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Section

Health

  1. Got a Hospital Bill You Can't Read? Where the Line Items Actually Come From Now

    A decade ago a hospital bill came from a billing office down the hall. Now it comes from a system shared across dozens of sites, and that changes how you read it.

    866 words

  2. Why Is the Statement That Arrives After a Medical Visit Not Actually a Bill?

    It is the only document where what was charged, what was allowed and what you owe appear beside each other, which is why errors surface there.

    958 words

  3. What Can the Person Behind the Pharmacy Counter Answer That an Appointment Cannot?

    The pharmacist sees the whole medication list rather than one prescriber’s part of it, and the conversation costs nothing.

    1,087 words

  4. Reliable Advice and Repeated Habit: Sorting the Sleep Guidance That Has Evidence Behind It

    A short list of things that reliably help, a longer list repeated because it sounds plausible, and the signs that the problem is medical.

    974 words

  5. You Have a Right to Your Own Medical Records and the Request Takes Fifteen Minutes

    The copy that arrives is more useful than most people expect once it has been sorted, and the request itself is far simpler than its reputation.

    891 words

  6. The Same Ten Minute Appointment Went Very Differently the Second Time Around

    Same patient, same complaint, same clinician, ten weeks apart. The second visit produced a referral and a test, and the difference was one sheet of paper.

    966 words

  7. Defined in Regulation or Written by Marketing: Reading the Words on a Grocery Package

    Some words on a package mean exactly one thing and are enforceable. Others mean whatever a marketing department decided. They look identical on the box.

    1,102 words