Patient

Patients and caregivers writing on KevinMD about the experience of illness and the health care system from the other side of the exam table: navigating care, the doctor-patient relationship, being heard, and what patients want physicians to understand. Physicians who have become patients write here too. For the record of what pain patients and physicians have said to each other about opioids and chronic pain since 2007, with patient authors cited at the same weight as physicians, see Opioids: what physicians and pain patients say, in their own words. For what patients, families, and physicians have said about dying, hospice, and the decisions families face at the end of life, see End of life: what physicians say, in their own words. For what women and the physicians who treat them have said about pregnancy, menopause, and the conditions dismissed for years, see Women's health: what physicians say, in their own words. For what physicians have said about consent, honesty, and who decides, see Medical ethics: what physicians say, in their own words.

Lotteries in life may have to do with suffering, disability and death

Jeffrey Knuppel, MD

Patient

January 8, 2011

Winning the lottery — yes, I’ve heard the horror stories of how people’s lives have taken a turn for the worse after it’s happened. But, like many others, I still wonder what it would be like. I’d be willing to take my chances with the win!

But this post is not about money. Not at all. Actually it’s about gratitude.

It’s about the many ‘lotteries’ in life that have nothing to do …

Little Patient Big Doctor: One Mother’s Journey, an excerpt

Kevin

Patient

January 7, 2011

An excerpt from Little Patient Big Doctor: One Mother’s Journey.

by Haleh Rabizadeh Resnick

Dear Doctor,

I want to share with you my experiences with two of my children . . . . I share the hecticness our lives with you for a reason. We are all the same. We are all busy. We all face adversity. And while we want most to trust the opinions of professionals, …

Why your health insurance medical appeal was rejected

Nicholas Fogelson, MD

Patient

January 6, 2011

One thing that many residents do not know is that there are more benefits to becoming a board certified physician than just that plaque on the wall. One of these benefits is that ability to pick up a few extra hours of work here and there doing consulting for the multitude of companies that would like the opinion or expertise of a physician.

In some cases this consulting can be about …

Secrets of good health website design

Lisa Gualtieri, PhD

Patient

January 6, 2011

I interviewed Tania Schlatter, one of the best designers I know and a guest-lecturer for Web Strategies for Health Communication, about color, imagery, and other aspects of health website design.

Lisa: How is the design of health websites different than for other types of sites?

Tania: The design of any site goes back to the goals of an organization and what people coming to a site need. Healthcare consumers can …

Read more…

Secrets of good health website design

How you can reduce preventable mistakes in your medical care

Neil Baum, MD

Patient

January 5, 2011

There are nearly 1.5 million Americans who suffer each year from preventable mistakes. A report by the Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of medical errors.

Most of these errors are related to drug mistakes. That’s the bad news. The good news is that your doctors and hospitals are trying to reduce these errors by using by using …

Start thinking about health literacy in a broader framework

Hilary Seligman, MD

Patient

January 4, 2011

I have a patient who I will call Antonia.

Antonia is in her early 70’s. She came to the United States from Guatemala many years ago, but never learned to speak much English. This doesn’t cause her much of a problem; her community is small and tightly-knit, so she doesn’t have much need to speak English in her home or her neighborhood. And she has a large family—children and grandchildren and …

Patients will choose their medicine, based on their doctor’s advice

Dave deBronkart

Patient

January 4, 2011

TEDMED is a truly extraordinary conference in San Diego, a fall sibling of TED talks focused on medicine. TED talks are just 18 minutes long, chosen and designed to blow your mind. They don’t all hit that level, but many do.

True to form, the opening session was a mind-blower. 26 year old Charity Tillemann-Dick stepped out on stage and belted out a soprano aria. I thought that was it – an opening …

Childhood obesity and chronic illnesses that result from being overweight

David B. Nash, MD, MBA

Patient

January 4, 2011

Our national health status is in imminent danger from the effects of a condition that most population health experts acknowledge is out of control.

I am speaking of obesity — and, in particular, its increasing prevalence in American adolescents and children.

Almost every study that has been done concerning obesity shows a correlation with soda consumption. As a result, some states and municipalities have tried to implement initiatives that make it more …

Protecting health care professionals who act based on their conscience

Kevin

Patient

January 4, 2011

by Child of the Ocean

I recently came across an interesting article titled “Conscientious Objection Gone Awry — Restoring Selfless Professionalism in Medicine” by Julie D. Cantor, M.D., J.D., in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This article argues against a rule, the Provider Refusal Rule, from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that legally protects health care professionals who act based on …

Medical care and airlines – should there be a difference?

angienadia, MD

Patient

January 3, 2011

A recent article by Pauline Chen features a group of primary care physicians at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, who have created a concierge practice that funnels income into the traditional general medical practice that sees less-advantaged patients.

Surveys (performed by the medical center itself) found that patients rated the quality of interactions with their doctors similarly regardless of their affiliation. The only significant differences in responses had to …

Is the media responsible for childhood eating disorders?

Claire McCarthy, MD

Patient

January 3, 2011

I really don’t want my children to be overweight. I know this because I see the consequences every day in my practice, consequences like high blood pressure, impending diabetes, or poor self-esteem.

At the same time, I really, really don’t want my children to have an eating disorder. I know this because I had one.

In college, I suffered from anorexia nervosa. I’m a little more than 5 feet 9 inches tall, …

Heart attack symptoms in women, in their own words

Carolyn Thomas

Patient

December 31, 2010

heart attack symptoms in women

Having a heart attack felt nothing like I thought it would feel. For one thing, unlike sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart stops beating and you stop breathing, during my heart attack (myocardial infarction), my heart continued beating, and I was conscious throughout despite horrific symptoms – so how could I possibly be having a heart …

Take responsibility for your own health

Peter J. Weiss, MD

Patient

December 30, 2010

An excerpt from More Health Less Care: How to Take Charge of Your Medical Care and Write Your Own Personal Prescription for Lifelong Health.

Bob Baker is a patient of Dr. Lisa Martin. Bob works as an engineer for a Fortune 500 company that holds major commercial and Department of Defense contracts. He’s 45 years old and happily married with two college-age children. Bob’s lifestyle is stressful. He travels …

Read more…

Take responsibility for your own health

Health care economics and the relationship between doctor and patient

Maggie Kozel, MD

Patient

December 29, 2010

I used to practice pediatrics. It has been several years since I decided to leave medicine, but people still ask me about it, and I find myself offering neat explanations between gulps of coffee. Of course, the full truth is much more complicated. The full truth has as much to do with our health care system and our culture as it does with me.

My journey in pediatrics was not entirely …

Are chaperones a hindrance to patient privacy?

Joel Sherman, MD

Patient

December 28, 2010

Chaperones are increasingly recommended for routine use in Western medicine. There are semi-official recommendations in both the UK and USA. The AMA has long had this.

The rationale for using chaperones is twofold. In theory their primary purpose is to protect, comfort and assist the patient. In reality though, the usual purpose is to protect the physician against claims of sexual assault or harassment.

Preferably, chaperones should be real professionals, ideally …

Responsibility, respect and relationships are important for patients

Jackie Fox

Patient

December 28, 2010

At the risk of dating myself, I recall a time when “The Three Rs” summed up American education. In case you aren’t familiar with this phrase, it stands for “Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic.”

I think it’s high time we develop “Three Rs” for patients. Right now, Patient World is ruled by “E” words such as “empowered” and “engaged,” with “empowered” the big one. I think “empowered” is turning into a label, …

Say goodbye to your patients the right way

Jill of All Trades, MD

Patient

December 23, 2010

When I realized that I would be moving to a different county within Southern California and would have to change jobs, I knew it would be inevitable that I would have to say goodbye to my patients. I was dreading this. I mean, really dreading it. I don’t like goodbyes. I feel as though I am breaking up, and in a way I am.

Like any other relationship, my patient-physician relationships …

Solve the obesity crisis to ensure our country’s financial stability

John Mandrola, MD

Patient

December 22, 2010

If I was Surgeon General, I would follow the lead of our country’s first Mom.

This is serious folks.

We, as an American society, need to solve the obesity crisis. Not just for our physical health, but for our country’s financial stability.

Reducing the spiraling costs of health care is wanted by all. So far, prevention of the diseases which contribute most to our health care costs, (heart disease, cancer and orthopedic issues, …

Pay close attention to what doctors say to patients

Paul Dorio, MD

Patient

December 20, 2010

In a report from the Archives of Internal Medicine, it was reported that most hospitalized patients (82%) could not accurately name the physician responsible for their care and almost half of the patients did not even know their diagnosis or why they were admitted. Of the physicians, 67% thought the patients knew their name and 77% of doctors thought the patients “understood their diagnoses at least somewhat …

Back to school sometimes means a return to bullying

Aldebra Schroll, MD

Patient

December 17, 2010

Back to school for many children means returning to the environment in which they are bullied.

Bullying is a form of abuse, defined as recurrent episodes of physical or psychological intimidation. It can take the form of taunting, name calling, threatening, stealing and physical assault. Other forms of bullying include the spreading of malicious rumors or gossip and the intentional exclusion of a child. The result is a victim who becomes …

Patient

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