The Prepared Patient is our monthly series designed to help Americans participate more fully in their health care and benefit from medical advances and treatment options. 

A prepared patient (1) seeks out health information, (2) knows when to call the doctor and how to communicate with their health care providers, (3) can navigate health care services effectively and (4) manages chronic conditions with confidence. 

We have gathered resources to assist patients/health consumers in becoming more prepared.  Here is our “411”….a directory of resources and assistance that we will add to regularly, to guide and support patients as they search for the best answers to their health care questions and concerns.

Test Anxiety

Have you ever spent the weekend awaiting results of a medical test -- to confirm a cancer diagnosis, for example -- after the doctor failed to call Thursday as promised and didn’t return your calls on Friday? Gives new meaning to the idea of “the endless weekend.”

When I ask people about their health care, one topic that comes up repeatedly is when and how they receive the results of medical tests. The situation described above is too common. But so are lost results, dangerous conditions that were detected but never reported to patients and general bewilderment about what the test results actually mean.

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