Archelle Georgiou MD - Healthcare Choices: 5 Steps to Getting the Medical Care You Want and Need

Healthcare Choices

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

ISBN: 978-1-4422-6033-7 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN: 978-1-4422-6034-4 (electronic)

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

For my mommy ongoing source of courage
and determination

Dan Buettner

Not long ago, I returned from Central America with a scorching lung infection that left me listless and scared. Was it ZIKA virus, tuberculosis, or just the flu? I pondered a trip to the emergency room, but opted instead to lean on my many contacts in the healthcare industry to find a good doctor. One of the countrys most famous cardiologists made a call to the Mayo Clinic to get me a lung specialist. Mayos scheduler called me immediately, but that call just led to six more phone calls and then a dead end. Another influential friend connected me with a local specialist who, I discovered after an hour on the phone, only sees hospitalized patients. Yet another friend connected me with the University of Minnesota. They assured me that they could get me an appointment with their top pulmonologistin three months.

Finally, after three weeks of failed attempts to get the care I needed and gasping for breath, I called Dr. Archelle Georgiou. She introduced me to CARES, the step-by-step formula she has created to help anyone evaluate their medical options and select the healthcare treatment best for them.

Americas healthcare system is impossibly complex; its based on a pay-for-services rather than a pay-for-cure model. Thousands of disconnected providers all vie for their share of the pie. Meanwhile, those of us who get sick or injured are faced with navigating a Byzantine system that often favors the bottom line over a patients well-being. As the former CEO of one of the countrys health insurance companies once told me, Were in the business of saying no.

So our journey to getting better often begins with finding someone to say yesand that yes has to come from the right provider who knows how to diagnose and treat your problem and do so effectively. A misstep along the way can result in no care, insufficient care, or, even worse, care that leaves you worse off than when you started. And stuck with a huge bill.

Thats why we need this book.

Archelles CARES model taught me how to take charge of my own healthcare. Her formula is based on five key steps: Understand Your Condition, Know Your Alternatives, Respect Your Preferences, Evaluate Your Options, and Start Taking Action to follow through on your healthcare decisions. Her book explained exactly how to gather accurate medical information about my lung condition and how to choose the best doctor for my care. She directed me to a number of publicly available websites to find a highly rated doctor who could treat my infection. She reminded me that you often have to advocate for the care you need. Her CARES formula ultimately put me on my path to a diagnosis and treatment by starting with a step I had completely overlooked: to call my primary care physician (who got me into a specialist the next day).

I cannot think of a more qualified healthcare expert than Archelle. During the decade that Ive known her, she has served as the Chief Medical Officer of one of the nations largest healthcare insurers. She has been an advisor to a prominent U.S. congressman, and literally millions of viewers know her in her role as the polished, uber-informed medical correspondent for KSTP-TV Eyewitness News. In 2008, Archelle joined my National Geographic team to identify and explore one of the worlds longest-lived areasthe so-called Blue Zone of Ikaria, Greece. There I saw her put her research, communication, and medical skills to work for a national audience. When our CNN cameraman lost his footing and plummeted from a cliff, smashing his head on the rocks below, she coolly took charge of his care. She administered first aid, oversaw his airlift to Athens, got him into the right hospital with the right surgeon, and, sixteen hours later, miraculously got him into the intensive care unit after we were told there were no available beds. Her efforts saved his life.

Not everyone is as lucky as I amI have Archelles number programmed into my cell phone when I have a medical question. But you do have her book. Read it now and keep it on hand. I can assure you that the time will come when your health, or the health of someone you love, will take a turn for the worse. When its your turn to find your way through the maze that is our healthcare system, Archelles CARES formula is the guide youll use to get to the care you need.

Dan Buettner

National Geographic Fellow and author of the New York Times
bestsellers The Blue Zones and Blue Zones Solution

One of the most important lessons Ive learned during my career is that accomplishments are never an I but a we. While this book is authored under my name, there are countless family members, friends, and colleagues who inspired me, encouraged me, trusted me, and put up with me to help me get this book out of my brain and my heart and into print.

I would not have the experience to write this book had it not been for the people who believed in me early in my career. Dr. Bill McGuire, Jeannine Rivet, and Dr. Lee Newcomer understood and shared my passion for making the healthcare system easier for patients to navigate. They gave me the professional opportunity of a lifetime at UnitedHealth Group. Thank you for having my back while we led a tumultuous sea change in the industry.

In my consulting work, I have been privileged to work with executives, innovators, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and explorers who have expanded my thinking about how to make health better and healthcare easier. I was honored to work in the Center for Health Transformation with former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich. Steve Bonner, former CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, challenged my traditional medical mindset and introduced me to the power of evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. Roger Holstein, former CEO of Healthgrades, ignited my deep belief that with the right tools, consumers can do the research to get to the best specialist.

Once I made a commitment to writing this book, there were very special individuals who joined the journey with me. Thank you to my agent, Helen Zimmerman, for reading my sixty-page book proposal cover to cover before our first conversation. She saw the importance of this book because she too shares a passion for improving health and healthcare. To Suzanne Staszak-Silva and Rowman & Littlefield, thank you for giving me a chance as a first-time author. Marian Deegan, my editor, brilliantly maintained my voice and intention in the writing but wasnt shy about challenging my ideas. Her quiet strength kept me accountable and confident that Id get the manuscript done by the deadline. I absolutely could not have completed this book without her. Finally, Peter Robson gave me an open invitation to brainstorm with him. His was my right brain in this writing endeavor.