My plan has to do with the idea that we start weeding out some of the knuckle-
headed doctors that are out there. Here's my plan...Every person that sees a doctor (regular or specialty) is given a survey slip that they fill out before they leave (anonymously of course). The slips go into a locked box that can only be opened by the powers that be (not sure who that would be yet, although I'm currently not working LOL).
Every 6 mo the slips are read by those powers that be. If the majority of people gave the doctor a favorable review regarding professionalism and bedside manner, great. If the majority gave him/her a negative review he/she is on probation. At the end of the next 6 mo, if the reviews have greatly improved and are now positive, great. If not..."buh-bye doctor. I hear they are hiring at McDonalds."
Think about it, the rest of us have reviews by our bosses, correct? While we are technically not the bosses of the doctors, we are the ones who interact with them during business hours, not their bosses. If I continually have bad reviews, do you think I'll have job security? No. So why should they be exempt from that, especially when they are dealing with people's lives?
On top of that, you should be able to fill out a form (or write on a piece of paper), and send it in if there is an especially caring phone call or an error made over the phone. Or if there is a positive or negative through some other venue, like prescriptions, etc., those should also go in with all the reviews.
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So you may be wondering what could have brought me to this idea (or maybe not, but humor me here).
I had an appointment with a specialist earlier this week. His bedside manner was less than friendly, but not rude. He kept asking me the same questions over and over, as if he didn't believe that I was telling the truth or to see if I was...I don't know...forgetful? And he kept leaving the room. Seriously he said "I'll be right back" at least 5 times. Jay suggested that maybe he had gas and was just being polite. LOL
The Dr asked who diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia. I said that my primary doctor first diagnosed it, and then she sent me to a specialist for confirmation. I also said I had no clue what that doctors name was, but that he was a Rheumatologist. He said "Was it Dr. X?" I said "Could be, I know I have heard of that doctor". He said "He doesn't believe in Fibromyalgia" and then he paused as he got a grin on his face.
{ Was that sarcasm I just heard in his voice? And what's up with the whole Cheshire cat grin on your face? What are you implying....you think I'm kidding about this? Oh Mr, I've dealt with enough Drs over the past 18mo - don't even go there.}
I gave Jay the "I'm going to have to hit him" look, and he smiled back knowing I was kidding but that I wished I wasn't.
The doctor decided to schedule me for some electro-something-or-other test, and he put me on 2 different supplements. We drove to the Pharmacy, couldn't find what we were looking for, got help, and then found that the Pharmacist was confused by what the Dr wrote.
The one supplement comes in 50mg tablets. The doctor wrote down that he wanted me to take 300mg twice a day. That's 12 pills! On the bottle it says to take 3 tablets, one with each meal. 3 is a whole lot different than 12, and the Pharmacist said "I've never heard of anyone taking that much, but, well, what my recommendation is, is that you call your doctor back and double check that dosage."
I called the doctor and the nurse said "He said he thought the tablets came in higher dosages, so go ahead and just take the 3 a day like it recommends."
Wait - he thought? He didn't know for sure and he didn't check? So if the Pharmacist wouldn't have alerted us, I could have taken the wrong dosage? More than double or triple the dosage? Sure, it's "only" a supplement. Not a huge deal, but what if it were a prescription medication? Taking the wrong dosage could have life threatening consequences.
Definite negative review in my book.
Yes, everyone makes mistakes. However, with my plan, if you see several people who have gotten the wrong medications or wrong dosages, that's grounds for probation.
Just my humble opinion. :)
2 comments:
I completely agree. I'll be praying for you. Maybe you should not go back to this doctor?
One doctor who is also a specialist referred me to this guy. We called and asked to go back to the first guy, who we really liked.
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