Patients get a Voice

Lauren Ellerman

Contributor

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Our business has made everyone in our office, opinionated on health care. What I mean is that we are proactive - ask questions of our physicians, get second opinions, question medications, research procedures and hospitals. Some would say this is a luxury, but it shouldn't be. Patients should be in charge of their own health care.

Washington Post writer Shannon Brownless reports increase in patient involvement with their own care:

She writes:

family practitioners in Fairfax, make sure their patients have a chance to learn about the pros and cons of various procedures before undergoing them.

The doctors at Fairfax Family Practice aren't acting just out of goodwill. They're part of a trend called shared decision-making that is just beginning to catch on around the country. It is aimed at filling the gaps in knowledge that patients routinely face when their doctors either don't know about or don't fully explain the uncertainties of a test or a proposed course of treatment. And, by helping patients understand their options, often with the help of informational aids such as booklets and videos, shared decision-making aims to leave patients more satisfied with their choices while it cuts back on debatable (and expensive) procedures.

Well that is good news... Talk to your patients - if they know why something is being done, don't you think they will be more satisfied with the care? Less likely to call our firm? So my advice is to patients - be proactive. Get second opinions. Discuss procedures - ask who will be in surgery, who will not. The more you know, the better it will be for everyone.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.