[book review]

101 Ways To The Best Medical Care

Self-Help by Charlotte E. Thompson, M.D.
(Infinity Publishing, 213 pgs.)

Review by Celeste Hollenbeck

In her new medical guide, La Jolla author Dr. Charlotte Thompson delivers comment-worthy honesty and straightforwardness when dealing with the unpleasant topic of the modern health care system in the United States. This petite guide, written entirely in easy-to-understand English, addresses the basics of choosing, interacting with and paying for a doctor in America, among some other things medical-related. What is surprising for this particular book are not the items of information which you would expect to find when looking for this type of advice, but how many unacceptable things you may find that you did not know and had probably never thought of. In example, Thompson reveals a bit about how HMOs function, mentioning that many of the decisions regarding which procedures you are or are not permitted to have are not made by medical doctors–and those decisions can override your actual doctor’s recommendation.

It is unfortunate that much of 101 Ways To The Best Medical Care deals with navigating a system in which indolent, self-interested or flatly unqualified individuals commonly create grief for the patients whom they were expected to help. However, this is information which can be very handy; and it’s nice to have much of it condensed into a layman’s book. Needless to say, it’s also reassuring and de-alienating to hear the perspective of a medical doctor on these topics–and one who is brave enough to mention them despite ever-present conflicts of interest, at that.

The biggest drawback for this guide, however, is that it has not been professionally edited. A format adjustment alone would go a long way for reader-friendliness. Additionally, there are several topics which are interesting enough to be deserving of an expansion. Of the 213 printed pages, only 130 are actual reading material.

-CH