Stepping into the healthcare system these days can be a dangerous journey. Medical errors fill the news all the time. And worse yet, patients are often denied the care they need. Many doctors, they feel, don’t listen or care. Others appear to be gaming the system for profit. But, it remains my opinion that most doctors really do care about their patients and want to do the best for them. Repeatedly, our attempts to give the highest level of medical acumen to our patients is thwarted by many hurdles including pre-authorizations, insurance denials, non-covered medications, time-consuming regulations that sap our time and on and on. The best way to avoid many of these obstacles and to ensure saving lives is by means of empowering patients.
Not infrequently, I treat patients who don’t know the names of the medications they are taking or why they are taking them. Time and again, I hear patients tell me they are taking a “little white pill”. This can be dangerous on many levels. In my experience, many patients are taking duplicate medications because they are taking the generic and brand name equivalent at the same time without realizing it. Taking twice the dose of any medication can cause disastrous complications. To start with, patients need to empower themselves by taking control of their own health. If they do not know their medications or diagnoses, they will never be able to achieve this. Doctors are there to help but we cannot be in charge of the patients’ health: patients must be. Doctors cannot make decisions for patients. We can offer our best advice and give all our medical knowledge and experience. But, we do not know our patients’ wishes unless they tell us. While one medication may be great for most of my patients, there may be some who object to it for whatever reason. Speak up and tell me. I am here to prescribe the best medication for you, not the best one I feel comfortable prescribing. If you don’t understand why the doctor is prescribing a medication or ordering a test, ask. How can you give informed consent without complete understanding? Like I mentioned, if patients want the best healthcare, they must lead the charge on their own behalves.
While it may be easier to take authority of your own personal health knowledge, limitations are still placed into the medical care patients can receive. When you and your doctor decide on a treatment plan, what happens when the insurance companies denies the test or medication? Frequently, the staff at the doctor’s office appeals it and spends countless time on the phone and doing paperwork. Patients need to fight back too. It is easy to complain about the broken system, but it will stay broken if we continue to allow it to steam roll over us. Doctors and patients need to fight these decisions jointly. It is frustrating and time-consuming, but there is no hope of change if we remain mute. Coverage for these services must be demanded by doctors and patients alike. Unless these third parties feel our mutiny, they will continue to care only about their bottom lines.
How will empowered patients save lives?
-By knowing every faucet of their health, they will make better healthcare decisions leading to better outcomes.
-When more people raise their voices and fight for medical care, patients will get the medical care they deserve. Delays waiting for prior-authorizations often cause diseases to be diagnosed later. For most diseases, the sooner they are diagnosed, the better the clinical outcome.
-Patients should raise their voices and obligate those in power to give them the system they want. When patients are better able to navigate the system, they will seek care sooner and follow though more readily.
-When patients take ownership of their health, the best advocates are stepping up for them: themselves. No one will care about them more than they do.
As we watch, the system is deteriorating in front of our faces. Patients are being harmed and doctors are burning out in the attempt to help. It is time to save lives again. Empowering patients to the task is the means to do this and doctors are here to help.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Linda Girgis, MD, FAAFP
