As a mother of three children, I want the best health care possible for my family. This means that when we go to the doctor’s office, it is vital to communicate openly with our doctor, so that we can get the best results possible. I really enjoyed watching the video with Laurri Diener, mother of 3 children. She talked about waking up in the middle of the night with chest pains and was worried there was something wrong with her heart. She went to one doctor and he said there was nothing wrong with her heart. She also felt like this doctor wasn’t really “listening” to her concerns. She then went to another doctor for a second opinion. After listening to Laurri’s concerns, she was diagnosed with acid reflux.
Have you been to a doctor who didn’t seem to “listen” to your health concerns and didn’t really “answer” your question? Well, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has launched a new initiative with the Ad Council to encourage clinicians and patients to engage in effective two-way communication to ensure safer care and better health outcomes.
Like any other parent (or individual) out there, I know that by having better communication with my doctor, the right diagnosis and treatment can be assigned, so that I can sleep more and worry less.
For more information, be sure to check out a newly published Wall Street Journal article covering the news. Further, the full series of new public service videos featuring real clinicians and patients can be found HERE.
You can also check out the AHRQ YouTube site HERE.
I received no compensation for writing this post. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.
Enter your email address:
THanks for posting this Shannon. I cant believe they are FINALLY doing something to help with communication. I have dealt with this many times…with one child having strep for weeks because a doctor didn’t think a child under two could have it, another son sick with pneumonia for weeks and having reoccuring asthma attacks and all went untreated and undiagnosed. And then of course me going undiagnosed with Lyme Disease for half a year and now being disabled from the repercussions. All because people and doctors think doctors know it all and forget this IS a parntership for health and that we as medical CONSUMERS should always push for this…ask questions, read read read, and remember that pushing for good care can mean the difference between good and poor health for you and your family. So glad the mindset is changing.
This is so true. I recently had something like this happen with a doctor and my son. My regular pediatrician was out and the one that was covering for her said my little guy was just fine. Come to find out when we went back for the same symptoms 6 months later, he was very anemic and should have been put on a substantial iron supplement at the last appointment! He wasn’t listening to what I was saying and really not providing us the guidance we needed. We should always follow our gut.