Advice Is the Newest Prescription for Health Costs - New York Times

Advice Is the Newest Prescription for Health Costs - New York Times: "After a 15-minute office visit in February 1999, a cardiologist told the parents of Dominic Fernandez, 3, that he needed open heart surgery and a possible heart transplant -- ''right now, or he will not survive through the summer.''''We were just overwhelmed,'' said Beverly Fernandez, a warehouse manager for Honeywell. Her son was still recovering from surgery nine months earlier for congenital heart problems. ''I wanted to know more about transplants'' and the alternatives, she said.She called Consumer's Medical Resource Inc. in Duxbury, Mass., a medical information service available through her employer. A physician and a researcher listened to her account for an hour. Within the week, she received packets of medical journal articles and books on heart transplants, including failure rates.Relieved because she felt better informed, she got a second opinion from another cardiologist who recommended monitoring Dominic for six months. After additional repair surgery -- no transplant -- eight weeks ago, her son, now 4, is ''doing wonderfully,'' she said."
Information is still the best presciption - and smart companies are making money providing this !