See also: online pharmacy viagra |
Nearly half of adults in the United States – 90 million – have a difficult time understanding health information, including doctors recommendations and dosage information, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
Those unable to process basic information have difficulty making appropriate decisions regarding their health. The result is higher hospitalization rates and increased emergency room visits, costing billions of dollars.
As insurance companies continue to fight to control costs, patients must become their own advocates. They must seek out information, monitor their own health, and decide care programs. If a patient is not able to understand the options, chronic disease management (diabetes, HIV, hypertension, cardiac disease) becomes less effective.
Even those with "strong reading and writing skills" can have trouble understanding health information; too often instructions are written in medical jargon.
The health industry as a whole needs to make efforts to create understanding. And patients need to educate themselves about their own situations: insurance, medical options and procedures.
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com
