Additional Patient Resources
Patient-centered resources from top healthcare organizations and Coalition to Improve Diagnosis members, including symptom checkers and checklists.
Ask Me 3: Good Questions for Your Good Health*
Ask Me 3, developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is an educational program that encourages patients and families to ask three specific questions of their providers for getting the right diagnosis.
Lab Tests Online*
Lab Tests Online, a program of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), is a health information web resource to help patients and caregivers understand the multitude of lab tests that are a critical part of medical care.
Breast Cancer Diagnosis
The National Breast Cancer Foundation outlines breast cancer diagnosis and diagnostic methods, guiding patients towards better breast health awareness.
Let’s Talk About Stroke
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association resource, Let’s Talk About Stroke, walks patients through how stroke is diagnosed, types of testing, and additional resources on the topic.
Cancer Diagnosis Staging
The National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health (NIH) walks patients through the ins and outs of a cancer diagnosis, highlighting staging, research, and questions to ask your doctors.
Lyme Disease Diagnosis
Lymedisease.org provides patients with the facts and a symptom checklist to help document exposure and track symptoms.
Cardiac Diagnostic Testing: What Women Need to Know*
WomenHeart’s Education Module, Cardiac Diagnostic Testing: What Women Need to Know, features handouts, videos, and a host of knowledge to active patients in becoming self-advocates.
Preventing Stroke*
According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 80 percent of strokes are preventable. Download the stroke fact sheet and learn what you can do to prevent stroke.
Checklist for Getting the Right Diagnosis*
The Checklist for Getting the Right Diagnosis, developed with the Cautious Patient Foundation and National Patient Safety Foundation, teaches patients how to become a partner in finding the right diagnosis.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor*
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) compiled a list of questions for patients to ask their providers to build trust and ultimately lead to better diagnosis.
Choosing Wisely: 5 Questions to Ask Your Doctor*
Choosing Wisely, an initiative of the ABIM Foundation, outlines five essential questions that patients should ask their doctors before testing, treatment, and procedure.
Resources for Patients, Families, and Health Care Professionals
After developing the seminal report, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) consolidated a list of tools a from top organizations to help patients effectively engage in the diagnostic process.
Diagnosing a Heart Attack*
The American Heart Association (AHA)’s resources on diagnosing a heart attack walks patients through testing, types of diagnosis, and questions to ask your doctor.
Second Opinions
Second opinions can help confirm diagnoses or provide alternative explanations for health problems. The Patient Advocate Foundation outlines the benefits of second opinions as part of their It Matter Empowerment Pathways content series.
FAST: Stroke Warning Signs
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s FAST acronym helps patients quickly point to stroke warning signs and provides information on the additional symptoms of stroke.
Symptom Checker
Mayo Clinic’s Symptom Checker allows patients to point to symptoms, select related factors, and view possible causes.
Find Cancer Early
The American Cancer Society framework to finding cancer early helps patients understand screening guidelines and the types of tests commonly used to diagnose cancer.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis
Take a deeper look into the symptoms and diagnosis of MS with a host of resources developed by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Get Ahead of Sepsis*
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Get Ahead of Sepsis campaign provides patients with educational resources to help prevent sepsis or spot it early when it happens.
Tips for Your Check-Up
The National Kidney Foundation lays out some helpful topics to discuss with your doctor at your annual physical, including questions to ask and medical tests to discuss if you’re at risk for kidney disease.
Undiagnosed Diseases Program
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undiagnosed Diseases Program (UDP) looks at longstanding medical conditions that elude diagnosis by a referring physician.
* Indicates Coalition to Improve Diagnosis member
The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) does not directly endorse any of the resources listed. These tools should be used for informational purposes only and not be substituted for professional medical advice.
Patient's Toolkit for Diagnosis
To help encourage patient engagement, the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) has developed the Patient's Toolkit, a resource for patients, by patients.