Your best strategy for getting health care that's safe and effective is to be an active participant. In other words, be a hands-on manager in your job as CEO of Your Body, Inc. Why? Because…

*Doctors know very little about keeping you healthy. Most disease doesn't have to happen. We could eliminate 75% of the diseases doctors treat with lifestyle modification. I did not learn this in medical school -- and neither did your doctor.

*Doctors make mistakes. In 1999, about 98,000 hospital patients died from preventable medical errors. That's more patients than died from AIDS, car accidents, or breast cancer.

*Doctors don't know everything. Technology is advancing medical knowledge at an amazing pace. It's impossible for your doctor to be the expert on large numbers of medical conditions.

*Doctors don't have crystal balls. Statistics from clinical studies only describe what happens with groups of people. They do not predict what will happen to an individual (you).

*Doctors don't have magic wands. Many diagnostic tests and treatments have risks with no guarantee of benefit.

*Doctors often only have about seven minutes with you. Many doctors are told how many patients they are expected to see in a day.

*Doctors have very little proof that any given treatment will make a difference in the quality or length of your life.

*Doctors have feelings. Doctors get angry, sad, and frustrated just like you do.

*Doctors don't have "the answer." There is no one "right answer" for everyone. But there's an answer that's right for you.