Many of us believe we're quite savvy when it comes to finding credible Internet health information. We may be surprised.

In the midst of recession when people are desperate to make money or save money, sites are popping up that look incredibly real. They tout anything from make-money-at-home schemes to buying-drugs-for-less scams. They even include well-known personalities like Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Just a warning today. Always be sure to verify that any information you find that you hope to use to improve your health is deemed credible. And be sure to share that health information with your doctor to stay safe, and to keep your money.

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Photo of Dr. Mehmet Oz © Getty Images / Thos Robinson

Kimberly Read, the About.com Guide to Bipolar Disorder sent me a link about ordering one's own medical lab tests.

Yes, do-it-yourself medical testing. From West Nile Virus to STDs to Liver Profile Panels -- all those tests a doctor might send you for. Prices range from $50 to hundreds (maybe thousands?)

My guess is that the people who would want to take advantage of this type of service would be those who either don't have health insurance, or those who don't want a local doctor to know they may have acquired an STD or some other embarrassing problem.

But do-it-yourself testing isn't exactly what you think it would be.

When you arrive at the website, it looks like you'll be able to order tests by mail order. Turns out, that's not it. If you click on one of the tests, you keep clicking until you learn that you are supposed to order a specific test of dozens of tests, and you have to actually find a doctor who will write an order for the test you want. Then you have to go to a lab (locations in many, but not all areas) to have your blood drawn, to leave a urine sample, or provide whatever. Once the results are available they send you an email and you view them online.

But I can guarantee that they DON'T provide a diagnosis -- and that's what you'd be looking for, right? The only reason to order these things is to get results that are useful. But labs don't diagnose anyway. They simply supply results in the forms of numbers -- whatever has been measured.

So why would you bother? You would have to go to the doctor anyway because you would need someone to translate them -- a formal diagnosis and a prescription or treatment protocol. We can't order our own treatments, no matter what kinds of lab work we have done.

Can there be danger to arranging for your own tests? While I suppose there could be some risk (radiation? risk of infection? others...) I think the bigger danger is to your wallet.

Just like the online symptom checkers -- you can't really get the information you need and be confident it is correct. A wise patient leaves that to the professionals, then double checks difficult results with a second opinion.

If you need a diagnosis and treatment for troubling symptoms, do yourself a favor. Don't waste your money by ordering a medical test yourself. Find a doctor you trust who will coordinate testing and interpret the results for you.

The money you save may be your own.

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In these days of difficulty making ends meet, it seems we are becoming more frugal about spending our healthcare dollars, too.

An article in USA Today points out that 20% of women, and 15% of men will take the time to shop around for better prices, comparing the cost of a doctor visit, medical tests and medications.

Good for them!

Healthcare is the one area where most of us consumers just don't take the steps we should to be sure our dollars are going the furthest. There are some great tools out there to help us spend our healthcare dollars wisely, but clearly, most of us are not using them.

Double checking our doctors' bills, using generic drugs, even counting our pills when they arrive -- these are all great tools for controlling our health expenses.

What healthcare money have you saved lately?

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An article in the Washington Post reminds us about all that is wrong with the American healthcare system.

According to the article:

The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records.

The tactic is so widespread that three of every four major health-care firms have at least one former insider on their lobbying payrolls, according to The Washington Post's analysis.

It goes on to explain that the healthcare industry -- that would be insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, physician groups, hospitals and consultants -- are spending $1.4 million a DAY on their lobbying in an effort to be sure they don't lose their corners of the healthcare money pie.

And you thought healthcare was intended to provide you with care! No. As stated here many times before: American healthcare is not about health or care. It's about sickness and money - using sickness to make money.

I have to wonder how much of my monthly premium actually pays for those lobbyists? The irony, of course, is that I'm paying for the lobbying and I have no idea whether they represent my point of view.

It will be something to take a look at when it's time to re-up on my choice of insurers come open enrollment time next Fall.

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Senator Chuck Grassley speaks, observed by Senators Max Baucus (left) and Jay Rockefeller (right). Are they being influenced by all those lobbyists we are paying for? Photo © Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Whether you follow health news or business news, you couldn't help but notice the hub-bub about Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of Apple Computer, and his liver transplant. While most of us will never need such a drastic and difficult treatment, Jobs' approach to getting the healthcare he needed raises both process and ethical questions.

Some Background:

Steve Jobs, age 54, is an icon of business, the "god" of Apple computer, with a creative and inventive mind. Over the years he has earned billions of dollars for himself, his company and his stockholders.

Steve Jobs is/was also a very sick man. He has battled pancreatic tumors for a number of years, and ultimately knew he could no longer survive without a liver transplant. So, he got one.

What's unique, and is causing controversy, is that Jobs lives in California where the waiting list for a liver would have made it impossible for him to get one. In California he would have died. So instead he kept an eye on areas of the United States where the waiting lists are far shorter. When a liver became available in Tennessee, Jobs hopped his private jet and claimed it.

Some argue that wasn't fair. That someone in Tennessee didn't get a liver (and possibly died) because Jobs jumped the line. In the United States, you can't buy an organ. There is a complicated system that moves people closer to, or farther from, the front of the line depending on the depth of their illness and their geography. Because Jobs had the money and the private plane, he could affect his geography.

There is further controversy because investors in Apple Computers feel as if they should have been told about Jobs' degree of illness. Since it affects their income, they contend they had a right to know, and they are upset because they weren't told about his need and pursuit of a transplant.

The Questions:

Health: Was it fair for Jobs to jump the line by traveling to Tennessee to get his new liver?

Business: Did Jobs owe his stockholders information about his health so they could make business decisions?

My Opinions:

Health: Jobs' ability to jump the line points out the inequities in a system that has mostly been considered to be highly ethical and fair. On any given day in the United States there are 100,000 people awaiting a transplant, and 19 of them die. In a general sense, I understand why some think it's not fair, especially the family of someone who may have died because Jobs got the liver they might have gotten. However -- if you had the need and the means, wouldn't you do whatever you could to get the treatment you needed?

Business: No matter whether Jobs was president of a large corporation or a greeter at Wal-mart, I believe he owes information about his health to no one else. It's HIS health. It's HIS private business. No matter how his investors feel about it, including Warren Buffett who believes Jobs' condition should have been disclosed, I say - no, Jobs owed information to no one. Besides, he's been sick for a long time -- that was nothing new. Granted, we would all like a crystal ball when we buy stock, but he could have been hit by a truck or died in a plane crash and it would not have been predicted.

What do you think?

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Photo © Sean Gallup / Getty Images

Hospitals are dangerous places to be. And there's no more dangerous time of the year in a hospital than during the month of July.

I actually sounded a similar warning to you when I blogged last December about the danger of being in a hospital during the holidays. It's just common sense. During holidays, including Christmas, Thanksgiving, the 4th of July and others, the full time staff takes days off -- as they should! -- but it leaves the part-timers and sometimes temporary staff in charge of your care. And it often means that staffing is not 100%. Fewer good people around to take care of your needs.

But July is even worse in many hospitals across the United States:

1. The 4th of July holiday fits the holiday profile described above.


2. This is the time of year when many of the most experienced medical practitioners take vacations, too... So they aren't absent for just the few holiday-days. They're absent for weeks at a time.


3. NEW doctors. Inexperienced doctors. Interns, first year residents -- those who are now called "doctor" by virtue of the fact that a few weeks ago they completed medical school. They may be finished with their book-learning, and may have spent time with some patients as they accompanied more experienced doctors through hospitals and in offices. But they aren't licensed, and they've spent very little time actually practicing any medicine. If you're in the hospital where they are practicing, they'll be caring for you.

So.... add together a holiday, an absence of experienced doctors, and wet-behind-the-ears doctors and what do you have?

Yes. Danger.

If you must be scheduled to be hospitalized, whether it's for an elective surgical procedure or a specialized form of test, or whatever it might be -- then postpone your hospital stay as long as you can, maybe even into the Fall.

If you must be hospitalized and you can't put it off till later, then know that you or your caregiver will need to be particularly vigilant about keeping track of all aspects of your hospital stay. VERY vigilant.

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Last summer I shared my adventures of cleaning out my medicine cabinet. Most of us don't realize that it's not as simple a task as just throwing things away, rearranging items or wiping off the shelves.

Not even close!

I was reminded twice about that in the past couple of days. First, my morning glance into the medicine cabinet is like a nagging voice in my head. "What a mess! You should be ashamed! How can you find anything in here? You'd better hope Martha Stewart doesn't show up!" It's not unlike opening the refrigerator door. (Don't you always wonder if the mold that forms on leftovers couldn't somehow cure a dread disease?)

My second reminder came from Mark Cichocki, a fellow About.com guide, who provides some very specific ideas about how to dispose of old meds and medical waste. He reminds us that it can be dangerous to pets and children, or even to the entire community, if we don't dispose of old drugs or waste properly. That includes a major problem if we simply flush or dump them.

So here are some of Mark's ideas:

• Be sure to block out your name and other personal information on any pill bottles or other containers. It's a way to protect yourself from medical identity theft.
• Add kitty litter, sawdust or coffee grounds to any liquids to make it less likely someone will (intentionally or unintentionally) try to ingest them.
• There are other options like pharmacies that will take back old drugs or groups that collect them for distribution in third world countries.

Take a moment to review all of Mark's ideas -- he's done a good job. You'll find additional ideas in last summer's review of how to dispose of old drugs, too.

Cleaning out your medicine cabinet is a great summer task. A sense of accomplishment, plus one less thing to worry about if Martha Stewart shows up at your backyard picnic.

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Photo © Gary Alvis / istockphoto.com

I've seen it coming for several years now.

Apart from my work here at About.com, I call myself Every Patient's Advocate. My writing and speaking is aimed at the general you; outside of helping myself and loved ones navigate healthcare, I've never attempted to hold someone's hand individually to navigate the healthcare system.

But some of you do. And many more of you want to. I hear from you often, and while I can steer you to the articles I've written about becoming a patient advocate, I can't give you first-hand accounts of the actual work itself.

But patient advocacy, or the work of patient navigators, is beginning to hit a tipping point of conversation. I am thrilled!

The proof is in two excellent resources that were published this week:

From NPR: Patient Advocates, Tips from You and Advocates Help Patients Navigate Health Care Maze (which features my colleague and friend, Dr. Jonathan Fine's Bedside Advocates program)

From Encore Careers: Encore Navigators Improve Health, Reduce Costs I expect we'll see many more of these fine articles. If you see one you'd like me to read, will you let me know?

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Photo © Ocskay Bence - Fotolia.com

Have you had a run-in with the healthcare system in America?

Was it affected by, or did it later affect, your ability to pay for your care, get insurance coverage, or afford healthcare coverage?

If so, President Obama wants to hear about it. And he has provided a way for us to share those stories easily.

While reviewing this possibility for you, I spent some time reading some of the stories that are already there. They are heartbreaking and make me so angry. In every case, they show us the real affects of money vs. health, and what happens when money is deemed more important than health.

As I've written MANY times before: American healthcare is not about health or care. It's about sickness and money, using sickness to make money.

Take a moment to share your story with the President. Then, if you have the time, come back here to share your story, too! Just copy and paste in the comments below, or in the Patient Empowerment forum.

Moving stories will be one way we move healthcare reform forward in positive directions.

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Photo © President Obama's Healthcare Action Center

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you to help me prove an assumption (yes, I know what they say!) that our opinions about whether healthcare should be a right might be colored by whether or not we have good healthcare coverage.

You can see the poll results here.

Turns out -- I was wrong! Well, at least I was partially wrong. And seriously -- that's a big relief.

My assumption was that the people who have good healthcare coverage would believe that we should have to earn the right to good coverage; that it should not be a given right that we should have healthcare access whether or not we have the means to purchase it.

However -- as you can see by the poll results -- that's not exactly how you, as a voting body of readers, feel.

• 69% of you feel as if healthcare should be a right (of which 7% are not residents of the US)
• 27% of you feel as if healthcare should not be a right
• Of those of you with good healthcare coverage, only 42% felt as if healthcare should be a right... so... my assumption was partially true.

There was nothing scientific about this. But it definitely shows we have opinions on the subject. As healthcare reform continues to be a large topic of debate, I expect you'll think back to this poll on occasion. It will be interesting to see if your congressional representatives feel the same way you do.

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