CONCORD, N.C. - s4story -- Everyone needs health care at some point in their lives. Understanding the risks and benefits of procedures, making sense of medical bills, and interacting with insurance companies are all lessons we have to learn on the fly — and often when we're already shouldering the stress of battling an illness ourselves or helping a loved one.

After 28 years in the health care field, Dr. David Wilcox has seen enough to realize that proactive patient education can actually have a life or death impact.

"Entering the American healthcare system, one has to have a basic knowledge of it to be safe," he said during a recent interview. "Medical errors are the third leading cause of death. Not a lot of people know that."

In his new book, How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient's Handbook for Survival, Dr. Wilcox offers information, facts and tips that can help patients and family members navigate through the morass.

"I have seen some alarming situations that nursing school never prepared me for," Dr. Wilcox said. "Not being prepared and knowledgeable means you will have little control over the health care you receive."

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His goal in writing this book was to level the playing field, enabling consumers of health care to understand how to avoid getting caught in the systemic net.

In his own words, Dr. Wilcox's book explores "what to do if you have to go to a hospital, how to handle an insurance company's claim denial, how to find an alternative to high-priced prescriptions and why the current pay-for-fee system is inadequate. You will also discover the direction the healthcare system needs to move in, to holistically care for you, the patient … information that the health care entities would prefer you didn't know."

Dr. David Wilcox is an Amazon international bestselling author and health care professional who believes proactive patient education enables those accessing the healthcare system to be better partners in their health care. He also believes that everyone has the right to access the American Healthcare System safely. A Doctorate-prepared nurse who also holds a Master's in Health Administration and is Board Certified in Nursing Informatics, Dr. Wilcox has nearly three decades of health care experience as a bedside nurse, hospital administrator and in health care information technology, which has helped him to develop his unique perspective on the American Healthcare System. For more information, please visit https://drdavidwilcox.com/.