Business of Life

Helping with Medical Choices

There's a new and free website patientINFORM.org set up by a consortium of medical-journal publishers and patient-advocacy groups to help people navigate the world of health care research reports the Wall St Journal.  (subscription only)

The American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association have joined together to offer access to

selected medical-journal articles, and provide plain-language explanations of what the studies mean, how they compare with what's already known, and how patients should weigh them in making treatment decisions.

By putting research in context, the site will help patients make better choices. 

One example on the American Cancer Society site explains why two recent studies on prostate-cancer treatment in major medical journals that seemed to contradict each other are actually complementary (one found that those who opt for surgery are less likely to die while another suggested that some men can safely skip treatment). The former compared two treatment options while the latter looked at how men fared once they had already chosen a strategy of putting off treatment, known as "watchful waiting."

"For years, patients have been telling us they wish someone would explain to them what a study really means in practical terms," says J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society's deputy chief medical officer.

As Martha Stewart would say, "That's a good thing."    It's helping people with the Business of their Lives.