Patients And Families
Patients and Families:
Our free reports and videos, for smarter health choices
From Choosing Wisely, Best Buy Drugs and our other projects, here are hundreds of guides to getting better, safer, more cost-effective care. They address real-life questions, such as whether you really need a chest X-ray before surgery, need an MRI for back…
Breast Biopsy (CoC)
Campaign Series: Choosing Wisely
Medical Category: Procedures
Article Type: Advice
Language: Plain English, Spanish
Affiliation: Commission on Cancer
Format: HTML, PDF
Most recent update: 03/27/2014
In contrast with surgical or "open" biopsy, a needle biopsy is easier on the body. Most breast biopsies do not show cancer. So if you have a needle biopsy and no cancer is found,…
Get Safe, Effective Care for a Fair Price
You may not realize it, but you play a role in getting care that is effective, safe and fairly priced. Here is our advice for being a smart consumer when dealing with doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and insurers.
Contents of This Section
Talking With Doctors About What You Need
Surviving…
When you need them—and when you don’t
<PDF versions
Skin or blood tests, when combined with a doctor’s examination and your medical history, can help determine if you’re truly allergic to something you inhaled, touched, or ate. But if you don’t have symptoms or a medical evaluation that points to an allergy, you should think…
Welcome
Many experts agree that the current way health care is delivered in the United States contains too much waste - with some stating that as much as 30 percent of care delivered is duplicative or unnecessary and may not improve people’s health. It is urgent that health care providers and patients work together and…
We have something for your employees. It’s independent, evidence-based, complimentary, and from Consumer Reports.
It’s called Making Healthy Choices.
It’s advice on how to be a smart consumer in today’s health-care marketplace, where patients and their families are responsible for more and more of their own medical costs and decisions.
Consumer Reports has developed these resources to help your…
Welcome
It’s essential that you and your family become informed consumers of health care to help ensure you receive the best care. Research shows that patients who have a good relationship with their health care providers receive better care and are happier with their care.
Consumer Reports has developed the information and resources here to help…
Antibiotics: Do They Help or Do They Harm?
Antibiotics have saved millions of lives. But now we're using them when we don't need them, like for coughs and sore throats. If we keep using them for the wrong reasons, eventually they won't work when we really do need them -- like to fight off…
When You Do, and Don't, Need Pre-Op Tests
Doctors often order medical tests for patients before surgery. These are called pre-operative or “pre-op” tests. They include chest X-rays, blood and urine samples, and heart and lung tests.
These tests can be helpful if you are having serious surgery. But often, pre-op tests are not necessary.…
Welcome to the Union Plus collaboration with Consumer Reports
Union Plus is brought to you by Union Privilege, established by the AFL-CIO in 1986 to deliver Union Plus consumer benefit programs uniquely designed for working families. Union Plus uses the collective buying power of more than 13 million union members to offer over 40 discounts and…