Your Health, Your Decisions

Many authors have explored how doctors make decisions, and in nearly every example, the physician is at the center of discussion, with the patient as beneficiary of her or his decisions. Dr. Robert McNutt starts from a very different premise: challenging the physician-­directed medical expertise model of making medical decisions, he presents practical information and formal exercises designed to give patients the tools and confidence to compare and consider their health care options.McNutt addresses a number of scenarios—including heart disease, breast cancer, and prostate surgery—in which patients typically confront a range of choices about diagnoses and procedures. By providing a clear explanation of the statistics behind clinical trials, he teaches patients to weigh the costs and benefits of their treatment options and empowers them to ask critical questions as they take a stronger hand in their own care.Your Health, Your Decisions moves from specific scenarios that commonly baffle patients to a systematic exploration of how to understand options and the tools available for assessing the risks and benefits of different treatments. By offering patients the tools they need to be full partners in their own health care, McNutt demystifies what can be a bewildering and terrifying process.