What You Don't Know Can Hurt You-A Guide for Patients: Help for Navigating Medical Information & Making Informed Decisions

*IMPORTANT NOTE: We have retired. Delfini tools and resources referenced in the book will be no longer available online after 2023.*

"Best help with evidence-based medicine available."

"This is an important piece of work that all patients and providers should be familiar with. The included Patient Guidebook is essential to getting just the care one needs and wants—and no more. Providers should be familiar with that as well as the General Questions for Which Patients Need Answers to help patients make health care decisions which are most right for them.” Martin Gabica MD, Chief Medical Officer, Healthwise

From a patient reader: "A lovely, great work. This is absolutely fantastic information for patients! As a non-clinical person, I was able to read this without feeling that it was over my head and it held my interest until the very end. I already feel like it is something that I would want to re-read again and again as a resource for my lifelong health care journey. This is something people can draw from throughout their lives. I plan to live with it and really use it, write in it, highlight it and take it along to medical appointments to make sure I get the most from my provider visits."

“I am delighted to see this strong addition to the Delfini library. The authors have created useful models for communicating about health concerns, the ideal patient-physician encounter and decision-making in the world of health care. The content, appendices and examples are strong and relevant.” Gary Schwitzer, Publisher, Healthnewsreview.org

Many times patients accept medical advice without understanding they have a choice. Many times patients are given medical advice that is not supported by reliable science. In many cases, these situations have resulted in harms to patients they might have avoided if they understood some little known facts about the health care world and communicated with their health care providers differently.

This book is about the need for you to sometimes change the course of your care based on the medical information you receive—or have not received. This book is about how to talk to your doctors and other care providers to improve your opportunities for getting the information you need to make health care choices that are best for you.

Written by medical information scientists, evidologists and health care communication experts, Sheri Ann Strite and Michael E. Stuart MD, this book gives you a prescription for more effective communications with those advising you on your care.

Delfini Group is a public service entrepreneurship founded to advance applied evidence- and value-based clinical quality improvements through practice, training and facilitation. Much of Delfini’s work is dedicated to solving medical misinformation problems. Delfini has contributed to text books, advised government entities, worked with health care systems, payers and manufacturers and has trained thousands in evidence-based quality improvement.

Michael E. Stuart MD & Sheri Ann Strite are medical information scientists, evidologists and clinical improvement experts who combine academic and practical experience to train people how to evaluate medical research studies, conduct evidence reviews, help health care systems apply evidence- and value-based clinical quality improvement methods including special help for work groups such as clinical guideline development teams, pharmacy & therapeutics and medical technology assessment committees, clinical quality improvement teams and more. They also train physicians and others in communicating with patients.

Sheri Ann Strite, Co-founder, Principal & Managing Partner, initiated many Delfini health care improvement strategies, tools and training programs including the popular Delfini critical appraisal training program. Formerly she was Associate Director, Program Development, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Family & Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, where she taught faculty, physicians, residents, students and others. She was also a member of the UCSD Family Medicine Research Leaders and faculty for their Research Fellowship in the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine. Prior to UCSD, Ms. Strite worked in clinical improvement, education and research at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, Washington, where she held various positions.

Michael E. Stuart MD, Co-founder, President & Medical Director, is a family physician and was appointed clinical faculty at the University of Washington in 1975. He is the former Director of the Department of Clinical Improvement and Education at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, Washington, where he led development of more than 35 evidence-based clinical guidelines and other clinical improvements, chaired the Pharmacy & Therapeutics and Medical Technology Assessment Committees. His work has received praise from prominent health care leaders such as David Eddy MD, Don Berwick MD, Health Ministry of New Zealand and the US Navy.