The Essential Patient Handbook was written for the millions of Americans who are dissatisfied with their medical care, and are looking for a practical no-nonsense way to get the help they need from their doctors. It contains lessons learned by two doctors (husband and wife) who endured immense challenges on the patient side of the medical care system. Here are the secrets to: getting your doctor to listen preparing information your doctor needs to know understanding the reasoning behind your doctor's questions asking the essential questions about tests, diagnoses, medications, surgery, and second opinions checking for medication side effects and drug interactions dealing with confusing insurance and billing forms working with your doctor when considering alternative and complementary medicines handling difficult doctor-patient interactions dealing with a hospital stay The Essential Patient Handbook will walk readers through the entire medical evaluation process, from the first question to the last. It gives them a guide to thoroughly prepare medical information BEFORE seeing a doctor, and explains why each piece of information is crucial. The information prepared with the aid of this book are symptom-specific, and will help physicians to arrive at a differential diagnosis. Once a diagnosis is established, it will help readers prepare further information that your doctors needs to learn to remain on top of your medical condition.