The way the importance of the state of your emotional health is reason enough to break up with your partner and leave a bad relationship, is the exact same way the importance of your physical health is reason enough for you to fire your doctor and change hospitals. If you’re a doctor, you need to listen too, because this article by Angela Haupt and Ruben Castaneda on www.health.usnews.com called 12 Signs to Fire your Doctor is very good advice for patients everywhere and if any of these applies to you, it’s definitely time to make a change before you lose patients.
1. You and your doctor don’t mesh. You and your doctor don’t need to see eye to eye on everything, but it’s helpful if you work well together, depending on what you want as the patient. For example, some patients like doctors who are very direct and blunt and some patients can’t stand that type of doctor because they think he or she isn’t empathetic enough or doesn’t provide enough options. It’s extremely imperative that you feel comfortable with your doctor as you need to be able to disclose some intimate details about your health you may not even share with friends or family members and if you can’t, your present doctor may not be right for you.
2. If you always feel like you’re being rushed through your appointment, like he or she doesn’t take the time to answer your questions or address your concerns, there’s a problem. Or if your doctor is not open and thorough enough with you, about why he or she recommends a certain treatment or orders a specific test, using language that you can understand. He or she should also share all results with you. Your health is too important to feel confused or uninformed.
3. Does your doctor listen, or does he consistently interrupt you rather than hear you out? Does he answer your questions specifically or jumps to conclusions and talks you down with medical lingo? Or is he or she rude or condescending? Then it’s time to seek the services of a different doctor who is not all of these things and get better medical care.
4. Your physician doesn’t coordinate with other doctors. Your primary care physician should be the quarterback of your health care team, managing each step of the medical process. That means keeping track of specialists’reports and instructions and talking with you about their recommendations. If he or she is slacking, an important piece of your care could slip through the cracks.
I’m not saying fire your doctor, but if this is you, you might want to consider it.
