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Compare prescription drug prices and online pharmacy ratings.
No way to tell if these drug stores are OK, but good information.
It does
list some US drug stores:
http://www.pharmacychecker.com/
Search for
Practitioner Profile Information
If you live in the State of Florida you can use this web site to check
out your Primary Physician, his or her license and any mal practice lawsuits
or disciplinary action that he or she may have on record for the past 10
years. Happy hunting.
http://ww2.doh.state.fl.us/irm00profiling/searchform.asp?status=timeout
Steve Whetstone
PS : You may want to forward this web site to all of your Florida friends
in your email address book.
Doctor and Patient - In Search of a Good Doctor
By Pauline W. Chen, M.D. ; The New York Times ~ Jan 09, 2009
In response to my recent column on patients trusting doctors too much, several
readers wrote in about the difficulty of finding or sifting through information
on doctors and diseases. Many asked for suggestions, so a couple of weeks ago I
contacted several nationally respected leaders in family medicine, pediatrics,
internal medicine, oncology, surgery and anesthesia and asked them to share
their advice on researching doctors and diseases.
Many of the doctors I spoke to or exchanged e-mail with made commonsense
suggestions that were not unexpected. They urged patients to find out which
doctors their closest friends really like, to ask a prospective doctor questions
like how much experience he or she has with a specific condition or operation,
and to make sure that as a patient you feel part of a shared decision-making
process and comfortable saying how you feel, or that you don’t understand or
that you respectfully disagree.
But many of the physicians also shared links to valuable Web sites, several of
which I was unfamiliar with. All the sites are free to the public and accessible
to anyone with an Internet connection. When I looked at these sites while
writing this column, I became really excited as a patient about the amount of
information available. For example, one site from the Department of Health and
Human Services called Hospital Compare (http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/)
allows you to select three hospitals within a 25-mile radius of your home. It
also lets you compare a wide variety of quality indicators, like the percentage
of heart failure patients who were given discharge instructions, the percentage
of surgery patients given prophylactic antibiotics at the right time, or the
percentage of hospitalized patients who felt that doctors or nurses “always”
communicated well (the differences among hospitals surprised me).
And according to several of the doctors I spoke with, the amount of information
available to patients will only increase in the future.
Throughout our conversations and e-mail exchanges, every one of the doctors
stressed the importance of patients doing research and becoming an active part
of the medical team. “This is a shared responsibility between the physician and
the patient for the patient’s health,” said Dr. Ted Epperly, president of the
American Academy of Family Physicians.
Dr. Lisa V. Rubinstein, president of the Society of General Internal Medicine,
said that sharing in decision-making “will help raise the quality of care given
by any clinician, because it will sharpen the focus on the key decision points
and help the clinician put a plan in place that the patient understands and
agrees with.”
Here is a summary of these experts’ advice and the Web sites they use themselves
and recommend to patients, friends and family.
Choosing a Doctor
All the doctors I contacted stressed the invaluable contribution of a good
primary care doctor in helping patients identify specialists or other
physicians. “I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for every patient to
have a trustworthy primary care physician who can help them navigate our
challenging, but potentially excellent, health care system,” said Dr. David T.
Tayloe Jr., president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Primary care doctors can identify qualified subspecialists through local and
national networks or professional organizations. “Even for a patient in a
distant city,” Dr. Rubinstein said, “I can usually find a local respected
colleague who knows someone in the general area.”
When a primary care doctor does not have a recommendation or when the patient
does not have a primary care physician to turn to, Dr. Rubinstein advised
identifying high quality medical groups or hospitals that “carefully monitor the
quality of the clinicians affiliated with them” and that provide “decision
support, continuous quality improvement and continuing education to keep their
clinicians functioning well.”
Data on hospital and medical group quality is more readily available to the
public than information on individual physicians, and Dr. Rubinstein offered
several Web sites (see below) that patients can use.
One way to help assess the quality of individual physicians is to establish that
a doctor is board certified, Dr. Epperly said. To become board certified,
doctors must complete a full residency at an accredited training program, pass
written and, depending on the specialty, oral examinations, and provide proof
that she or he has experience with a defined set of clinical problems and
technical procedures. However, cautioned Dr. Roger A. Moore, president of the
American Society of Anesthesiologists, “board certification is one indication,
but it’s certainly no guarantee.”
Another way to get a sense of physician quality is to contact the national
professional society for that doctor’s specialty.
“There is lots of good information at professional societies compared to years
past,” said Dr. Thomas R. Russell, executive director of the American College of
Surgeons. “On our Web site, for example, you can go look at a surgeon’s profile
and see what they do.”
A breast cancer patient can, for example, find out if a recommended surgeon has
a practice devoted exclusively to breast disease versus a more general practice.
Or a patient with a colon mass can choose a surgeon who is not only board
certified in colorectal surgery but also has a special interest in laparoscopy,
or minimally invasive surgery.
Generally, membership in the national professional society of a specialty —
often referred to as being a “fellow” in the organization, as in Fellow of the
American College of Surgeons, or F.A.C.S. — requires board certification and a
certain degree of clinical experience. Many physicians will denote their
specific society affiliation after the M.D. in their name; for example, if the
doctor is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the national
professional society of doctors specializing in internal medicine, his name
might appear as “Joseph Smith, M.D., F.A.C.P.”
The advice of close friends and colleagues can further help to distinguish among
doctors. “I suggest that people first identify the hospital where they wish to
be admitted,” said Dr. Jeffrey P. Harris, president of the American College of
Physicians. “Ask the hospital for a list of board-certified internists with
admitting privileges. Then ask trusted friends, neighbors and colleagues whom
they see and feel comfortable with.”
The last — and most critical — part of deciding on any physician is the first
appointment. Most of the doctors I contacted unequivocally stated that patients
should know what to expect and arm themselves with the right questions. And, as
Dr. Rubinstein said, bedside manner is only one of many concerns. “While
excellent quality health care integrates caring with doing the right thing
medically,” she said, “a caring attitude can mask poor quality medicine.”
Dr. Richard R. Schilsky, president of the American Society for Clinical
Oncology, recommends that cancer patients meeting an oncologist for the first
time ask about board certification in the specialty needed, length of time in
practice, experience with the patient’s specific problem, membership in
professional organizations and participation in clinical trials.
If the patient is meeting a surgical oncologist for the first time, Dr. Schilsky
recommends also asking the surgeon about the number of times annually she or he
performs the specific operation needed, as well as the hospitals in which those
operations are performed. While it is difficult to specify a standard number
patients can keep in mind, research has shown that hospital mortality rates are
lower when those operations are performed frequently.
Some individuals may feel uncomfortable questioning their prospective doctors,
but becoming more active and knowledgeable can only improve your care. There is
even a nonprofit group, the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making,
devoted to educating patients to become more involved in their health care
decisions (see below).
Researching Your Condition
All the doctors I spoke with urged patients to exercise caution when going
through information from commercial or industry Web sites.
“The Web can be a good place but also a dangerous place,” Dr. Epperly said.
“It’s important to find sites that aren’t biased and that provide evidence-based
information.”
Many of the doctors suggested going to sites supported by patient advocacy
groups or nonprofit groups that are focused on certain diseases. Such sites
often offer not only information but also active online communities.
Almost all of the national professional societies now have part of their
official Web sites devoted to patients. These sites and links are excellent
sources of information on the illnesses treated by that specialty and, in the
case of surgical or anesthesia professional organizations, the procedures
performed.
“Our specialty site, familydoctor.org,” Dr. Epperly said, “aims to help meet
patient needs on common afflictions in this country. The content is written by
experts and presented in a way that people without medical training can
understand.”
Finally, several of the physicians also recommended several federally sponsored
Web sites as excellent resources.
Web Sites
The following is a compilation of recommendations from the physicians mentioned
in this column. It is by no means exhaustive but should provide a starting point
for those interested in researching their doctors or conditions.
Decision Making:
1. Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making: This site (http://www.informedmedicaldecisions.org/),
endorsed by the Society of General Internal Medicine, offers information and
tips on how patients can become more actively involved in the medical
decision-making process and get the care that is right for them.
Researching on the Web:
1. Medical Library Association: The Medical Library Association has compiled a
guide (www.mlanet.org/resources/userguide.html) to help individuals sort through
the myriad offerings on the Web. Included is an M.L.A. “Top 10” most useful
consumer health Web sites.
Researching Physicians and Hospitals:
1. State boards of medicine: State medical boards can provide information
regarding a doctor’s licensure, training and history of disciplinary action.
• The New York State Board for Medicine (www.op.nysed.gov/) and, in New York
City, the New York County Medical Society (http://www.nycms.org/).
• To locate other state boards, the American Medical Association provides a
listing. (www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2645.html)
2. The American Board of Medical Specialties (www.abms.org/): The A.B.M.S. has a
doctor-finder function that will pull up a physician’s board certification.
3. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (www.talkingquality.gov/compendium/index.html)
: The A.H.R.Q. has compiled health care “report cards” that provide comparative
information on the quality of health plans, hospitals, medical groups,
individual physicians, nursing homes and other providers of care.
4. The United States Department of Health and Human Services, Hospital Compare
(http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/): This site provides information from
participating hospitals on how well those hospitals care for patients with
certain medical conditions or surgical procedures. Also included are the results
from patient surveys on quality of care during hospital stays.
5. State of California Report Card (www.opa.ca.gov/report_card): This site, from
the California Office of the Patient Advocate, provides report cards of various
health insurance plans, medical groups and doctors in California. Some other
states have similar sites.
Researching a Disease, Condition or Procedure:
1. National professional medical societies: Below is a sampling of some of the
larger national societies. Many societies have sites specifically designed for
patients.
• American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org/)
• American Society of Anesthesiologists (http://www.asahq.org/)
• American College of Physicians (http://www.acponline.org/)
• Society of General Internal Medicine (http://www.sgim.org/)
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (http://www.asco.org/)
• American Academy of Family Physicians (http://www.aafp.org/)
• American College of Surgeons (http://www.facs.org/)
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (http://www.acog.org/)
2. Medline Plus: Supported by both the National Library of Medicine and the
National Institutes of Health, Medline Plus (http://www.medlineplus.gov/) offers
patients an array of information on health topics, drugs and current news. In
addition, there are interactive tutorials, surgery videos, health information
for older adults and links to clinical trials and health information for older
adults.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The C.D.C. (http://www.cdc.gov/)
is an excellent patient resource for communicable diseases and preventive and
public health.
4. The American College of Physicians Foundation: In conjunction with the
American College of Physicians, the ACP Foundation (foundation.acponline.org)
offers succinct and clear health information for patients.
5. For cancer patients: There are three Web sites that can serve as excellent
starting points:
• The National Cancer Institute (http://www.cancer.gov/)
• The American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org/)
• The American Society of Clinical Oncology (http://www.cancer.net/)
6. My HealtheVet: Veterans, their advocates and employees of the Veterans Health
Administration have access to extensive quality information and patient
education resources through this site (http://www.myhealth.va.gov/), from the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
To share your thoughts, join the discussion on the Well blog, “Doctors’ Favorite
Medical Web Sites.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/health/08chen.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=healthcare&st=cse
December 15, 2008
Costco--Read this whole article-especially the end -kudos for Costco!
Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone should know about this. Please read the following and pass it on. It pays to shop around. This helps to solve the mystery as to why they can afford to put a Walgreen's on every corner. On Monday nigh t, Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel 7 News in Detroit , did a story on generic drug price gouging by pharmacies.
He found in his
investigation, that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000%
or more. Yes, that's not a typo.....three thousand percent! So often, we blame
the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and usually rightfully so. But in
this case, the fault clearly lies w ith the pharmacies themselves. For example,
if you had to buy a prescription drug, and bought the name brand, you might pay
$100 for 100 pills. The pharmacist might tell you that if you get the generic
equivalent, they would only cost $80, making you think you are 'saving' $20.
What the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills may have
only cost him $10!
At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether or not
there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice, and he said that
Costco consistently charged little over their cost for the generic drugs.
I went to the Costco site , where you
can look up any drug, and get its online price. It says that the in-store prices
are consistent with the online prices. I was appalled. Just to give you one
example from my own experience, I had to use the drug, Compazine, which helps
prevent nausea in chemo patients.
August 16, 2008
Now the Publix Pharmacy makes you feel even better with FREE antibiotics.*
http://www.publix.com/freeantibiotics/
August 16, 2008
Wal-Mart Prescription Medications Discount Drug Program
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=546834
August 16, 2008
Target Pharmacy Discount Drug Program
http://sites.target.com/site/en/health/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-004319
http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/promoContent/promoLandingTemplate.jsp?promoLandingId=1046
December 24, 2007
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