Now,
what did the doctor say again? Did she say I had anaphylaxis?
Aphasia? Anosmia? Or was it anemia? A doctor's visit
can be a daunting and confusing experience, especially when the patient walks
out with a diagnosis he or she had never heard of before. And wading through the
thousands upon thousands of health-related internet sites isn't very helpful if
a patient can't remember whether the doctor offered a diagnosis of sciatica or
scoliosis. That shouldn't be a problem, though, for
the patients of Dr Mark Belfer and the other doctors at Akron General's Center
for Family Medicine, in Akron, OH, because these patients now leave with "education
prescriptions." These prescriptions look much like a
regular prescription, but instead of a medication, the education prescription
includes the name of the condition or disease, along with seven websites where
patients can learn more about it. In the waiting room, three computers are set
up to let patients visit those seven sites — and only those seven sites. "Physicians
don't have a lot of time to spend educating patients during an office visit,''
Dr Belfer said. "They can come out here, sit down, get some information. It's
all free. It's easy to access. It's easy to understand. Every physician would
love to sit down and talk with each patient for 15 to 20 minutes, but because
of the large numbers of patients who come in, it's very difficult to do that.'' SCARY
DATA — AND WRONG
Even when doctors have the time to sit and explain
a new condition, it can be tough for patients to absorb the information. That's
where the internet can come in handy. A 2005 study found that 57% of patients
say they talk to their doctors about the information they find online. The
problem is, the information isn't always accurate. A
2001 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that
only 45% of websites contained completely accurate information. Yet
another study, in a 1999 issue of the journal Cancer, pointed out that
different websites produced a wide — and extremely inaccurate — range
of survival statistics for Ewings' sarcoma, a rare tumour found in young adults.
Some websites reported a survival rate of just 5%, while others reported —
correctly — a survival rate of 70 to 75%. That's
why the computers at Akron General are restricted to seven sites: www.familydoctor.org,
www.webmd.com, www.cdc.gov,
www.lamaze.org, www.mypyramid.gov,
www.everydaychoices.org,
www.akrongeneral.org/myhealth
and www.akronchildrens.org. Of
course, patients are free to do more wide-reaching searches at home or at the
library. "I'm not here to spoon-feed them," Dr Belfer
said. "What happens if they go out and find something different? That can certainly
happen. What if they come back and say, 'How come you're not treating me with
this?' That's OK. A well-educated patient, to me, is a real asset. They become
a partner in their own care." Reprinted with permission
from the Beacon Journal
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Get
the most out of your doctor visit
Dr Paul Lecat,
an associate professor of internal medicine at the Northeastern Ohio Universities
College of Medicine, offers some advice for getting the most out of your doctor's
visit: - Few doctor's appointments last more
than 10 or 15 minutes, so if you have more than one or two issues to discuss with
the doctor, ask for a longer appointment when you schedule the visit.
- Tell
the doctor why you're there right away. "People with serious complaints will often
wait until the last minute to bring it up. You'll have your hand on the doorknob,
ready to leave the room, when the patient says, 'Oh, by the way, I have this big
mass in my abdomen I wanted to talk to you about,'" Dr Lecat says.
- Be
honest. If you didn't follow doctor's orders or didn't take a medication that
was prescribed, tell the doctor. With medication, for example, a doctor might
assume that the dosage was too low and increase it in a new prescription, which
could lead to disastrous results when you begin taking the medication.
- Sometimes,
doctors need to be reminded to slow down. Ask doctors about their families or
their hobbies. The conversation may take only 30 seconds, but it will help develop
a personal relationship between the doctor and patient. "It makes the visit a
lot more personal," Dr Lecat says. "It gives the doctor something to remember
you by."
- If you can't connect or communicate effectively
with your doctor, find a new one. "You really need the kind of relationship with
a doctor that fosters trust," Dr Lecat says. "You should be able to tell or ask
your doctor anything."
- In the end, though, keep in mind
that most diseases and conditions are complex, Dr Lecat says.
- "To
expect to emerge from the exam room after a 10-minute discussion and think you're
going to completely understand a disease is pretty unrealistic."
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