I’m Not Sure I Like My Doctor

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I’m Not Sure I Like My Doctor

We are supposed to trust our doctors. We go to them for advice and care, but sometimes we just don’t get that warm fuzzy feeling.

In our current healthcare situation, physicians often have less time face-to-face with their patients. They are also burdened with additional paperwork and the staff to complete said paperwork. Despite the pressures of our current healthcare patients should still seek out physicians with whom they can trust, relate, communicate with and participate in the decision making rather than demanding a particular treatment.Commercials are filled with pharmaceutical company advertisements. It seems as though a medication should cure whatever ails us.

Do you want to discuss a particular medication with your physician?

That is fine, but remember those commercials are to sale you something. Your doctor should know about your particular condition and whether that medication is right for you. If you don’t like the side effects of a particular medication you have been prescribed, let your doctor know. If he/she does not get the point that you would like to switch medications, ask them exactly what other medications are available for your condition. Being an equal partner in your health does not mean demanding the latest medication you have seen on television. Rather it should mean you and your physician have an informed discussion on why that medication is or is not suited for your condition as well as other options available.

When you do not care for your doctor, you should first try to do your part to improve and stengthen the relationship. Assess whether your personal grievances are affecting the level of care you receive. If you do not feel as though your physician is listening to what you feel you need, speak up, but get directly to the point. Establish yourself as an equal in this medical team and play an active role in your own health needs.

Ask questions (prepare the in advance and write them down).

There are times when it is appropriate to seek a new medical provider.

It might be time for a change when…

Going to the clinic makes you feel frustrated or aggravated even after you have left the office.Your doctor does not listen to what you have to say. A doctor should make time to address your concerns, but remember to be concise and get to the point quickly.Your doctor does not allow you to ask questions. Before leaving the examination, a doctor should allow for you to obtain answers to your questions.

The physician does not speak your language. A doctor should be able to explain your health issues in layman’s terms; provided literature or drawings if necessary.Remember this is YOUR health we are talking about. Take control of your medical care. Don’t just continue to be frustrated with your physician while keeping your mouth shut. Let him or her know and if necessary move to a new clinic.

Just remember to collect your medical records so your new doctor can continue your care more easily.

http://ow.ly/1nGl

5 Signs You Need to Change Doctors

Modkins

Have you ever thought about leaving your doctor?

If you're in the second generation of a family that has seen him or her, probably not. However, you should know that there are times in which changing doctors is vitalto your health.

You should change when:

1. You can't communicate with him/her.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, communication is a vital key to excellent medical treatment. Why? If you can't tell your doctor what's wrong with you, then you can't get the specific treatment needed to get well. So, if you are intimidated by your doctor or just speak a different language, it's time to switch. Find a doctor who you can effectively communicate with, so you can receive the medical attention you need.

2. You can't get in.

How long on average does it take for you to get an appointment with your doctor? 3 days? 1 week? 1 month? These timelines are ones you need to explore. If you have an illness or condition that requires constant or emergent care, but your doctor is just too busy to give it to you, it's time to leave. Even if they are great in every other way, it won't help you if you can't see them within a reasonable amount of time.

3. Your "health" goals differ.

In her lectures for the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, Michele Heisler M.D., recommends that doctors and patients share the same health goals, especially in the case that a patient has a chronic disease. This meeting of the minds is important because the patient has to carry out a bulk of the treatment at home.

So, if the patient and doctor can't agree on a course of treatment, failure looms in the future. Therefore, if you and are your doctor are always at odds on what you should be doing to get well, its time to change doctors and go to someone who's on the same page with you.

4. You hate his staff.

Does your doctor's staff make you feel welcome when you visit or keep on top of your appointments and paperwork? If you say "no" to two out of three of these questions, it's time to find a new doctor. Even if your doctor is excellent at his job, you shouldn't have to put up with an ineffectual and rude staff to get to it.Respectfully let your doctor know your dissatisfaction and then leave if you don't see any changes. You'll see that it'll reduce your level of stress when you're scheduled for an appointment.

5. You're still sick.This is a no-brainer.

If you are struggling with a disease or condition that is curable, but isn't going away under the care of your doctor, it's time to get a second opinion. Check around for a specialist who has more expertise with your illness and make an appointment with him. It'll be an act that will boost up your health.In conclusion, there are different times in which you should change doctors. Therefore, be open to the signs, so that when it's time to make a change, you do it quickly. Remember, it's for your health, a part of your life that ultimately only you have complete control over.

From Tina @ J & F Blog

6. You cant understand a word they're saying.

How can a person communicate, if we don't know what the heck they're saying?

My primary doctor was impossible to understand. Over and over again I stood standing , smiling and nodding while he explained his diagnoses.

As soon as I climbed inside my car to drive home, I always asked myself...

What the hell did he say ? I know I'm not going to die, but I wonder if I'm sick ?

Just saying.

http://Hepatitis Cnewdrugs.blogspot.com/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/683307/5_signs_you_need_to_change_doctors_pg2.html?cat=5

During staff cutbacks, hiring freezes and every July when a new class of interns hits the wards, hospital workers everywhere ask themselves one question:When is the worst time to be a patient in the hospital?â€

By PAULINE W. CHEN, M.D.Published: March 18, 2010That question crossed my mind one morning during my training when an emergency department nurse warned me about a pileup on a nearby interstate involving a school bus. “You’d better mobilize all the help you can,†she said. “There may be dozens of injured kids coming in, and we’re stretched to the limit here.â€She was not exaggerating. It wasn’t even noon yet, and the emergency room already had gurneys crammed into every available space. Supply carts, usually full of gauze, syringes, basins and bedpans, looked as if they had been hastily looted, and the din typical of the department was louder than usual, punctuated by shrieks from inebriated patients or cries for help from elderly ones. While some patients were lucky enough to have secured a modicum of privacy behind the

curtains of makeshift rooms, most waited in the hallways for their beds to come open up upstairs.Scanning the scene, I couldn’t help but believe that when a hospital was bursting at the seams and about to receive multiple, severely injured trauma patients, it had to be the worst possible time to be a patient there. But I also had to ask myself why we couldn’t have done anything to prevent this predicament.“The inn is full,†the nurse said, shrugging her shoulders. “And it’s not like we can just turn patients away.â€I remember agreeing with her that morning; people could not plan their illnesses or accidents. But in the years since, every time I’ve asked myself about the best time to be a patient in the hospital, I’ve also wondered if some cut-off point existed for hospitals. Was there a known threshold of occupancy, staffing or whatever, above which patient safety was compromised?There is. Or rather,

there are.Analyzing the records of almost 40 hospitals and nearly 175,000 patients, researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor found that four factors — high hospital occupancy, weekend admissions, nurse staffing levels and the seasonal flu — can affect a patient’s risk of dying in the hospital. But while these factors universally influence in-hospital mortality, they can also interact with one another in such a way that each hospital ends up with its own particular threshold of risk.The key is identifying not some universal cutoff point, but an individual hospital’s limits.“These patterns are as individualized as fingerprints,†said Dr. , an associate professor of pediatrics, internal medicine and public policy at the University of Michigan and senior author of the study, published in the journal Medical Care. “There is an optimal balance that is different for each hospital.†Ideal

nurse-to-patient ratios, for example, can vary depending on the patient populations served. Similarly, a hazardous level of occupancy might be 70 percent for one hospital and 90 percent for another.But unlike our fingerprints, a hospital’s limits can change. During flu season, for example, hospital staff can decrease their patients’ mortality risk by getting vaccinated. Hospitals can also shift the schedule of elective admissions to free up beds and hospital staff for admissions from the emergency room. “Understanding these vulnerabilities in a hospital system can pay very big dividends,†said Dr. L. Schilling, lead author of the study and a resident in orthopedic surgery at the University of Michigan.Because of these findings, the University of Michigan health care system has taken steps to address its own threshold, increasing weekend staffing of nurses, physicians and other health care services and creating a new 20-bed

observation area in the emergency department. In addition, hospital administrators have shifted part of their elective surgery schedule to accommodate for predictable influxes of emergency admissions.“We were doing a lot of surgery cases early in the week but were also typically getting a lot of emergency department admissions on Monday,†said Dr. Darrell A. Jr., chief of clinical affairs at the Michigan health system and a study author. By scheduling more elective operations later in the week, the hospital has been able to ease overcrowding. “We have to be creative about the ways we think about the specific problems we have,†he said.Hospitals have also traditionally been in competition with one another and under contract with different insurers. But once a hospital has identified its particular threshold, it could conceivably work with other hospitals to mitigate factors once believed to be solely under the control of

fate. “When we reach very high occupancy levels, we don’t always know what the occupancy levels of other hospitals in our area are,†Dr. said. “Diverting from one hospital to another might be a better solution than holding a patient overnight in the emergency room or in the operating suites’ recovery room.â€In the end, the trauma we anticipated that morning when the hospital was full and the emergency room overflowing was not nearly as catastrophic as it could have been. The school bus turned out to be a van, and instead of the dozens of injured children, we treated only three teenagers and a driver for minor cuts and bruises.But I knew back then that our day and their outcomes could have been much worse. And I know now that their experiences, and those of every patient in the hospital that day, could have been much better.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/health/18chen.html?src=me & ref=health

http://Hepatitis Cnewdrugs.blogspot.com/2010/03/im-not-sure-i-like-my-doctor.html