Recently, I had a new patient who kept apologizing prior to asking a question. After discussed her exam and findings and talked about diagnosis and treatment, she started with "I'm sorry to ask, but can I ask a few questions?" To her surprise, I said "Absolutely. Ask as many questions as you want."
She followed that with, "Are you sure? My last doctor seemed to be getting annoyed and frustrated by my questions."
Following, a series of great questions about her diagnosis, what treatment looks like, what her prognosis looks like, and what to expect, she said something that I'll never forget. "I've never been able to speak to a Doctor this long. I really appreciate you letting me ask all my questions."
My response, "Don't ever apologize for asking a question again. That is the point of you being here. To seek answers and learn about what will help and things you can do. The more you understand, the more you trust the process."
The message I want to relay is this, DON'T EVER BE SCARED TO DEMAND MORE TIME FROM YOUR CLINICIAN.
Yes, your insurance-based doctor gets paid on time. So they purposely have to run around and be quick to try and get paid more to see more people. It's not their fault, it's the fault of the system, however, one thing you should never be scared of is asking for more time. Most of you have to wait weeks to months to get into a specialist appointment anyways and then they want to try and rush you out of there? Excuse my French, but that's bullspit.
When most people chose a doctor, it's because they feel they can trust them and that person and can help. Without trust, it is hard to receive help from someone. If you can't trust that a doctor (who is also a human btw) can't take an extra 5 minutes to give you peace of mind by answering questions and helping you understand, then you are in the wrong place and the clinician doesn't understand the human component of healing.
The fact that some people don't feel comfortable asking questions is unbelievable. Now, to be made to feel bad because you had concerns and questions is even worse!
That's why we practice the way we do and ensure our patients genuinely understand what is going one. We show pictures, we show you educational videos, we provide the information in writing via emails or texts. However you learn, we will adapt to make sure you know why we are doing something and what the purpose is moving forward. We joke we quiz our patients about what we do because if they leave the office and someone at home or work asks what we're doing and they don't know, that makes both of us look bad.
"Honey, what did the doctors say about your back pain?"
"They said I had back pain!"
"Well...yeah? But what is your back pain coming from?"
"Oh um...I don't know"
Versus
"Honey, what did the doctors say about your back pain?"
"Well, they said I had a disc issue causing the pain down my leg. The email said my L5-S1 disc is where most of the pain is coming from and going down to my big toe."
Which one sounds like the person understands more?
Which one sounds like the person understands how we can help them more?
Which one do you think will end up with less pain, better movement, and return back to their lifestyle quicker?
It's time to stop wasting your time and energy on clinicians who view you as a paycheck just because they contracted with your insurance company. Invest in those who will invest in you.
Schedule your appointment today at Strengthchiro.com to learn more about how we can help change your life.
-Dr. Cameron Gholampour
