Dear Thyroid Doctors: Ten New Year's Resolutions You Should Make
While everyone is talking about making New Year's resolutions, it occurred to me that the doctors who take care of our thyroid conditions are also making their resolutions. And, never one to keep my opinions to myself, as a thyroid patient advocate, I naturally have a few suggestions! (Fellow Patients: You may even want to print these out and send them to your doctor....)10. Learn more about thyroid disease, and stay up to date on the latest thyroid-related research and information. -- Here it is 2007, and some of you still don't know about the new TSH normal range recommended by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, or the recommendations regarding thyroid treatment in early pregnancy. Resolve to stay up on all the important information that affects the thyroid health and well-being of your patients.
9. Learn more about the internet, and the health information available to patients. -- Even in today's technology oriented world, there are some of you who firmly believe that "medical information you get on the Internet is nonsense." You may not realize that the National Library of Medicine's "PubMed" journal research database is online, as well as your favorite medical journals, professional association sites, and topnotch patient information resources. If you don't realize that the Internet is a treasure trove of quality medical information, make a resolution to get with the times!
8. Stop taking swag, lunches, and other free gifts from drug company representatives -- Is your office filled with posters, brochures, pens, prescription pads and more -- all imprinted with the names of drugs and drug companies? Do drug company representatives ("Pharma Babes" as Time magazine's Dr. Scott Haig calls them) regularly come by with home-baked cookies and cakes, pizzas, lunch, and party trays for you and your staff to enjoy? Do you accept honorarium payments for giving presentations, or do you eat and drink at free drug-company sponsored cocktail parties and dinners at medical conventions? It's one thing to accept research grants -- at least research has a chance of helping your patients. But the gifts and goodies -- which we all know are intended to influence you in favor of the drugs paying for them -- should be stopped. Make a resolution to stop taking drug company freebies this year! (Read: Pushing Drugs: How medical marketing influences doctors and patients.)
Read the rest of the 10 resolutions now
7. Stop taking free drug samples entirely, or reserve drug company free samples only for needy and/or uninsured patients -- See #8. It's one thing to accept drug samples if you're going to give them to needy or uninsured patients who can't afford them. It's quite another thing for the samples to go to insured patients, or, even worse, for yourself or your family and friends. Resolve to stop taking samples entirely, or at least use them only for patients who desperately need them.
6. Make sure your office staff are courteous, professional, and organized, and that they treat your patients as respected clients. -- Medicine is a business, and your office should be run like one. The people who answer your phones and sit at your reception desk are the public voice and face of your medical practice. Unless you want patients -- your customers/clients -- to think that you are unkind, rude and disorganized, resolve to only hire and train people who value your patients and provide great service.
5. Make sure you are courteous, professional, and organized, and treat your patients as respected clients. -- Even if you're top in your field, there is no excuse for being rude or unprofessional with patients. Just as you aren't likely to continue paying for a service if you are treated rudely by the provider, your patients are your customers, and they can -- and will -- take their business elsewhere. This year, resolve to follow the "Golden Rule" with every patient. (Read Ten Signs That You Need a New Doctor.)
4. Appreciate and learn from empowered, educated patients --Today's patients are becoming more educated and empowered. In fact, some of your patients may study their disease or condition so extensively, that they have something to teach doctors! Instead of rolling your eyes, sighing in exasperation, handing back the Internet printouts unread, or becoming defensive, why not resolve to see if there's something you can learn from your patients this year? Read (The Petite Papier Club for Empowered Patients).
3. Don't overbook and keep patients waiting for appointments. --This is probably one of the chief complaints patients have about many medical practices. Are you keeping patients waiting 20 minutes or more in the waiting room, or in the examination room? Every minute that you keep them waiting, they may be getting more and more irritated. If you want patients to show up on time, and value your time, you have to do the same. Make a resolution to run a tighter schedule and keep patients waiting less this year.
2. Listen -- really listen -- to your patients. -- According to medical research, "the average patient visiting a doctor in the United States gets 22 seconds for his initial statement, then the doctor takes the lead." (BMJ 2002;325:682-683). And time and time again, patients who recommend their doctors describe that "he/she really listens to me." It sometimes seems like a lost art, and we know it's not easy in today's managed care/HMO-driven world, but resolve to give your patients the time to explain their concerns.
1. Treat thyroid patients like human beings, and not lab values. -- A patient is not a "5.0 TSH," or a "borderline hyperthyroid." They are people, with lives, and symptoms that are interfering with the quality of that life. Resolve to remember that your patients are more than the results of their lab tests, and understand that symptoms, personal medical history, family medical history, and clinical signs -- and not just lab tests -- are as important to proper diagnosis and treatment.
Comments
Dear Mary,
I have been an avid reader of your website and newsletter. I just had to comment on your 10 New Year’s Resolutions to thyroid doctors!
Your ten resolutions have included things I have griped about for years. Have had a hypothyroid problem since I was 20 years old.
I reached my 81st birthday this past December and all through the years I have had problems convincing doctors that I had a thyroid problem. Requesting Armour was even more difficult.
convincing them that Armour was helping me all these years while Synthroid was not. Many doctors could not make a diagnosis although I had classic hypothyroid symptoms.
The doctors today are incompetent, god-like in their manner,
plus all the other things you mention in your 10 Resolutions.
One doctor, I’ll call him Dr. X, came into the examining room after a 10 minute wait. I was seated on the examining table, fully dressed. He entered the room announcing that he was Dr. X and walked over to a computer that was on a small table to my right and began typing on the computer with his back to me at all times. He asked questions now and then and I realized he was reading from the form I filled out as a new patient. Evidently the 10 minute wait was needed to transfer my information from the form to the computer. When he was finished typing he turned to me and said “follow me.” He led me to the reception desk and handed me four sample medications. When I asked him what medications they were and what were they for, he threw the 4 boxes at the receptionist, told her to make an appointment for me in 2 weeks and walked away! No conversation, no examination, no explanations!
It doesn’t end there. Months later I fell and fractured my hip entering the diningroom of a local hotel where I was to attend a luncheon. There were two unmarked steps. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital and this same doctor showed up ( I didn’t have another doctor at the time) so they may have found out about my visit to this doctor and put him on my case without my permission!) He wanted me to have a stress test and an angioplasty before my surgery. I said, absolutely not! The surgeon (whom I didn’t know) looked amazed and said, “She’ll need surgery regardles whether she has the tests or not.” I should have fired Dr. X on the spot, and regret it to this day. All through my 22 days of hospitalization and rehab he never came near me. He came in dutifully and asked me how I felt and walked out. Sometimes he asked me from the doorway. He dismissed me and never told me he discharged me. A nurse had stopped to say goodbye and told me I was discharged by Dr. X and leaving in the morning. This was a surprise as he had not informed me. Incidentally, a hurricane had just occurred and he was sending me home without any idea if I had a home or what damage I faced. He did know that we had no power or phones.
I only relate this because it illustrates what type doctors are graduating from med school these days. I visited another doctor after leaving the hospital. When he questioned me why I didn’t have a doctor I told him I fired Dr. X. He then threatened me not to talk about doctor X or I would regret it. I fired him too.
Neither doctor knew anything about me, my hypothyroid condition or other serious medical problems. I have known wonderful caring doctors and have 6 doctors in my family, so I am not prejudiced about doctors, only those who shouldn’t be doctors.
As for the internet, it has been helpful in helping myself, especially your website, as most doctors do not know or can’t fathom, what we experience each day of our lives trying to cope with our many symptoms.
Thank you for all your help and the help of other thyroid sufferers.
HI EVERYONE,
Ilove the resolutions that the doctors need to make for the new yr. This is right on target. I also want to thank Geri Olbermann for sharing about her bad doctors. Good for you to fire both of them! I have alot of horror stories too. There are some good doctors but most of them are no good.
My favorite doctor resolutions are 5 & 6 about the Dr. & his staff being courteous & all that good stuff. So man doctors ignore it when their staff or other medical people are downright rude & even abusive. I went in for a procedure which needed a Iv & she could not find my vein & was actually flicking her fingers on my wrist veins (very painful) & slapping my hands real hard. I said “that hurts” & was ignored! When I brought this up to the Dr. he said he was sorry. I told him you should not have people like that working for you. He didn’t seem the type to have any (you know what) to deal with the problem.
Mary, I really appreciate you alot. This site is very helpful & informative. I am still very ill with no set diagnoses for over 5 yrs. now. It is frustrating to see & feel my health deteriorating with no answers yet but this site gives me something constructive to do.
I want to tell everyone not to give up & keep trying to get answers & help. It is hard to deal with. These medical schools need to add extra classes for doctors & other medical jobs in how to treat patients with respect & care. Thanks again, Geri for sharing your comments. I hope that everyone has a healthy new yr.! Love & Best Wishes, Judy K.
I had some horrible “schmendrick” doctors in Kansas City who were only interested in that pastrami sandwich at lunchtime (along with worrying about the shrinking dollar). This was in the late 60’s. One of them gave me 1875 roentgens of “acne therapy” and the other destroyed part of my thyroid because he thought my stomach problems (from milk and margarine consumption) and my complaining would disappear. Luckily, in Cincinnati, a heavy sugar craving sent me to an endocrinologist and after several tests a nonfunctioning thyroid with a benign neoplasm was removed. It’s a wonder I can control my weight, but I was able to “finagle” a functional hypoglycemic diet from the doctor I was seeing (my internist). One of his office staff found this exchange diet which shows it is from the American Dietetic Association, although I would like a current one. From Cincinnati, this one could be years old. But it seems to work fine. As for Kansas City doctors, if I would have a major problem, and especially if they are going to make me a “guinea pig” I will do like one of the former mayors–go someplace out of town like the Cleveland Clinic.