Making Choices about Care

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Making Choices About Care

Making Choices about Care

How to Use Quality Reports

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This guide helps you to use physician and hospital quality reports to make decisions about your health care.

How To Use Quality Reports

Engaging People in Improving Health Care!

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Care About Your Care

Care about your Care is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative. As part of these efforts, Maine Quality Counts and our partner organizations the Maine Health Management Coalition and the Dirigo Health Agency's Maine Quality Forum want to hep healthcare consumers and patients choose the best quality doctors and hospitals and have the tools they need to manager their own care. For more information, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit www.getbettermaine.org.

Compare Your Doctor or Hospital with Others in Maine

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Find Out How Your Doctor or Hospital Measures Up

Maine Health Management Coalition
Through the Maine Health Management Coalition you can see the ratings for all hospitals and nearly all doctors' offices in Maine. Visit the site to find out how many blue ribbons your doctor's office or hospital has.

Hospital Compare
You can get quality information about hospitals anywhere in the United States with the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) Hospital Compare website.

Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group has another great site where you can find quality information about hospitals across the U.S.

Choose a Doctor That is Right for You

Chesley Video
In this video, Maine resident Chesley talks about what she did to make sure she got the best care when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 28 while pregnant with her second child.

Important Questions to Ask Yourself

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Asking questions when you go to the doctor can make a big difference. Knowing as much as you can about your health condition and partnering with your doctor to make choices is very important.

Should I go to the emergency room or to my doctor?
Sometimes it is hard to know whether you should go the Emergency Room or your primary care provider. This website can help you decide.

Making choices about how to treat a health condition can be confusing. Here are some tools that can help you make choices about treatment options for some common conditions.

Should I have angioplasty for stable angina?

Should I take statins for cholesterol management?

Should I use meds or watchful waiting for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)?

Should I use meds or or have surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)?

Should I take medication to treat depression?

Should I have an MRI or arthroscopy to diagnose a possible torn meniscus?

Should I have an MRI for lower back pain?

Should I have surgery for an ACL injury?