Second Medical Opinions
Depite wide spread awareness of second opinions, little research has been done on the use of second opinions by consumers. This topic garnered interest as consumers complained that managed care plans were restricting access to second opinions. Responding to these complaints, lawmakers in seven states have passed laws on second opinions.
With a colleague from the University of San Franicsco, we reviewed the current scientific knowledge about second opinions and why this simple procedure has become such a thorny issue. This work was supported by AHRQ (R03 HS 09997-01) and it was published this work in Health Affairs in 1999. Articles and tables are available in the downloads section.
As part of the Research Activities, AHRQ highlighted this work (downloads section). Since then, we have been pleasantly surprised by the response that this article has received. We have been interviewed by Time Magazine, The San Jose Mercury News, MarketWatch, and Women's Health (downloads section).
