Improving Your Patient Skills

Maria Hester, M.D., is a physician in the Washington DC area who is committed to patient empowerment. 

Through her corporation Savvier Health, she offers on-site workshops at area corporations to improve employeers' "patient skills." 

Led by a practicing physician or nurse practitioner, the workshop aims to coach people to become confident health care consumers empowered to help expedite their own care, slash their own (and their employer's) health care costs, and communicate with medical professionals on an unprecedented level.

Participants learn:
- Invaluable 'patient skills' that will change their approach to health care forever
- How to expedite their own diagnoses
- Ways to slash their medical bills
- How to get the most out of each and every doctor's appointment
- Why many people are admitted to the hospital unnecessarily
- How to make each hospitalization safer
- How to minimize visits to the doctor
- The ABC's of effective patient-doctor communication
- How to decrease the risk of a medical error
- Valuable tools to help them navigate the medical system
- Tips to live longer, healthier lives
- The basics of medical decision-making
- How to prepare for medical visits in advance

Her blog, "Teachable Moments," is carried in nationally recognized e-Hospitalist News, which is dedicated to teaching other physicians ways to empower their patients.

Her book "Your Family Medical Record: An Interactive Guide to Getting the Best Care" was Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2000.