All three of my cancer diagnoses involved multiple surgeries and treatments initiated in rapid succession. Because of previous health issues, I was used to asking doctors questions, taking notes, making sure to get a clear understanding of what to expect during and after procedures. But the information is only as good as the doctor doling it out. And while most of my doctors have been blessings, a couple were not.

One had the bedside manner of a slab of marble. He resented questions and answered in monosyllables … if he answered at all. He responded to my inquiry about a complicated surgery with a short video. The production, with its idealized cartoon renderings, failed to mention the potential circulatory complications, long-term back issues, and other serious risks common to the procedure. Those I discovered only after suffering major complications that took three years and several operations to correct. So I was surprised after leaving Dr. Marble to discover he’d noted in my medical records that he went over those complications with me in detail prior to surgery. Had that been true, I might have taken a different path.

Are doctors offering facts or editorials?

It turns out my experience with the close-mouthed Dr. Marble is far from unique. According to new research from the University of Michigan, doctors frequently omit important details when telling patients how to handle their health issues. Most of the time, it seems, doctors simply tell patients what they think the patients should do rather than giving patients an objective rundown of the options and letting them make their own informed judgments. Doctors are especially lax at telling patients they can choose to do … nothing.

The study, funded by the Boston-based nonprofit Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, discovered that—like my doctor—practitioners are more likely to promote the advantages of one particular treatment option while brushing over or omitting the disadvantages. Health policy experts feel this is one reason consumers more often than not opt to do something, no matter how ineffective, which drives up health care costs while failing to improve overall health.

The government is seeking to test and implement Web-based educational and decision-making tools to help patients more fully understand their options in hopes of improving care quality and reducing costs. A Google survey found that 75 percent of patients already research their medical issues online before meeting with their doctors, and 70 percent research further after meeting with their doctors. More than half of all respondents said they use Web-based information to self-diagnose, but other studies have found that significantly more women than men routinely search the Web on health issues. The concern, however, is that patients may get incorrect information or may misdiagnose their conditions when doing their own research. That’s why it’s also important that they can count on their doctors to answer their questions and give them sufficient information to make wise decisions about their health.