Word: patients
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...introduction of computerized patient information and medication orders is meant to reduce "adverse drug events" and ensure that the patient's history and treatment notes are available to everyone who needs them. But progress does not always equal safety. "Technology should remove the burden, but you can get problems. You can hide behind technology and spend more time talking to your computer than to your patients," says Dr. Albert Wu, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins. "And as with any new thing, people screw things up worse before they make things better." Doctors say there is a temptation...
This is why doctors are reluctant to be hands-off when it comes to a loved one's care. Until proper safeguards are built into the system, what a patient needs most, many doctors agree, is a sentinel--someone to take notice, be an advocate, ask questions. Now that the family doctor has been squeezed out of that role, someone else has to step in. But even a doctor--family member may not be able to counter the complexity of the system. Dr. Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement tells the story of his wife Ann's experience when...
...blind, overweight patient in the wheelchair has terrible pain in her back and burning pain in her legs. She also has advanced arthritis in her knees and end-stage circulatory disease, which have left her with two useless legs that are red, swollen and infected. Now her shoulder has started to hurt. She can't raise her arm to comb her hair. Five or six other things are wrong with her--she tells me about each. Some we can help; most we can't. I tell her as much...
...hardly ever have to repeat myself with Doris (not her real name). She asks questions--mostly good ones. She needs lots of tests, various therapies. I ultimately recommend an operation on her shoulder. Sick, weakened by multiple symptoms and with lousy insurance, Doris is--surprise--a really good patient. She communicates efficiently with her doctors and treats us with respect and trust. She has reasonable expectations. I can tell she looks things up, but her knowledge is helpful--never challenging. I've talked about her with other doctors, and we agree on this: when you see Doris' name on your...
...most compelling reasons to be a good patient are selfish ones. You will get more than free drug samples if your doctor is comfortable and communicates easily with you. You'll get more of the mind that you came for, a mind working better because it's relaxed--recalling and associating freely, more receptive to small, even subliminal clues. That means better medical care. But you should try to be a good patient for unselfish reasons too. We worry about you 60 hours a week. We gave up our 20s for you. Why not show us some love...