Medical Tips from the Inside

Powerful Patient, 2009 Week 32

Host: Joyce Graff, http://powerfulpatient.org, editor@vhl.org 800-767-4845

Beginning July 31, 2009 Listen Program guide for this show

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What are the problems with U.S health care? How can a patient deal effectively with the health care system? These are only a few of the questions addressed by Corine Mogenis and Patricia Reya in their new book, Medical Tips from the Inside. A paralegal and a legal nurse consultant, they both deal with health issues and the law.

About our Guests

Patricia (Patti) Raya, RN, C, MBA is President of PAR Enterprises: Legal Nurse Consultants www.par-nurseconsultants.com in Princeton, New Jersey. Patricia has worked in the areas of Neuroscience, High-Risk Ante-Partum Care and Risk Management. She graduated from Rutgers, The State University (New Jersey) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management. Patricia received her Nursing degree from Raritan Valley Community College, New Jersey. She received her M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix in Arizona. Patricia has authored numerous articles published in nursing journals, and is a contributing author in Legal Nurse Consulting: Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition. She has lectured on Risk Management, Stroke Awareness, Diabetes, and Legal Nurse Consulting.

Corine (Corie) Mogenis is a medical malpractice paralegal currently working for a major law firm in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Corine has almost 20 years experience working with plaintiff attorneys in case review and development. Her in-depth medical investigations have awarded her utmost respect in the legal community. Corine attended Kean University, Union, New Jersey majoring in medical laboratory technology and minoring in psychology. She received her paralegal certification from ICS, paralegal school (a subsidiary of national education corp.), Scranton, Pennsylvania. She has taken numerous continuing education classes with respect to both legal and medical issues. Corine also volunteers her time to hospice programs throughout New Jersey, as well as for the American Cancer Society and for local community charities that assist underprivileged and troubled families in those communities.

Medical Tips from the Inside

Patti and Corinne have reviewed a large number of cases initiated as medical malpractice cases.  All too often they saw that problems could have been avoided if the patient had asked questions, obtained a second opinion, or otherwise advocated for themselves.  They decided to write a book outlining for patients the kinds of things they can do to protect themselves, to get the best medical care in the first place, and to make sure that their treatment proceeds as trouble-free as possible.

Medical Tips from the Inside: Things You Need to Know, by Raya and Mogenis (Merit Publishing, 2008)

The book contains a great deal of very sensible advice, quite consistent with what you have been hearing on the Powerful Patient.  The have good advice on preventing medical errors, getting copies of your medical records, and creating teamwork with your healthcare professionals.  They have a good list of questions to ask your doctor before agreeing to have surgery.  And frequently they remind patients to get a second opinion.  Most doctors will not be offended if you seek a second opinion.  The best doctors will recommend it themselves. 

There are sections on Women’s Health, and prostate and breast cancer.

They discuss the pros and cons of Medical Tourism – going to another country to obtain medical care.

And they take a very balanced look at the differences between the U.S. Healthcare system and those of several other countries around the world.   Within the U.S. there are certainly outstanding medical resources, but they are not always available to U.S. citizens.  “In light of the concept that the US has state-of-the-art advanced medical care, reports show that the US health care system lags behind leaders in other countries when it comes to infant mortality, overall life expectancy and life expectancy at age 65 years.” [p. 111]  They take a look at the healthcare systems of eight other countries.

“One huge difference is that many Americans can get into serious debt with medical bills and eventually have to choose between prescriptions, out of pocket medical expenses and doctor’s visits, OR paying bills of everyday life, such as rent or food! This does NOT happen in other countries that have universal health care.

“While there are positives in both health care systems, there are negatives as well. The lesson to be learned is that no matter in which system you live, you should always research as much as you can and take an active role in your own health care. In this way you can protect yourself to the best of your ability against any weakness in any health care system!

“An active informed patient…is a safe and happy patient!”