tonight as part of our road to health series a conservative with patient advocate and author leslie michelson whose book will help to make the system work better for you and then bebe winans joins us. we're glad you've joined us. grammy-award winning singer bebe winans and leslie michelson. in just a moment.

-- and by the -- the california endowment. health happens in neighborhoods. learn more. >> band contribution . >> announcer: and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ please welcome leslie michelson to the program he's an expert in medical case management and advocate for

patient education and empowerment. his text is called "patient's playbook" a primer on how to make the right moves and be a active participant in your health care. glad to have you on the program. >> thank you. >> by being an active participant you mean what? >> americans are great consumers throughout the entire economy one place they don't express their consumerism is when it comes to their health care. and what i've learned everybody could get better health care by being a better health care consumer. >> are we afraid? are we intimidated? what's the reason why in that one arena we tend to shy away? > it's both those things. when it comes to health, people get nervous, they're scared. so consumer dna, when it comes to buying cars, picking vacations. picking a school for your kids. that gets depressed. i wrote a playbook to teach everyone to harness the consumer dna they have to get the very best health care. >> what is it about health care that causes us to be frozen by our fears?

>> well, you know, when you're forced to confront your own morality. sitting in the doctor's office in a flimsy gown and doctor says those dangerous words "you have cancer, we need to do surgery," you get paralyzed. you want to believe everything that doctor is doing is exactly right, but doctors perform better when people overcome those fears and when they follow the teaching and guidance and using the tools and techniqueses in the "patient's playbook" and they learn to run to their doctors. >> lit me go over the six steps, number one, diagnosis is specific and confirmed. >> these are six steps to getting to no-mistake zone. the process i've applied over the decades to get people better outcomes it starts with a diagnosis. 10% of all deaths in the united states of america are the result of diagnostic errors.

so the very, very first thing everybody needs to do is make sure their diagnosis is specific and independently confirmed. make sure it's breast cancer before they start treating you. or a disc herniated -- or whatever it is. because if there's ambiguity in the diagnosis virtually every subsequent step will be random or wrong. >> 10% out of the aggregate is a high number. is it too high? why is it still at 10%. >> because the health care system doesn't check all the time and patients don't ensure and make certain that they get second opinions on things like diagnosis. doctors are terrific. some of the hardest-working most caring people i've ever met but like you and me they all make mistakes and it's up to the consumer, the individual patient who frankly pays the consequence if it's wrong to get a second opinion. to have that x-ray seen by orthopedist.

to have those slides from the tumor tissue read again to make sure they're exactly right. >> step number two convinced about when and why. >> so determining when to treat a medical condition is really important. hours and minutes matter. you need to be pursued that's the case for up but in so many other circumstances you have time to do homework, have options, think of other experts with different perspectives that might be better for you and you need to ask the doctor -- "do i need to get this thing treated right now?" or do i have a couple day orz week, which you generally do to make sure you're getting it done right. >> number three explore and understand the most promising treatment options. >> we live in the golden age of bio -- research. never in the history of the world are things developing so quickly and patients can find that information online. the problem is, it's tricky.

i encourage people to read the "patient's playbook" to go on our website, the nomistakezone.com. there's lots of information. about fabulous websites. and the good news is they're all free. there's a great website. expertes scape.com expertsgate.com. put in your disease, whatever it might be, click enter, and will give you physicians who have done the most research on that diagnose, and you can focus on your state in your community -- who have the greatest expertise and it's free of charge. for every diagnosis there's multiple philanthropies focused on that. where people are waiting by their phones right now with the expertise to help you. just go to their website and reach out to them. they'll provide you great information. >> number four met with appropriate physicians and

appropriate hospitals. >> community hospitals are terrific institutions for most things but if you have a serious problem. if you have esophigial cancer, if you have a aortic disection, if you need a very serious intervention, it makes sense to go to a major academic center in your community and identify the physicians with the greatest expertise in exactly what you have. experience matters. practice makes perfect. when people focus on doing something a lot, in the context of a research environment, they typically get better outcomes and the best news about that is it doesn't cost. most of the physicians at the major academic medical centers are in-patient in most of the insurance plans so you as an individual don't need to pay more to get someone at the top of the game. >> step five you can see your treatment plan with clarity. >> everyone has great intuitions. we all made good decisions and crumby ones over the years.

>> i know i have. >> me too. but think of the decisions you made that were the very best. you collected information. you stayed neutral to all of the data is in place. something magical happens. you're intuition engages. you can see the decision and you wake up and say that's the right decision for me. what i encourage everybody to do is to do that when it comes to their health care. i've done this for thousands of people over the decades and what when people follow the six steps no mistake zone and i lay out the "patient's playbook," they get to that day and they say i've seen three doctors i made sure the diagnosis is right, i've gone online, you know what it's dr. smith i want to do the surgery and i'm crystally clear on it and that's always the right decision. if you follow that process and your intuition kicks in proceed

with courage and confidence because you're now in the no-mistake zone and have done what you can. >> number six your gut tells you this is the right treatment for me. >> listen to your gut. which we all do in so many other realms of life. that intuition which is incredibly value for people tends to get suppressed when it comes to health care. >> how does the medical industry, fizziphysicians and o professionals respond when patients start to express their own rights. in a number of industry when you start pressing back they don't take kindly to that. >> one of the reasons i wrote "patient's playbook" is to teach patients how to partner with their doctors. look doctors don't have the time they need, don't have the resources they need, nurses are challenged to take care of everybody they need to take care

of. my view is we have an incredible reservoir of intelligence and energy of 23 million americans who become patients at some point in their lives and if those people can follow the teachings and practices of "patient's playbook" they can make it easier for doctors and nurses to be at the top of their game. when you follow the teachings the physicians embrace and recognize you're going to be a partner in your care. >> what's in this book for people who go to their doctor's offices and what they are subjected to maybe even unwittingly is a lack of culturally competent care. so i walk into a office and they don't get me, my culture, how do you press those issues? >> youhould never be with a physician you don't feel is respecting you for who you are, that doesn't accept the value that's motivate you and doesn't respect and honor your culture.

you should never be there. that person is too important in your life. i encourage everybody to do if you have that sense in one way or another we've all been there, we say this person was not treating me the way i deserve to be treated you should get a better physician. we talk about the "patient's playbook" is how to find a primary care physician, where it's so important it have a strong and enduring relationship with one and somebody who gets who you are when you feel harmonious so the day comes when you feel crumby, have anxiety, had a no-good terrible day, you hurt your leg playing basketball, or your really scared, you got someone you can trust who you are going to follow. that's a really important relationship. what i teach people to do is follow the process we lay out in the book to find that person. >> i used cheat sheet to give a sense of what's in this beautiful book. with a lot of great advice you

want to get it yourself it's called "patient's playbook" how to save your life and the lives of those you love by leslie michelson chalked full of good information good to have you on the program. >> thank you my pleasure. >> up next singer bebe winans, stay with us. ♪ >> bebe winans is seventh child of prominent family here and went on to produce songs for other top artists, with an incredible journey coming to l.a., santa monica, called orn for this, i am honored to have him back on this program. benjamin. >> i was going to say you don't call me bebe who is he talking about. >> i had to follow the script. for all of the fans. as i am. bebe.

but we know the names our mommy and daddy gave us. >> this is true. >> last i saw you was in detroit. >> right. me and my brother. >> doing a live performance in detroit. that city is bouncing back. >> it's bouncing back but marvin really believed it never had to bounce back. you know. [ laughter ] die-hard detroit. i imagine. detroit versus everybody. i love that. if you don't love your hometown nobody else will i'm glad he stuck it out. >> this is true and you have to love yourself. otherwise how do you expect others to love you. i'm with you. >> that's a great segue to this play. >> yes. >> is this in part a journey about learning to fall in love? and if so with what? with the music? with yourself? with the journey.

what's it a story of falling in love with? >> coming of age story but falling in love with what you believe you were born to be. you know. and i think, you know, music has always been part of our life, as you know my mom and dad and grand parents sing, so singing was part of my household but i didn't understand how that was going to become my career. you know. it was just a passion. still it became my career. became my everything. at the same time it's just 10% of who i am. the other part is little bit hidden where this story include people on that part of my life. >> you think you had any other choice? i hear you that you need to know this would become your career, your calling, your purpose, i get that but did you really have any other choice?

>> no. no. and the reason i say that is my songs, see, i love to sing, but my passion is writing. i've written everything pretty much that me and my sister has sold in my solo album and with this musical every song in it i've written. so writing has been a part, i believe i would be, and it would be my career, but singing was something that, you know, i always heard some people who could see a little bit better, thought well maybe there's room for me. especially my brothers. it was a challenge. >> because they were out first the winans. >> right so finding my way, finding my place and believing in myself. >> yeah. i don't know anybody who grew up in the same kind of church environment that we grew up in. >> right. >> whether pent costal or whatever it is you grew up in

that there's a back story and the folks knowing you your whole life know your back story which often is fraught with all kind of stuff. i don't want to cut it too much but how much of the back story of what you had to go through, your relationship to the church, your questions about the church, about your faith, i mean, you're going to be honest about it? >> i'm going to be honest about it. you know, everything we did was a sin. i was going to hell 24 hours a day. because i wanted to listen to this type of music or i wanted to achieve success. you know, i wanted to go to college. hi a cousin who became, who was accepted to be professional baseball player and the church we grew up in said that's a sin so it really destroyed his life. i fought a lot of things when moving to north carolina. joining ptl.

people don't know if not for tammy faye baker would be no bbc because we were a duet. we had to go back home and tell our brother and sister-in-law at the time we were no longer a group it's just bebe and cc. that was a difficult moment because my father would say as you know, we always have to stick together and it's like how do you turn your back on your brother and sister when you guys said you would come back and do this but we knew god had a different plan for us. so it's -- it's -- it's been interesting to say the least. the joufrney of what i had to become. and what i had to let go of. >> does the story get into any of the, i assume, i could be wrong about this, does it get into any of the tension, the conversation you had to have with yourself about how to did what you were born to do.

how to do what you were born to do. what i mean is there were people who had questions and criticisms about the way, how you and cc were doing it. when you guys hit you hit so hard everybody loved it. they were playing it on cross over radio. you know where i'm going. >> oh, yeah. >> how much of that is in the story. >> a lot of that is in the story because from the beginning cc and i crossed lines that we didn't plan to cross but because we crossed it and got talked about we were told that we didn't love god because our music sounded different from other traditional songs and so you, you sit there and you say, ah, okay, wait a minute, i believe this, i feel this, i know i'm to do this, but how do i go against those things i was taught. the first time -- it's funny now but not then. my first movie was e.t..

i thought god was coming through that tv. tavis. and he was going to kill me and the last thing i would hear on earth was "phone home". >> i got another one for you. growing up in that pent costal church i was really going to hell for the first movie i saw. >> what did you see? >> "purple rain". so you know. >> you were doomed. >> when i finally got to college i seen it, it was just me looking at this big screen, and prince, good lord. it was a great movie. it was classic. >> oh, man. that was a fight. it's been a continued fight because you have this world, mainstream that is saying this and then you have this, the gospel world saying this, so you have to find within that who you

are and that's what this journey in the musical tells you. >> let me say this with all love here on the stage in southern california, i'm delighted they made a choice to put this on the stage there but i was surprised and shocked when you told me they would come to the grove not because you're not talented enough to be there, you're not in the play but your niece and nephews. so you have written it but are not in it. i was surprised when you made decision to do this because not that it doesn't belong there i didn't know that audience would be interested in a story like this. obviously i'm wrong. there must be something about this play that audience like the grove or other mainstream venues are going to get something out of. what are they going to get that i didn't see? >> their story. >> what do you mean by their story?

>> their personal story. if you experienced loss, no matter what color, creed or where you came from, that's your story, my story, if you experience rejection that's your story as well as my story they see themselves in the story. yes, sir. >> that's what great art does, though. >> that's what great art does. you know the people they -- they decided to take a risk. that's what life is, to me, all about, taking risks. we saw this in atlanta. we saw this in d.c., the cross over appeal that's happened with this musical. songs have a way, i think, like nothing else, knocking down doors, segregation a allowing people to feel sometimes what they don't even understand and relate to it. you know. >> is t occurs to me i've made mistake and maybe others have as

well when you talk about the success you've had. we say they then crossed over that's not really the truth y'all started with jim and tammy faye baker y'all started cross over. >> yes, sir. 8 5% and 15% the other. so this made me angry in the beginning because they didn't want to support us but when they saw the support over here they owned it. >> i get that. it's funny when you think about it y'all literally had to be discovered by black folk coming off of the good white folk stage. >> yes, sir. >> y'all had to go the other way. it's usually the other way around you start at black venue and work your way to cross over so y'all did it the other way around. >> yes, sir. >> so i can see how it makes sense people get a story they can situate themselves in.

tell me quickly about the music. you are a great songwriter. did you hear that, i know marvin. >> oh, boy. >> i taught bebe and the rest of them how to write songs i can hear it right now. he's a great songwriter. >> he is. you know it's been ten years on this journey and i have written this song. one thing i think is brave of a songwriter is to write about your pain. write about those thing that's causes you to be exposed. >> yeah. >> so these are songs that i've had to live first. and i think if it comes from the heart it going to the heart. so there's a song called my seventh son which my mom sings to me because i get lost. you know. i find success leading me a way that was not good in some ways

and so she sings about her seventh son asking god to help and give me what i need that direction. so there's one woman came out the audience and i was there she said my seventh son i only have one but that's my seventh son. so there are songs, i believe, that i sing cause people to accept some things. cause people to dream again. cause people to smile. and so, you know, it's been a wonderful journey, but these songs mean more to me then anything i've ever written. >> that's saying something because you've written some good stuff. >> i was just rocking out to some of it. anyway, born for this coming to the stage july 11th, opening night, i'm going to check it out myself. you can catch it while it is in

our neck of the woods. benjamin congratulations in ad advice. >> thank you sir. >> good to see you. that's our show for tonight. thanks for watching and as always keep the faith. ♪ >> announcer: for more information on today's show visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. hi i'm tavis smiley join us next time for country music singer and guitarist charlie pride, next time, see you then.

>> announcer: and by -- >> announcer: and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. ♪

good evening from los angeles i'm tavis smiley tonight a conservative with singer/songwriter, michael bolton here to talk about his 22nd al bull called "songs to cinema" and will discuss his moves from power balladier to comedy genius. we'll explain that if you don't get it. glad you've joined us a conversation with michael bolton coming up right now. ♪