It began with a $2,000 lab test. 

That was the day I realized having trouble with health care wasn't limited to patients who cannot read or speak English. On that day, I walked into my doctor's office and agreed to take a lab test. I didn't ask what it was for. To this day, I don't know why it was needed, but it just seemed easier to agree to it than to ask why. A few weeks later, I received that $2,000 bill in the mail because my insurance company decided it was not a medically-necessary test.

I am a health care communicator by training and trade. This isn't supposed to happen to me. But it did. It happens because health care has its own language, one that most of us are not equipped to understand. To take care of ourselves, we have to advocate for our health and that of our loved ones. We have to become bossy patients.

This notebook is a good first step. Download it and bring it to your next doctor's appointment. Take control of your health.  

In January 2017, I gave a TEDx talk on this topic for TEDx Tucson. View the video here.

For more information on how to improve health literacy for patients and enhance communication skills for medical professionals, contact me.