Myra, 42, suffers from a degenerative nerve disease and moves around in a wheelchair. However, two of her physicians decided within the last year to join other existing practices in order to trim costs.
Unfortunately, when she tried to follow each of them, she encountered a common problem: accessible doctors' offices. The first specialist now practiced on the first floor of a low-rise building. However, she hunted for half an hour for a parking place and found none big enough for her van.
The second practitioner had accessible parking, but Myra was unable to maneuver through the outside door to his office building, let alone make it to the 12th floor.
There comes a time for many patients when it's time to dump the doctor.
A recent Forbes article points out that while most executives know when it's time to can an employee, most people have a much harder time evaluating their doctors' performance. Here are 10 tips for figuring out whether to issue your physician a pink slip:
1. No teamwork: Is it easy to talk to your doctor? Do your messages get delivered? If the practice has a pre-recorded message stating all tests results will be mailed and not to expect them for six weeks, you might want to look elsewhere for care. This also applies when the physician's assistant, nurse or medical assistant promises time and again to mail you a prescription after the doctor has signed it but fails to do so. Do you experience errors in billing or delays in submitting correct claims to your health insurance company?
2. Personality clashes: Sometimes doctor and patient just don't match. You have a sense of humor but he doesn't. Do you feel at the end of each appointment that the doctor just plain doesn't like you? Then it's time to take your business elsewhere.
3. Experience: If your doctor suggests a certain new treatment for your condition or you bring one up, does he have the experience to pull it off? New and improved medical procedures can bring wonderful results, but only from a doctor who has done them prolifically. It he suggests treatments that don't even seem related to your condition, say goodbye.
4. No e-mail address: While some patients are content dealing with medical practices by telephone or fax, others feel uncomfortable if they can't reach their physicians via e-mail. It would be unrealistic for the majority of patients to expect a doctor to volunteer his or her personal e-mail address. However, many practices do have accounts to which you can submit questions.
5. Language skills: When English isn't your native language, you might need a doctor who's bilingual. If either one of you has to frequently repeat questions or answers to communicate, it's probably time to consider another provider.
6. Lack of information: Do visits feel like pulling teeth? Do you have to initiate questions at every appointment to get information? Does your doctor act resentful or impatient when you try to get information on your disability or treatment?
7. Rushed visits: Do you sense the doctor is always in a hurry, rushing from one patient to the next? Does he write the entire time you're talking? Avoid looking at you? If you expected to be examined but the doctor only talks to you, with one hand on the doorknob, he's rushing.
8. Wait times: Every physician gets behind once in a while due to emergencies. What is the pattern of your visits? Do you sit in the waiting room more than 30 minutes before seeing the doctor at each appointment? Long waits when you're the only patient signal a practice that is out of control.
9. Apologies: An effective doctor doesn't hesitate to apologize when the practices makes an error or inconveniences a patient with or without a disability. If yours can't, there's a problem.
10. Impression at visit end: Do you feel worse at the end of the appointment than you did when you walked through the door? Did you get any resolution to your problem, or was it just dismissed without any meaningful action?
Since individuals with disabilities require long-term treatment, you should also take into consideration the number - if any - of other qualified physicians in your area who could take over your care before sending that farewell message.
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