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Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion, a report of the Institute of Medicine released in 2004, asserts that nearly half of all adults in the United States have difficulty understanding and using health information. According to an Agency for Health Care Research and Quality report, Literacy and Health Outcomes (January 2004), low health literacy is linked to increased hospitalization and emergency services utilization. The negative impact of low health literacy on health outcomes in adults has been relatively well studied, including demonstrated negative effects on diabetes control, asthma management, and treatment of cancer. A growing body of literature focusing on the effects of low health literacy on child and adolescent health outcomes suggests similarly significant impact. This month’s article by Drs. Yin, Forbis, and Dreyer provides us with a comprehensive, up-to-date review of the impact of low health literacy on child and adolescent health, the tools available for health literacy screening, and the interventions currently available or under development to improve parent and patient health knowledge and outcomes. This review has certainly reminded me that the greatest advances in medical science will only be as good as our ability to ensure that patients understand the information that they are given.