Every time you talk with a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist, use the Ask Me 3 questions to better understand your health. Review this helpful checklist before you visit your doctor.
Review Date: September 15, 2010
Partnership for Clear Health Communication
This brochure translates medical or "medspeak" terms and prescription "shorthand" to help you understand terms and abbreviations commonly used by health professionals. Disease-specific versions of this brochure are also available.
Review Date: December 23, 2012
Medical Library Association
AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy, M.D., offers easy-to-understand advice column for consumers about health literacy and overcoming challenges understanding difficult health terms and issues.
Review Date: June 13, 2011
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Part of the NIH mission is to reach all Americans with health information they can use, and to communicate in a way that helps people to easily understand research results. Read about the Plain Language Act of 2010, and find tips you can use to improve communcation.
Review Date: August 30, 2011
NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison
Doctors, pharmacists, and others use a medical "shorthand." What difference does it make if your doctor's handwriting isn't legible? Find out what your prescription really means.
Review Date: February 15, 2013
Medical Library Association
Who said it? When did they say it? How did they know? This tool will help you think critically about the quality of health information found on web sites, in handouts and booklets, and more.
Review Date: December 23, 2012
Genetic Alliance
