Is Your Doctor’s Gift Of Gab Hurting Your Health?
Some doctors try to establish a more personal relationship with you by talking about themselves, their own health problems, their family members, even their political beliefs.
Could their good intentions be bad medicine?
In a recent study by the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, actors posed as patients in secretly recorded medical visits to test this theory.
The researchers expected that chatty doctors would encourage patients to open up about their own problems. Supposedly, this would give the doctor valuable information to help in treating their patients.
But The Results Were Quite Different…
Out of 113 patient visits with primary care physicians, the doctors revealed personal information 34% of the time.
None of these personal disclosures were focused on the patient. In fact, 85% were considered useless and 11% were actually disruptive.
Part of the problem may be today’s shortened office visits.
If a doctor interrupts the flow of your complaints with information about himself, the researchers found that 79% of the time, the conversation never returned to your problems.
So instead of helping you, the doctor may actually hurt you by failing to address your concerns.
Sometimes, The Doctors Were Just Selfish…
They were looking to have their own needs met… like when they complained about workplace stress or financial problems.
In those cases, the researchers suggested that doctors use support groups, not patient visits, to take care of their own needs.
I’ve occasionally noticed some one-upmanship when I’ve gone to a doctor.
One time, I had pain in my right side from my appendix.
Instead of trying to figure out what was wrong with me, the doctor kept telling me about pain he’d once experienced from a kidney stone.
He said I couldn’t possibly have anything serious until I’d had the kind of pain where you can’t move — like his kidney stone pain.
He never did diagnose me correctly. But I did feel his pain when I got the bill.
The researchers say this type of disruptive behavior occurs about 11% of the time. I say don’t pay the bill and see how quickly that 11% goes to zero.
But Usually, They Were Just Trying To Help…
In most cases, the doctors were genuinely trying to build better relationships with their patients through self-disclosure.
The problem was that their comments had nothing to do with their patients.
The researchers concluded that self-disclosures from doctors are ultimately misguided — and bad medicine.
Instead, they believe physicians should show compassion and understanding toward their patients as a means to deepen the doctor-patient relationship.
That way, you not only feel more trusting of your doctor, but you receive better health care, too.
Personally, I’d settle for the right diagnosis, the right treatment, and a bill that doesn’t bankrupt me — all on the first visit. Beyond that, I don’t care what the doctor talks about.
But that’s just me. What do you think?
Technorati Tags: doctors, health care
July 9th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I feel more open to talking with a doctor who’s not cold toward me. But if they just blab about themselves sometimes that’s too much information for me. I don’t want to get too personal with a doctor, but I don’t want them to be a stone either.
July 9th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
I don’t want to hear a doctor complain about money or their personal situation when I’m there for a medical problem that they’re charging me money for.But I don’t mind a little chatter as long as my problem gets taken care of the right way.
July 9th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
If I’ve been going to a doctor for a long time like my old family doctor who knew everything about me and my family members, then I feel like I’m talking to an old friend in a way and I don’t mind gabbing with someone like that. But if I’m referred to a specialist for a serious problem, I want to get to it without a lot of talking about unimportant things. It depends on the situation and whether my health problems are being taken seriously. If I’m just there for something simple like a bad poison ivy rash or a simple sinus infection, it’s okay to talk because they’re not going to screw that up. But if I have something more serious, I want the focus on me.
July 9th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I would have thought the doctors who chatted with their patients were the better doctors. Next time I visit my doctor, I’ll make sure we don’t get too far off the subject of what I’m there for. I always take a list of questions with me anyway or I’ll forget what I wanted to ask.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
As long as they make me feel better, that’s good enough for me.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
At least they’re trying. But the problem is really time. Everything’s so rushed there’s not enough time to talk about everything unless you have a really minor problem.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
I go to a group of doctors where you never seem to see the same doctor twice. That makes it hard to establish a personal relationship no matter how much they talk to you and try to make a personal connection. Medicine is such big business that the personal touch would be nice. But it’s superficial at best most of the time.
I agree with Stephanie that at least they’re trying. But they need to address the real problems of time and really getting to know your doctor and he or she getting to know you. As long as we get rushed through with a new doctor who knows nothing about our history, personalized medicine is a myth.
July 9th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
My doctor doesn’t talk that much. He just gets the job done.
July 9th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I used to like talking to my old doctor because he really understood my medical history and what I was willing to do. I don’t like a lot of unnecessary tests and medicine.
When I changed jobs, I had to change doctors because of my managed care plan. The doctor I have now doesn’t understand me and doesn’t try to. He just tells me what to do without listening to what I have to say. I guess it’s not so much about the doctor talking as about him listening.
July 10th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I’d say something, but it would be about me