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I attend physician appointments with my patients every day.  I am always surprised at the lack of questions posed from the patient and/or family members.  When did we decide that the doctor knows best and we should simply take his or her advice without questioning the why, how come, and what is my alternative?  A story in Better Health suggested that there are typically five reasons patients fail to ask questions.
1.  Fear-In my practice I do feel that there is a fear of many of my patients that …

So you have heard how important it is to keep up with your medical records and how you should have a personal health history stored away somewhere.  You know you should, but you are hitting road blocks along the way.  Why are medical records so difficult to obtain???  Well with these 10 tips you should find it a bit easier to obtain the information you need.

Ask for copies of your records in person when you are at the appointment whenever possible
Be certain that your request is accompanied by a signed …

A study out by HealthGrades reports 195,000 in-hospital deaths secondary to medical error. 37 millions records were reviewed for 2000, 2001, and 2002 and deaths averaged 195,000 for this time period. They also found this accounted for $6 Billion in extra costs per year. This study covered all 50 states and four major areas of concern were noted.

Failure to rescue
Bed sores or pressure ulcers
Post operative sepsis
Postoperative pulmonary embolism

The study also highlights these scary findings.

Of the total 323,993 deaths among Medicare patients 81 …