10 Signs That You Need a New Doctor
By Mary Shomon, About.com
The decision to find a new doctor is actually more difficult than most
of us might think. The relation****p with a doctor is an intensely
personal one, and it's not easy to find the right match =96 particularly
when we're limited by geography, HMOs and insurance.
Many people also find that they feel a bit intimidated by their
physicians, and once with a doctor, don't feel they have the right to
switch, or worry that they will offend the doctor.
Remember =96 in a doctor-patient relation****p, YOU are the client, and
the doctor is providing a service. And if that service is not meeting
your needs, the best thing you can do for your health is to find the
right doctor who will meet your needs.
This is especially im****tant when you have a chronic health concern
that will keep you returning to your doctor regularly. Your
relation****p with your doctor is the foundation of your health and
well-being. The wrong doctor may make it difficult =96 if not impossible
=96 to return to wellness and optimal health.
How do you know when it's time for a new doctor? Here are some signs.
1. Your doctor doesn't respond to calls or faxes.
Do you find yourself leaving message after message, but not getting a
return call for days?
Are you ending up going several days without thyroid medicine because
your doctor won't approve a refill until you make an appointment?
2. Your doctor's office is unresponsive, disorganized, or rude.
Are you ending up going several days without thyroid medicine because
your doctor's office hasn't called in a refill, despite your
requests?
Are you finding out that the office staff are not getting your
messages to the doctor?
Are the office staffmembers rude on the phone, or in the office?
Does the office regularly make billing mistakes, overcharge you, or
lose paperwork?
Have you ever showed up for a scheduled appointment, only to be told
that there's no record of your appointment?
3. Your doctor dismisses the Internet as a source of quackery and
nonsense.
Does your doctor refuse to look at any information you bring in from
the Internet?
Does your doctor think that everything on the Internet is foolish
quackery, and tell you so?
Is your doctor entirely unaware that the National Library of Medicine,
most major medical journals, and the literature from most professional
medical organizations is on the Internet?
4. Your doctor is unwilling to explore your ideas.
When you bring up a symptom or concern, does your doctor quickly
assume that it's something like =93age, hormones, not enough sleep=94 and
fail to explore other medical causes?
If you request a test for a particular condition, does your doctor say
=93You don't have that condition,=94 and refuse to order a test?
If you asked for a different drug, or a new drug for your condition,
does your doctor usually refuse, without a reasonable explanation?
5. Your doctor is interested in selling expensive products or
services.
Do you always leave your doctor's office with bottles and jars of
vitamins, supplements, powders and potions, and books, videos or other
materials that set you back several hundred dollars, and that the
doctor claims you can only get from him/her?
Does your doctor regularly recommend remedies that only he or she
sells?
Does your doctor regularly recommend costly treatments, provided at
his or her office, that are not covered by your insurance?
Do you find surprises in your bill, and charges that you don't
understand, and can't get decently explained?
6. Your doctor doesn't listen.
Does your doctor pop in and out of the examining room or office to
take phone calls while you are having an appointment?
Does your doctor sit at his or her desk and read, go through mail, or
type on the computer while you are having an appointment?
Do you find that your doctor is asking you the same questions over and
over, indicating that he or she doesn't remember what you've said?
7. Your doctor doesn't see the bigger picture.
Does your doctor view each appointment independently, and not remember
symptoms or conditions you've had in the past?
Does your doctor fail to pull our your chart and review your history
for a few moments to look for patterns in symptoms?
Do you get the feeling like your doctor never has read your chart or
history?
8. Your doctor is influenced by a pharmaceutical company.
Does your doctor have mousepads, pens, pencils, prescription pads,
calendars, mugs, patient information literature, wall charts and
posters, and other paraphernalia with drug or pharmaceutical company
logos plastered on them?
Does your doctor refuse to allow you to switch to competing brands of
drugs, but fails to provide a rational reason other than =93this drug is
just better?=94
Cont'd
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