More woes of telephone medicine. “A night call from a patient who complained of back pain. The doctor quickly established the pain was an old problem and asked the patient if he could leave the consultation until the next morning. The patient agreed but later had a mild myocardial infarction. He had not had time to report his chest pain. The researchers urge doctors to consider the possibility of a hidden concern, especially during a late night call and to give patients time to explain their chief complaint. Asking: ‘Is there anything else you want me to know about?’ can be used to uncover potentially important information.”

Is the best way to prevent such sue-worthy scenarios is just to send everyone to the ER after hours?

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Tagged as: patient, primary care