In Other Words "When Patients Manage Doctors".... or at least try to...
This is something I have practiced actively all of my adult life, and
especially after have several different "ongoing chronic illnesses", and
now we see a different "specialist" it seems for each and every
illness, unlike when you "family doctor" did it all, done your
physicals,delivered babies, done surgeries etc. I recall with my 1st son
being born, my regular Family MD delivered him. Shortly thereafter, he
quit delivering babies, along with many of the other family doctors. Due
to the rising cost for them to have insurance being doctors, they
allowed those area's to be left up to the specialists. When you have for
instance my situation, heart issues, so I need a cardiologist, Lupus,
RA & several autoimmune illnesses, my Rheumatologist, and my PCP
also works with me on the Lupus, I now have a specialist as far as my
vision, due to the double vision, I have different surgeons, from a
general surgeon, to more than one orthopedic surgeon, because many of
them "specialize" in different joints, surgeries and so forth
Then many of us have a Neurologist, a Pain Management specialist, and
ENT, a dermatologist, dentist, sometimes even a specialized dentist, and
from time to time we may encounter other specialists, such as
immunologists, psychologists, oral surgeons, and so many others, as time
goes on. I found if I did not take an "active" approach to let each
doctor know who the others are, what role they play in my health care,
what meds I am on and from which physician, and I keep a list of all of
my physicians and why I see them, along with lab work, any type of
radiology reports, or scans etc... I have learned that all too often one
doctor, may not even send the others the information such as labs,
testing, imaging and so forth. So, being involved in your own health
issues, taking charge of making sure everyone is put to speed on your
other health issues... all of that is so critical for all of us,
especially those who deal with chronic illnesses. Now the one problem
with that, is SOME physicians, are not as "accepting" when a patient
comes in with information, and so forth.
I have found that a couple of
my physicians, even though in the end, what I had originally thought and
told them was true about a particular health problem of mine, they much
prefer an "uneducated patient"... I know that is hard to believe, most
of mine are thrilled that I take an active role, and I "know" my own
body, and I research medications, treatments and so forth. But, I have a
couple of them, especially one in particular that gets almost "mad"
when i come in and tell him what I think could be wrong. He has told me
before that "I was not the doctor" etc... then he had to apologize a
couple of times, because what I had said in the beginning was exactly
right! So, he had had to "swallow his pride" and in his own way, make
amends for calling me "stupid" basically. Yet my other doctors love it
when I can walk in and possibly tell them what I fell maybe going on. It
allow them less time in testing etc for things that may NOT be wrong,
and to concentrate on what is so we can get right on to "fix" the
problem.... Times have dramatically changed in the medical world even
over the past 10 years or so... and you truly need to be an "educated
patient" whether your physician likes it or not... YOUR health and
well-being should be #1 for you!
Here is an article from the Wall Street Journal
"When Patients Manage Doctors"
