“For anyone facing a complex diagnosis or condition in today’s increasingly complicated health world…
…The Take-Charge Patient is a valuable tool and guide with sound advice that won’t soon be outdated. Ehrenclou covers everything with the kind of authority and know-how only someone who has experienced these challenges first-hand can achieve. The information is thorough, the tone comforting, and straightforward suggestions make even the most daunting tasks seem doable.”
ForeWord Reviews
Book Reviews
Publishers Weekly
The Take-Charge Patient: How YOU Can Get the Best Medical Care
Martine Ehrenclou. Lemon Grove (Ingram, dist.), $19.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-9815240-3-0
Reviewed June 18, 2012
Asserting that “It’s time for us to step up to the plate and take charge of ourselves as patients,” Ehrenclou (Critical Conditions) immediately sets a proactive tone for this empowering and refreshing roadmap to navigating the torturous healthcare system, outlining everything from how to manage health information to finding lower-cost/free healthcare. To research patient advocacy needs, Ehrenclou interviewed “over 175 physicians and patients,” aggregating responses and well-placed quotes. As she worked, however, Ehrenclou developed serious chronic pain and beta-tested her own advice, eventually securing treatment that would result in her being pain-free today. She covers big-picture topics, like methods for researching your own condition and possible diagnoses, as well as more particular considerations, such as the best times to call a pharmacist. Each chapter concludes with a first-person patient checklist that is both encouraging and practical. While full of cogent information, this exhaustive guide functions best as reference material for patients with the wherewithal and time to take on their own case.
Foreword Reviews
Similar to her first book, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Get Your Loved One Out Alive, Martine Ehrenclou has written The Take-Charge Patient with the kind of authority and know-how that only someone who has experienced these challenges first-hand can achieve. The information is thorough, the tone comforting, and Ehrenclou’s straightforward suggestions make even the most daunting tasks—such as telling a long-time doctor you want a second opinion—seem doable.
Divided into short, straightforward chapters, The Take-Charge Patient covers everything from understanding the doctor-patient relationship and getting the most out of each doctor visit to preventing medical errors and differentiating between types of procedures and care providers. Starting each section and woven in throughout are valuable first-person stories and advice shared by the more than two hundred patients and health professionals (including surgeons, family practitioners, registered nurses, medical assistants, and clinical professors) Ehrenclou interviewed.
For anyone facing a complex diagnosis or condition in today’s increasingly complicated health world, The Take-Charge Patient is a valuable tool and guide with sound advice that won’t soon be outdated.
Good Reads
Robert H.’s review, Aug 27, 2012
This book is exactly what I would expect such a work to be. It is well written, informative, full of surprises and specific recommendations on how to deal with them.
I would give it a ten if the scale went that high. However, since the scale only goes to five, I will have to settle for that.
I was half way through this book when I had a relatively minor medical emergency. I had not even finished the books’ recommendations and I started using them. They worked. I am not recommending that you ignore half the book, but my personal experience is that if you take the book’s recommendations and use them, you will get better care. That is the intent of this book. In my personal case, I can verify that it succeeded.
Each chapter ends with a list of specific action items in textbook fashion. This is a brilliant presentation.
Read this book. Take its advice. It may save your life.
Read Feature Here…
RebeccaRead.com
Reviewed by Charline Ratcliff for RebeccasReads (6/12)
“The Take-Charge Patient: How YOU Can Get The Best Medical Care” is an extremely well-written, well thought out and well put together book. This isn’t author Martine Ehrenclou’s first go round with providing helpful and informative information in an easy to understand format; her first book “Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive” received high accolades as well as fifteen separate awards. Ehrenclou seems to have a true calling as a patient advocate not only for herself but also for those in the world around her.
runningahospital.blogspot.com
This is a very good book, loaded with helpful suggestions and advice for patients (and families) of all types. This is no excoriation of the medical profession. Its premise is that a strong partnership works best.
I found the style to be approachable and readable. The substantive content is excellent, as well. Whether you are currently a patient or will be one, this is an excellent addition to your bedside table.
www.readerviews.com
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views
May 12, 2012
If one would be completely honest with oneself, I think most of us would admit to quite a few issues with the way we participate in our own healthcare. And no, I am not simply talking about taking better care of ourselves and doing “the right things,” but also about being proactive in any actions related to the healthcare we receive, or should receive. All too often we don’t give that enough thought, if any, and when disaster strikes, we are very ill equipped to deal with it, and its consequences. That’s why I believe that every American family should read and keep a copy of the excellent The Take-Charge Patient, the well researched and fantastically organized book by Martine Ehrenclou.
Digital Doorway
Reflections by NurseKeith
Martine Ehrenclou is a well-known and talented writer whose books “Critical Conditions” and “The Take-Charge Patient” have received well-deserved attention and praise.
Aside from telling her own story of illness, powerlessness, frustration, empowerment and eventual recovery, Ms. Ehrenclou uses the majority of the pages of “The Take-Charge Patient” to offer her readers a relatively comprehensive and user-friendly guide to proactive self-advocacy when faced with illness, medical treatment, and medical providers who sometimes are less than thorough and less attentive to our unique situation than we would like.
Although there are many lessons that I, myself, have taken away from “The Take-Charge Patient”, one of the greatest lessons of all is to have in my possession a complete record of my medical history. Armed with information, the take-charge patient can walk into any doctor’s office, coherently and intelligently outlining the highlights and issues that are most salient to the goal of that visit.
Read Feature Here…
Need a New Doctor? 19 Must-Ask Questions
Adapted from The Take-Charge Patient by Martine Ehrenclou, here are vital questions to ask before picking a new MD.
KevinMD publishes two excerpts from The Take Charge Patient
Communicate and strengthen your relationship with your doctor
Your relationship with your doctor is an important one that can last for many years. It is a partnership. You and your doctor collaborate to maintain your good health and to treat any medical conditions, illnesses or injuries that occur. A good doctor-patient relationship includes mutual trust, respect and good communication.
Read Feature Here…
Tips to maximize the relationship with your doctor
Here are a few suggestions that will help you make the most of your relationship with your doctor. They are for your benefit as a patient, because the more you know, the more empowered you will feel.
Read Feature Here…
Living Life as I See Fit
Most patients do not participate in their healthcare as efficiently and as effectively as they could. I am referring to the relationship that patients have with their doctors rather than management of their health conditions. You will find that Martine’s book, The Take-Charge Patient, speaks to everyone regardless of whether you are fairly healthy or you live with a chronic condition. It also allows the reader to understand how to get past the frustration of limited answers by taking the time to acknowledge that we are partners in our healthcare with our medical providers.
Read Feature Here…
Leahs Good Reads
The Take Charge Patient is filled with valuable advice about managing your own healthcare or the healthcare of a loved one.
Ehrenclou recommends and gives detailed instructions for creating a medical history, a medical journal, and a medical ID card. Each chapter gives am checklist that the informed patient can follow when approaching his or her physician. She covers primary care doctors, surgeons, specialists, hospitals, and urgent care facilities as well as handling medications and misdiagnoses.
I thought the information here was invaluable. I look forward to having this as a resource for managing my healthcare. I give this one five stars for content.
Read Feature Here…
PajamaDaze.com
The Take-Charge Patient: How You Can Get the Best Medical Care by Martine Ehrenchlou, M.A.
Many of us are now embarking on our first chronic illness journey. We are navigating very choppy waters, and most of us have difficulty weathering the storm, and we need help. Even veterans, such as I, who have fought for their right to the best medical care possible, or to just find a doctor who believes them, find it a lonely and frustrating peregrination that can make medical conditions worse because of the stress involved. The Take-Charge Patient to the rescue!
Read Feature Here…
suite101.com
The Take-Charge Patient by Martine Ehrenclou, An In-Depth Look and Review
Everyone who sees or needs a doctor quite regularly should own a copy of this book. This compact guidebook for medical care could be a life-changer and a life-saver.
The Take-Charge Patient is a book that grew out of the Martine Ehrenclou’s personal need for medical advice and treatment that was not forthcoming in her early doctor visits. After 16 months of multiple doctor visits, a true and valid diagnosis was found and treatment was secured that worked. This search for help and pain-relief took many months, many doctors and much research, investigation and soul-searching to get to that endpoint. In The Take-Charge Patient the author shares how to deal with medical issues, doctors and other personnel to reach the best outcome possible. All who read and heed her advice will benefit from the insights, guidelines and wisdom of this book published by Lemon Grove Press, LLC, Santa Monica, Ca. ISBN 978-0-9815240-3-0.
Read Feature Here…
Justin’s Hope Healthcare Blog
This new publication is a wonderful review of taking responsibility in becoming a take charge patient of your own health care and that of your loved ones. The concept of empowerment and responsibility is woven throughout the pages of Martine Ehrenclou’s new book, The Take-Charge Patient How YOU Can Get The Best Medical Care.
The many check lists for patients placed strategically throughout the chapters makes it an easy to read and understand instruction manual, almost workbook, that could save your life and ease your anxiety while you’re facing illness. Her collaboration with both physicians and patients along with Martine’s own tragic and preventable healthcare experience gives the reader a real global picture of opinions, ideas and valid concerns that will help the reader become a better consumer.
My first thought, being a mom and advocate for safer care, was that this book should be required reading for high school students. Start at the beginning. This basic healthcare knowledge along with conjoined courses on preventative care, finances, loans, budgets, exercise, safety, nutrition, support are what is needed in our schools to teach our children the basics before they go out on their own into an often chaotic world. Preparation is the key. Learning as you go can be dangerous. Useless mandatory courses should not trump the basics in education.
This is also an excellent read for those suffering chronic conditions who feel lost in the poorly designed continuation of care model that is before us presently…although new models are emerging as we speak, we aren’t where we need to be yet with patient centered smooth transitions of care so patients must get involved and remain partners in their own care from now on.
Do something for yourself and for your family and have them read this wonderful collaboration of best practices for patients based on common sense views and values with real time resources to guide you.
BookPleasures
Ehrenclou has done a masterful job in thoroughly packing her book with extremely persuasive and useful advice about what it really means to take a proactive stance when it comes to your health. The text is precise, well-researched, reader friendly and enriched with compelling examples and anecdotes. Without doubt, this book will bring attention to the need to change our mindsets from being reactive to becoming proactive concerning our health care as it illustrates that your role as a healthcare consumer has never been more important than it is today. And understanding how to navigate the system will cut down on frustration, wasted time, energy, and delays in securing the best care.
Her Circle Magazine
Ehrenclou reminds readers that when visiting any other professional, we’d have records with us, a description of our situation and be ready participants to the remedy of the situation. She is right. If we seek our accountant for an issue, we bring W-2 forms, 1099s, prior tax returns, receipts and bank statements along with other paperwork. If we see an attorney about an issue, we make sure we also have whatever paperwork might support the case or provide evidence. We’re used to being in control of other situations, and we need to be as active in our healthcare as we are in other areas of life.
In light of all the changes taking place through legislation of health insurance and health care, we must all be aware of and knowledgeable about what is and isn’t covered and what everything costs. Women typically take care of themselves last, and put their family’s needs before their own. We can be good role models to friends, children and our family members by being strong self-advocates in our own health care.
Confident Voices
Reviewed by Beth Boynton, RN, MS
Author, Patient Advocate, Speaker and Patient, Martine Ehrenclou, M.A. has written a well-researched, understandable, comprehensive and powerful book that will help patients navigate our complex healthcare system while positively contributing to the evolution of the system itself! “The Take-Charge Patient: How YOU Can Get the Best Medical Care” is an outstanding resource for a variety of reasons.
The “Take-Charge Patient” is a great book for a lot of reasons. It is an outstanding book because of it’s ability progress our system from an old ‘us – them’ paternalistic model to a progressive ‘we’ collaborative one. I believe this is critical for safer, kinder, more cost-effective care.
Read Feature Here…
www.bestsellersworld.com
Reviewed by Teri Davi
May 14, 2012
Who is the one person who is most responsible for the quality of your health care? It’s not your doctor. It’s you.
When you’re sick, really sick, you call the doctor. Then the average person trusts that the doctor has the correct diagnosis and then prescribes proper treatment to get you back to normal. This sounds fairly simple but in reality can be a complete nightmare, especially if the diagnosis is wrong and the prescription does not heal the real problem. What do you do then?
Read More…
www.traumadolls.com
The Martine Ehrenclou/Take-Charge Patient Interview
May 15, 2012
Q: What’s the main message of The Take-Charge Patient, and why is it so crucial that we hear it these days?
The main message of The Take-Charge Patient is that as patients we must advocate for ourselves.
We can’t change our health care system, but we can change how we approach it. If we approach our physicians and other medical professionals as if we are approaching a business meeting, we come prepared to medical appointments. We enter the office empowered and more confident.
Read More…
Reviewed by Anne B. for Readers Favorite
As soon as I saw the title of Martine Ehrenclou’s book I knew I had to read it. In “The Take-Charge Patient: How You Can Get the Best Medical Care” by Martine Ehrenclou we learn much about patients’ rights and how we can be our best advocate. She discusses a broad range of topics from how to find the right doctor or other health care professional and discounted medications to dealing with insurance companies. There is so much in this book that I can barely scratch the surface in a review.
Read More…
http://www.featheredquill.com/selfhelp.shtml
This author, a patient advocate, does a fantastic job offering everyone who reads this book a chance to become their very own ‘protector.’ With interviews and ‘insider’ information collected from people in the healthcare community, she covers everything from how to choose the right doctor to how to untangle the twists and turns of medical insurance.
Splitting the book into easy to read, and, better yet, easy to understand, categories – readers first learn about the author’s own trials with the medical industry and how she used her skills and studies to become a ‘Take-Charge Patient.’ The book then takes the reader by the hand and leads them through the process carefully and intelligently.
Ms. Ehrenclou has made sure to touch on all bases in order to help people feel better and safer about their medical care by taking charge of their own future.
Quill Says: Becoming a take-charge patient and looking after your own health definitely begins by reading this informational and extremely helpful book!
See Feature Blog Post Here.
(The Take-Charge Patient) the book is a must-have for anyone wanting to increase their odds of getting the best treatment possible. I knew I had to write about it.
I was aware Martine had written another book, and was only a few pages into this latest title, before I’d Amazon’d her first award-winning book, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Get Your Loved One Out Alive. Though both came to be because of Martine’s own experiences, it felt as if she had written a story I’d already lived. Her account of dealing with the illness of her mother, was reminiscent of my own experience trying to do what I could, for my ailing mother.
Read More…
The Take-Charge Patient Book Review
I have had the pleasure of meeting Martine Ehrenclou, author of The Take-Charge Patient. She is an incredible patient advocate, who also happens to be wickedly smart and intuitive. Martine’s efforts fall nothing short of excellent.
You will find that The Take-Charge Patient speaks to everyone. Martine has essentially created a healthcare life vest and thrown it out there to help all of us. If you are wondering why some have sweet success in the healthcare arena while others are barely staying afloat, look no further.
The LL Book Review
This book is exactly what I would expect such a work to be. It is well written, informative, full of surprises and specific recommendations on how to deal with them. The language is simple enough that any high school graduate can understand it, but has enough depth to satisfy the most educated non-medical reader.
I would give it a ten if the scale went that high. However, since the scale only goes to five, I will have to settle for that.
Midwest Book Review
Good healthcare is more than a good doctor. “The Take-Charge Patient: How You Can Get the Best Medical Care” is a guide to pushing oneself on how to get the best healthcare out of one’s system, by aggressively pursuing the best doctors, be prepared for medical appointments to work with the doctor most effectively, notice errors doctors may miss, save money, and generally form better partnerships with the medical professionals. “The Take-Charge Patient” is a must for those who are shopping for healthcare and want to make sure they get the most value for their investment.
Living Life As I See Fit Blog – Lana Barhum
I recently had the pleasure of reading The Take-Charge Patient: How YOU Can Get the Best Medical Care by Martine Ehrenclou. In The Take-Charge Patient, Martine was able to take her own personal experience and create an informative and creative resource that others can relate to.
Most patients do not participate in their healthcare as efficiently and as effectively as they could. I am referring to the relationship that patients have with their doctors rather than management of their health conditions. You will find that Martine’s book, The Take-Charge Patient, speaks to everyone regardless of whether you are fairly healthy or you live with a chronic condition. It also allows the reader to understand how to get past the frustration of limited answers by taking the time to acknowledge that we are partners in our healthcare with our medical providers.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS SECTION
from AMAZON.com
“For anyone facing a complex diagnosis or condition in today’s increasingly complicated health world, The Take-Charge Patient is a valuable tool and guide with sound advice that won’t soon be outdated. Ehrenclou covers everything with the kind of authority and know-how only someone who has experienced these challenges first-hand can achieve. The information is thorough, the tone comforting, and straightforward suggestions make even the most daunting tasks seem doable.” (ForeWord Reviews)
“Every American family should read and keep a copy of the excellent The Take-Charge Patient, the well researched, fantastically organized book by Martine Ehrenclou. A definite keeper, it is not boring or overwhelming, all of the information is very practical and explained in an approachable, easy-to-follow and understand way. It offers credible information, necessary for a solid foundation on which to make better healthcare decisions for ourselves and those we care about.” (Reader Views Reviews)
“Ehrenclou has done a masterful job in thoroughly packing her book with extremely persuasive and useful advice about what it really means to take a proactive stance when it comes to your health. The text is precise, well-researched, reader friendly and enriched with compelling examples and anecdotes. Without doubt, this book will bring attention to the need to change our mindsets from being reactive to becoming proactive concerning our health care as it illustrates that your role as a healthcare consumer has never been more important than it is today. And understanding how to navigate the system will cut down on frustration, wasted time, energy, and delays in securing the best care.” (Book Pleasures)
“An extremely well-written, well thought out and well put together book. Ehrenclou takes the reader by the hand and provides him/her with step-by-step instruction on how to become that so important “Take-Charge” patient – rather than having her readers become medical victims due to lack of knowledge and resources needed to take charge of their medical situations. Ehrenclou seems to have a true calling as a patient advocate for herself and those in the world around her… (Rebecca’s Reads)
“…a treasure trove of useful information. Hailed by many in the medical community, this is an inside look at the way the medical system works and how to get the best medical care.” (BookViews)
“An excellent resource that should be available in every home, business, and medical facility. The suggestions and information in The Take-Charge Patient are practical and realistic. The writing is easy to understand and well-researched.” (Bestsellers World)
“A brilliant and powerful roadmap for your success. The Take-Charge Patient masterfully assists us in knowing how to take care of ourselves medically in this very challenging world.” (Huffington Post)
“Enter a great book from Martine Ehrenclou, filled with advice so you can get the best medical care available. It teaches you how to become your own advocate and be well informed about health care questions and decisions.” (Couponer Reviews)
“Ehrenclou’s book is an essential tool for everyone. There is so much information in this book a review can barely scratch the surface…” (Readers Favorite Book Reviews)
“…wholeheartedly recommended to anyone who wants to take charge of their medical care. The Take-Charge Patient provides insider information that is a powerful resource for patients and caregivers alike. It empowers you to be proactive, and will be a valued book on my shelf for a long time to come.” (On My Bookshelf)
“This book is amazing…should be in every household nationwide. Written so that any layperson can read and understand, broken down into steps to guide you through what you need to do – it is the best guidebook I have seen on the market to date.” (Fresh Reviews)
“A necessity that will seriously help anyone and everyone who is tired, frustrated, and frightened with the medical care that they are receiving. The author, a patient advocate, does a fantastic job offering all who read this book a chance to become their very own ‘protector.’ Splitting the book into easy to read, easy to understand, categories, Ms. Ehrenclou has made sure to touch on all bases to help people feel better and safer about their medical care by taking charge of their own future. Becoming a “take-charge patient” and looking after your own health definitely begins by reading this informational and extremely helpful book!” (Feathered Quill Reviews)
“A must-have for anyone wanting to increase the odds of getting the best treatment possible. Whether you are seeking a diagnosis, facing serious illness, or providing support for someone else, this easy-to-read book will provide invaluable help. Have this information close at hand…there are literally hundreds of valuable tips within.” (Deblog for Women)
