Office
Chapter 2. The Hospital
Chapter 3. Medical On Call
Chapter 4. The Emergency Room

Section III: Choosing Your Doctor
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Medical School Experience
Chapter 3. Brains
Chapter 4. Communication
Chapter 5. Empathy
Chapter 6. Style
Chapter 7. Second Opinions
Section IV: Choosing Your Hospital
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Staying local
Chapter 3. Abandon Ship!
Chapter 4. Searching for solutions
Section V: Hospital Dangers and How To Prevent Them
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Medication errors
Chapter 3. Hospital acquired infections
Chapter 4. Isolation
Appendix: Best Medical Websites