Post Author: Kevin R.R. Williams

Does an HMO hinder the efforts of concierge doctors to address patient needs?

Patient
January 11, 2022

A man discovers an unsettling sight during a bathroom visit. It leads to a sequence of rapid medical events with laggard resolution.

“Jillian Palmer” is an independent bakery chef. She shares a sample-size blueberry pie with a personal friend, “Jack Timbal.” His family has purchased many large pans from Jillian before with much appreciation. This small pie is large enough for three servings.

Despite cutting back on desserts in recent weeks, Jack …

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Here’s why your patients disregard prescriptions

Patient
August 26, 2019

Take one-half tablet three times per day with meals, increasing by half each week until reaching a maximum of three tablets three times per day.

Did you get a new prescription from your doctor? If so, there is a 50 percent chance you will not adhere to label directions. Either the instructions are too complicated, the drugs are too expensive, you do not like the way the medicine makes you feel …

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Bilateral empathy lowers patient expectations

Patient
June 24, 2018

Generally speaking, patients and physicians are working towards good health. While many patient expectations can be unreasonable, others are practical; this article amalgamates them. Can you identify the absurd demands?

But multiply half of the listed expectations by hundreds or thousands of patients, and we begin to understand why there is such a high rate of physician burnout. Bilateral empathy lowers expectations.

Bedside manner. Don’t accept a walk-in patient and leave us waiting …

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How do physicians cope with the emotional aspects of death?

Patient
March 2, 2013

I have the paradoxical privilege of being an emergency medical contact for dozens of people. Have you completed a healthcare medical directive with durable power of attorney? While reviewing a DPA with others, I strive to understand their choices in delicate life-or-death situations. This has me confronting death more often than many people.

They still talk to me

Triggered by seemingly insignificant events, fond memories of friends and relatives enter my mind …

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How entertainment has altered our desire for diagnosis

Patient
November 22, 2012

I remember, some years ago, sitting with a relative across a large wooden desk in a doctor’s private office. We discussed symptoms for half an hour during an initial consultation. On a different occasion, I recall another doctor pinning an MRI on the wall, circling an area and articulating exactly why the radiologist overlooked a diagnosis. There once was a doctor who stood bedside, outlining what was known, what was baffling and …

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