How to get the medical care you deserve (with Leana Wen, M.D.)
How to Be a Better Human
TED
4.1 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2021
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A doctor’s visit, even in the best of times, can be overwhelming to navigate. Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician and public health advocate who is committed to patient advocacy. In this episode, Dr. Wen shares tips on how to be a better patient and increase the effectiveness of your care. The author of dozens of scientific articles on emergency systems and patient-centered health reform, Dr. Wen is a visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University’s School of Public Health. A contributing columnist for The Washington Post and a CNN medical analyst, she previously served as Baltimore's Health Commissioner. Inspired by struggles during her mother’s long illness, she wrote When Doctors Don't Listen, a book about empowering patients to avoid misdiagnoses and unnecessary tests. Dr. Wen has received recognition as one of Governing's Public Officials of the Year, American Public Health Association's top award for local public health, Modern Healthcare's Top 50 Physician-Executives and TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People. To learn more about "How to Be a Better Human," host Chris Duffy, or find footnotes and additional resources, please visit: go.ted.com/betterhuman
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ted Audio Collective. |
| 0:05.0 | Collective. |
| 0:08.8 | Welcome to How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host Chris Duffy. |
| 0:10.8 | On today's episode, we're going to be talking about the health care system. |
| 0:14.0 | And even in the best of times, the health care system can be overwhelming and intense to try and navigate. |
| 0:20.0 | And we so rarely are interacting with it in the best of times. |
| 0:24.0 | Most of the time we're there because we're scared and hurt or not quite sure what's wrong with us. |
| 0:29.0 | Or if not with us, with our loved ones. |
| 0:31.0 | Personally, over the past two years, my wife Molly has been dealing |
| 0:36.1 | with some difficult chronic health issues. And as I've tried to help Molly navigate the system, |
| 0:41.5 | it's been really scary. I wish that we were getting definitive |
| 0:45.2 | answers, but instead we've gotten a bunch of conflicting advice. And no doctor |
| 0:51.2 | has ever said to us, I don't know. |
| 0:53.0 | I just don't have an answer. |
| 0:54.6 | This whole ongoing experience, |
| 0:56.3 | it's made me much, much more aware |
| 0:59.1 | of how important patient advocacy is. |
| 1:01.9 | Whether that's advocating for yourself or for a person that you care about. |
| 1:05.4 | And while navigating the health care system is very much of the moment because of the pandemic, |
| 1:09.9 | there are also pervasive issues that have been around for far longer than COVID. |
| 1:14.0 | So today on the show, Dr. Lena Wen, a physician and a leader who has been working on these issues for years. |
| 1:19.9 | She's going to try and help us figure out how we can be better patients |
... |
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