Patient Destiny

Step Eight

Step 8:  Be responsible – follow the agreed upon treatment and plan.

Again, this may seem very straight-forward, but this little "step" actually gains significant credibility with your providers!

If you are to become truly empowered, then taking responsibility for your own actions - leading all the way to responsibility for your overall health and care - is critical.

Providers see their patients as being extremely vulnerable. These people, their patients, are often interacting with a system that is foreign to them, one that is very complex, and they are trying to navigate through this system at a time when they are probably at their weakest - having just been diagnosed or in the middle of a flare-up of a chronic condition.

Step Seven

Step 7: Provide your physician with accurate status updates – you work with him – he will work with you.

This may sound quite simple - perhaps even silly?  Why would I not tell the truth to my doctor? Well, you would be surprised what information patients withhold from their care-givers. In fact, the FOX Network show, House, is primarily based on the premise that all patients lie and they lie continually!

Step Six

Step 6: Start to raise questions and present options to your provider.

Actions speak louder than words! This is so true when it comes to convincing your physician that you are serious about taking more control over your health management. This should take the form of discussion at first. One way is to discuss findings or literature that you may have come across about your illness or condition. This will prompt a further discussion around options, therapies and other issues relating to the bigger picture of your overall health.

Step Five

Step 5: Get access to information so as to help you make decisions.

This information can take many forms and will really depend on your own situation and illness. For example, this will involve general search in order to find information on providers, diagnosis options or potential treatments - perhaps using health specifcialized search websites. This MUST also include, however, accessing your own specific health data. And, there are no 2 ways around this - this activity and data search must be accessed from Care Providers through a personal health record (PHR) or patient portals that are becoming more and more popular within hospitals and health science centers.

To truly manage your care, you need to have your information - plain and simple!