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Is Your Doctor Any Good?
Found this on a Yahoo List - no author
Date: 2/27/2005 2:44:36 PM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 1527 times I think it might be helpful to for PWC's to have a set of hard and fast
"rules" to judge a potential doctor by
.
Often times CFS patients are overwhelmed and brain fogged by the time
they just get to a doctor's office. This can make them less able to
judge the doctor. I have found in the past that I usually go on "vague
feelings" I get from the doctor and his office, as to whether I should
be going to him, or not. But this is subjective and hard to justify, and
the doctor is often into my pocket for several hundred dollars, before I
figure out he is a creep !
Glancing at these rules may be helpful then (I printed them out). As
I reviewed them, I recalled several doctors I have been to and thought
"Yeah, that is why I got bad vibes from him. He was doing thus and
thus". So, having these hard and fast rules to look at could forshorten
the evalutation process for PWC's, saving us unnecessary frustration
expense.
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1. Your doctor doesn’t respond to calls or faxes.
Do you find yourself leaving message after message, but not getting a
return call for days?
Are you ending up going several days without thyroid medicine because
your doctor won’t approve a refill until you make an appointment?
2. Your doctor’s office is unresponsive, disorganized, or rude.
Are you ending up going several days without medicine because your
doctor’s office hasn’t called in a refill, despite your requests?
Are you finding out that the office staff are not getting your messages
to the doctor?
Are the office staffmembers rude on the phone, or in the office?
Does the office regularly make billing mistakes, overcharge you, or lose
paperwork?
Have you ever showed up for a scheduled appointment, only to be told that
there’s no record of your appointment?
3. Your doctor dismisses the Internet as a source of quackery and
nonsense.
Does your doctor refuse to look at any information you bring in from the
Internet?
Does your doctor think that everything on the Internet is foolish
quackery, and tell you so?
Is your doctor entirely unaware that the National Library of Medicine,
most major medical journals, and the literature from most professional
medical organizations is on the Internet?
4. Your doctor is unwilling to explore your ideas.
When you bring up a symptom or concern, does your doctor quickly assume
that it’s something like “age, hormones, not enough sleep” and fail to
explore other medical causes?
If you request a test for a particular condition, does your doctor say
“You don’t have that condition,” and refuse to order a test?
If you asked for a different drug, or a new drug for your condition, does
your doctor usually refuse, without a reasonable explanation?
5. Your doctor is interested in selling expensive products or services.
Do you always leave your doctor’s office with bottles and jars of
vitamins, supplements, powders and potions, and books, videos or other
materials that set you back several hundred dollars, and that the doctor
claims you can only get from him/her?
Does your doctor regularly recommend remedies that only he or she sells?
Does your doctor regularly recommend costly treatments, provided at his
or her office, that are not covered by your insurance?
Do you find surprises in your bill, and charges that you don’t
understand, and can’t get decently explained?
6. Your doctor doesn’t listen.
Does your doctor pop in and out of the examining room or office to take
phone calls while you are having an appointment?
Does your doctor sit at his or her desk and read, go through mail, or
type on the computer while you are having an appointment?
Do you find that your doctor is asking you the same questions over and
over, indicating that he or she doesn’t remember what you’ve said?
7. Your doctor doesn’t see the bigger picture.
Does your doctor view each appointment independently, and not remember
symptoms or conditions you’ve had in the past?
Does your doctor fail to pull our your chart and review your history for
a few moments to look for patterns in symptoms?
Do you get the feeling like your doctor never has read your chart or
history?
8. Your doctor is influenced by a pharmaceutical company.
Does your doctor have mousepads, pens, pencils, prescription pads,
calendars, mugs, patient information literature, wall charts and posters,
and other paraphernalia with drug or pharmaceutical company logos
plastered on them?
Does your doctor refuse to allow you to switch to competing brands of
drugs, but fails to provide a rational reason other than “this drug is
just better?”
9. Your doctor is arrogant or rude.
Is your doctor one of those men or women who truly think they are “holier
than thou” and act accordingly?
Does your doctor make you wait for extremely long periods of time, but
never apologizes for the delays or for making you wait?
Would your doctor NEVER say “I don’t know the answer?”
Does your doctor interrupt you or act impatient when you are speaking?
Does your doctor ever talk to you in a condescending or patronizing way,
as if he or she thought you weren’t very bright, or were a child?
10. Your doctor is not your partner in wellness.
Ideally, we want our doctors to quickly diagnose and cure us, and
sometimes this is the case. But there are times when your doctor may not
be able to make you well. The best he or she may be able to do is help
minimize symptoms, optimize your health as best as possible, or make you
more comfortable given a particular condition. A doctor who is your
partner in wellness will work with you to explore the situation, get the
best possible diagnosis, explore treatments, finetune treatments as
necessary – working in partnership with you. A doctor who is your partner
will treat you with courtesy and respect, will listen to you, and will
incorporate you into the decisionmaking process.
Remember, of course, that there is no perfect doctor. A great doctor may
have almost every quality you want, but be a bit more costly than you’d
like. Or you may have the best doctor, but he or she always runs late and
keeps you waiting. Or the doctor is so popular you have a 4 month waiting
list for routine appointments. You can’t expect perfection!
But do expect a doctor who will make his or her best effort on your
behalf. You and your health deserve it!
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