61–70 of 110 posts
the only problem - in the US - with this is that the more you tell them the more they will bill you. It's like as if every little piece of information that otherwise should help a doctor identify what's wrong and result in a faster and more accurate diagnosis makes the billing department's job that much easier. Now they don't have to break down one single item and charge you 10 ways, they can break down each of your…
I would imagine a lot of the concern over this is more of the existential fear resulting from the balance of power between patient and doctor than anything else. The Internet started that, with patients able to become much more knowledgable about their own conditions (with the unfortunate side effect of every symptom being cancer). Once patients become knowledgable, the doctor moves from a pillar of all knowledge to…
It was my step-brother, a Cardiologist, who recommended against my second endoscopy that led to the diagnosis and the transformation of my health. Like my XO in the Navy said, ‘Only you are responsible for your career.’ It applies to medicine as well, ‘Only you are responsible for your health.’ Especially with anything chronic that may be outside the 99.9% bounds that modern medicine is designed to handle well.
Doctors writes too bad (poor hand writting) that sometimes patients cant understand. In India we are talking about a rule ( law ) where doctors have to write in CAPITAL only.
These days I can more or less guess what medication the doctor where I regular go to generally writes.
It's a platform that lets people post their doctor's notes and have med students interpret it for them in an easy to digest form.
It helps both patients better understand their conditions and med students learn how to read and interpret diagnosis.
It's a non-profit as far as I'm aware, since part of their philosophy is giving access to patients irrespective of their financial ability. I think it's a really neat concept. Sadly only available in German / Germany.
I would imagine a lot of the concern over this is more of the existential fear resulting from the balance of power between patient and doctor than anything else. The Internet started that, with patients able to become much more knowledgable about their own conditions (with the unfortunate side effect of every symptom being cancer). Once patients become knowledgable, the doctor moves from a pillar of all knowledge to…
I feel your sentiment. I’ve had a love hate relationship with the medical community. It took two plus years for a diagnosis of Celiac’s. Along the way, I met a number of doctors who took the attitude that if they couldn’t figure out what was wrong, it must be in my head. And while these docs made me want to crack skulls, I also came across a number of great doctor’s with empathy, knowledge, and an understanding that…
I hear you.
I went through a very similar phase a few years back here in India. It turns out it was just a simple infection being dragged around by my doctor just to keep the consultation fees coming.
It took a little internet research and a change of doctor to get the problem resolved.
In another case a wife of a colleague suffered from a serious health issue. Turns out the doctor did everything to delay the actual treatment to keep the expenses high. After a little research and catching the doctor in the act, the doctor yelled at them telling that was how he deals and they can go to a different doctor if they wanted. A new doctor was able to get the situation under control and get the issues resolved pretty quick.
We need to understand that at the end of the day its just a business, and they just tend to optimize what works for them.
One problem with this approach is patients who are making stuff up entirely. They're not a large part of the population, but since they relentlessly seek medical attention (often to the point of self-harm), every doctor is familiar with them. Giving such patients editorial power over doctors' notes gives them a further lever with which to manipulate the system. It's a weird situation in which the doctor/patient relat…
So, I think that the best way to address this would be to allow it to be mostly open. The default is for all notes from the doctors and patients visible to everyone; but doctors can write "hidden" notes that only other doctors are able to see. In a lot of ways, I see this like a public bug tracker. For bug trackers, it's generally best for everyone to see all changes, to be kept up on what's going on and be able to m…
All patients have a right to their journals, as far as I know - although, there might be restrictions on parts - such as psychiatric treatment I guess - and everyone can request to get a copy of their journal. A bit of a pain in the ass to obtain - but surely possible.
I just thought it might be interesting to add to the conversation/article how things are working in another country/part of the world.
I would imagine a lot of the concern over this is more of the existential fear resulting from the balance of power between patient and doctor than anything else. The Internet started that, with patients able to become much more knowledgable about their own conditions (with the unfortunate side effect of every symptom being cancer). Once patients become knowledgable, the doctor moves from a pillar of all knowledge to…
"The practitioner must take direct responsibility for the individual patient. We know of nothing more helpful in achieving good control of an individual patient's hypertension than the home monitoring of BP. In the best of worlds, the patient could alter his or her antihypertensive regimen based on his or her home BP readings just as diabetics are allowed to alter their insulin dosage based on their home glucose readings. Such self-modification may be too much to ask, but phones, faxes, and e-mails can easily send the readings to an office assistant or practitioner who can then provide appropriate advice.
For too long, practitioners have kept patients out of the loop, either too proud to give up some of their power or too suspicious of the ability of their patients to help themselves."
One problem with this approach is patients who are making stuff up entirely. They're not a large part of the population, but since they relentlessly seek medical attention (often to the point of self-harm), every doctor is familiar with them. Giving such patients editorial power over doctors' notes gives them a further lever with which to manipulate the system. It's a weird situation in which the doctor/patient relat…
Editorial power? I must have missed that in my reading of the article. As far as I understood it, patients weren't able to redact/change their notes. Reported symptoms and complaints are listed comprehensively, but the doctor is not compelled to do any unnecessary testing, or even falsify test results. Because of the outrageous amount of data that is dumped into a doctor's head, he is able to recognize "hypochondriac…
A patient can (and should!) be able to correct the doctor's notes reporting the patient's experience (symptoms, priorities, etc.), and self-reported medical history.
The patient would not be able to edit lab results, or the doctor's own notes from a physical examination, or prescriptions, and so on, though they could be able to add comments (again, clearly sourced).
Just as all data from doctors, labs, etc. is clearly sourced.