Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Patients aren't smart enough? Savvy enough? What?


I've been reading a few blogs lately. Among there are several medical blogs. I'd like to point out a few where I've been active in the dialog/comments. As a patient, I think they are important to the healthcare problems in the U.S.

Dr. Rob writes about being "The Backstop" for his patients. He says,

But there is a catch. Despite the fact that I am not the one ordering the test, once I have it in my chart I am responsible for the information. Many of the abnormal mammograms state specifically that “the patient has been notified.” I still don’t trust it. If I put a mammogram that is suspicious into my chart on the patient and don’t call the them up to make sure they have been called, I could potentially be prey for malpractice attorneys. So I call every woman whose mammograms are suspicious. I take over the responsibility. There have been times when I am the first one to tell the patient.

I hold the premise the patient should be his/her own repository. You can read our dialog here. I hope you have some insight into it and will share.



KevinMD posts about Searching for health on the web often leads to the most dire diagnoses. Kevin quotes the article, saying "To no one's surprise, 'self-diagnosis by search engine frequently leads Web searchers to conclude the worst about what ails them'." He was quoting the article to which he linked, but that article did not correctly represent the study it was using. The study,
Cyberchondria: Studies of the Escalation of Medical Concerns in Web Search did not exactly say that. You can read my statements about that here.

I've previously blogged about cyberchondria on this blog: Speaking of "googling"..... and as a "reader's take" on KevinMD's blog: Robin S.: A marriage made in heaven



Dr. Wes had some good points on "Why Hospitals Like Robin Hood Economics" and was very supportive of my comments there.




David, a physician commenter on that piece was open and candid, which I appreciated. Again, some great dialog there. Take time to look over it and comment if you wish.

2 comments:

  1. Individuals have the right to receive full information from the potential treating professional about that professional's knowledge, skills, preparation, experience, and credentials. Individuals have the right to be informed about the options available for treatment interventions and the effectiveness of the recommended treatment

    ReplyDelete
  2. Totally agreed with jay. Very informative article on a beautifully designed blog.

    ReplyDelete

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