Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Make the most of the time spent with a doctor to minimize patient frustration

Melanie Lane, MD
Patient
June 22, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

A lot of people express frustration when visiting their doctor’s office.  They don’t feel they are listened to, cared about, or have their issues adequately addressed.  If this sounds familiar, it could be that your doctor is evil, or what’s more likely, he’s trying to practice medicine within a difficult system.

Due to decreasing reimbursement and increasing expenses, many doctors are forced to see more patients just to keep their clinics afloat.  Unfortunately, this leaves the doctor in a really challenging spot:  provide thorough, quality, compassionate care, which is time consuming, and face serious financial consequences, or squeeze in as many patients as possible to pay the bills and do his best with the minimal time he has.

Remember, your doctor has to review your chart, lab results, medications, and vital signs before entering the room.  He then has to interview you about your complaint(s) to get a thorough history and perform an examination.  Next he has to mull over possible diagnoses, devise a treatment plan, order tests, make referrals, and write prescriptions.  If he’s your primary doctor, he also has to check to make sure all other consultations and labs have been followed up on and make sure your screening tests are up to date.  Meanwhile, he has to listen compassionately, reassure you, and educate you about preventive health measures.  In many instances he has less than 15 minutes to complete all of this and document it thoroughly in the chart. (And no, the electronic medical records don’t help.)

So how does this information help you?  Well, given the situation with the American healthcare system is likely to get worse, you’ll need to be more proactive and organized to get the most out of you short doctor’s visit. Most doctors are already stretching as far as they can to make ends meet and still practice good medicine.

Here are some suggestions to help you get the most from a current day doctor’s visit:

  • Write down a list of your most pressing concerns.
  • Do not expect your doctor to address all of them in one or even two visits.  A seemingly simple complaint to you may require complex evaluation on the part of your doctor.
  • Focus in on your top two to three issues to bring to her attention at the start of the visit.
  • Tell your doctor right at the beginning of the visit what your major concern is.  Don’t wait till her hand is on the door to leave to tell her you really came in because you think you have a sexually transmitted disease or you are having suicidal thoughts.
  • Be flexible –your doctor may find something more pressing than your wrist pain she needs to focus on, like a blood pressure reading of 200/110.
  • Once a treatment plan has been designed, keep all follow up appointments, especially if tests were ordered.  Your doctor has a responsibility to contact you if there are worrisome results, but it is your health on the line.  No one should be more concerned about your health than you.
  • Understand that you may need multiple follow up appointments to get all of your concerns addressed.

If you try working with your physician in this way and find that you still are not getting your needs met, find another doctor.  Sometimes two people simply don’t work well together.  Keep in mind that it is not within your doctor’s power to make you healthy or happy, only you can do that.

It is frustrating, and we’re all having to make adjustments to work within our healthcare system, but when we take full responsibility for our health by being organized, proactive, and following up, we are far more likely to get what we need and want from our doctors.

Melanie Lane is a family physician who blogs at The Doctor Weighs In.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

When TV news departments partner with local medical centers

June 21, 2011 Kevin 1
…
Next

Using video games to fight childhood obesity

June 22, 2011 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Patients

Post navigation

< Previous Post
When TV news departments partner with local medical centers
Next Post >
Using video games to fight childhood obesity

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Melanie Lane, MD

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    How to be like Betty White when you get older

    Melanie Lane, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    All of us are role models, whether we see ourselves that way or not

    Melanie Lane, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    A confident, independent, empowered woman is a force to be reckoned with

    Melanie Lane, MD

More in Patient

  • AI’s role in streamlining colorectal cancer screening [PODCAST]

    The Podcast by KevinMD
  • There’s no one to drive your patient home

    Denise Reich
  • Dying is a selfish business

    Nancie Wiseman Attwater
  • A story of a good death

    Carol Ewig
  • We are warriors: doctors and patients

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • Patient care is not a spectator sport

    Jim Sholler
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why male fertility needs to be part of every health conversation

      Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian | Conditions
    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Inside human trafficking: a guide to recognizing and preventing it [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Graduating from medical school without family: a story of strength and survival

      Anonymous | Education
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Adriana Smith’s story: a medical tragedy under heartbeat laws

      Nicole M. King, MD | Physician
    • What if medicine had an exit interview?

      Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C | Conditions
    • Why U.S. health care pricing is so confusing—and how to fix it

      Ashish Mandavia, MD | Physician
    • From survival to sovereignty: What 35 years in the ER taught me about identity, mortality, and redemption

      Kenneth Ro, MD | Physician
    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 4 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Why male fertility needs to be part of every health conversation

      Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian | Conditions
    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Inside human trafficking: a guide to recognizing and preventing it [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Graduating from medical school without family: a story of strength and survival

      Anonymous | Education
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Adriana Smith’s story: a medical tragedy under heartbeat laws

      Nicole M. King, MD | Physician
    • What if medicine had an exit interview?

      Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C | Conditions
    • Why U.S. health care pricing is so confusing—and how to fix it

      Ashish Mandavia, MD | Physician
    • From survival to sovereignty: What 35 years in the ER taught me about identity, mortality, and redemption

      Kenneth Ro, MD | Physician
    • When doctors forget how to examine: the danger of lost clinical skills

      Mike Stillman, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Make the most of the time spent with a doctor to minimize patient frustration
4 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...