Proactive Patient Education Empowers Consumers to Be Better Partners in Their Care

If you’ve postponed any nonurgent procedures or doctor visits over the past couple of years, now is the time to educate yourself before wading back into the murky waters of the American healthcare system.

Dr. David Wilcox, a patient advocate and doctorate-prepared nurse with 28 years in health care, says – “God takes care of our souls but gives us some responsibility around our bodies. There are things you can do as an individual to make sure you’re getting the best health care possible.”

In his important new book, How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival, Dr. Wilcox shares a behind-the-scenes look at many facets of our healthcare system and provides insider tips to help patients and family members navigate through the morass, avoid surprise bills and ultimately achieve better outcomes.

Of note, he encourages consumers to research doctors and hospitals, and gain an understanding of the risks and benefits of any recommended procedure. Dr. Wilcox also explores what to do if you have to go to a hospital, how to handle a denied insurance claim, how to find alternatives to high-priced prescriptions, and why the current pay-for-fee system is inadequate. Readers will also discover the direction the healthcare system needs to move in, to holistically care for patients — information that he says the healthcare entities would prefer you didn’t know.

His goal in writing this book, he said, was to level the playing field, enabling consumers of health care to understand how to avoid getting caught in the systemic net.

“Entering the American healthcare system, one has to have a basic knowledge of it to be safe,” he said. “Not being prepared and knowledgeable means you will have little control over the health care you receive.”

Dr. David Wilcox is an Amazon international bestselling author and health care professional who believes proactive patient education enables those accessing the healthcare system to be better partners in their health care. He also believes that everyone has the right to access the American Healthcare System safely. A Doctorate-prepared nurse who also holds a Master’s in Health Administration and is Board Certified in Nursing Informatics, Dr. Wilcox has nearly three decades of health care experience as a bedside nurse, hospital administrator and in health care information technology, which has helped him to develop his unique perspective on the American Healthcare System.

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