What Is Your Doctor Saying About You?

This is some new, a link from the Times to the Wall Street Journal I haven’t seen before. Happy Walltimes chumming.

On the subject of sharing doctors notes, what struck me in the Journal article was this: ** “The old narrative is that we had to protect doctors from patients, but we’ve found that patients are very respectful of doctors’ time, and can handle information,” he says.**

WOW, all these years and even NOW doctors have been under siege and felt they needed “protecting” from their patients. Especially details of the diagnosis and treatment. Doctors might let slip and let the patient know what they REALLY thought or use a common euphemism like “Gomer” commonly used in wings with lots of old people. That these people in the OpenNotes project are pioneering something NEW and different is quite a revelation. Kind of shows off the Emperor Doctor’s New Clothes. Just beautiful, doc. Never seen you clearer! Of course many doctors are already paranoid about malpractice and giving patients ready access to written records may forestall some misunderstandings, but it’s also a paper trail for a lawyer. The specificity and problem notes with vanish underground in the doctor’s memory. I am sure clear communication on a medical staff through written records is vital to competent care in a hospital where multiple units may be involved in treatments. Less thrilling is to see your long-time Primary Care Physician looking as frazzled as Dr. Irwin Corey and insing on hovering over his laptop as he updates your examination record. Forgets to listen to my heart. This was a doctor who in year’s past could have remembered minor weight fluctuation even if it had been a year. The chief problem with obsessing over electronic records, billing procedures and medical office efficiency is that it still skirts the issue that America’s doctors are not really doing a very good job keeping the population healthy. Though DOCTORS get high marks for streamlining payment so as to completely pick the pockets of the patients without us even needing to see their wallets. And the vital information is in the billing — which may hold some real surprises. I’m glad doctors are trying new methods of improving their work, but records comes up the rump of importance to me. I am the body in question and have a good look, doc. I’ll read your notes on kindle. In the mean time, see me, feel me, heal me.

This post was last modified on Tháng mười một 29, 2024 4:39 chiều