reasons why patient report they don't receive help as soon as they wanted

by Olen Wilkinson Jr. 8 min read

When Patients Refuse Treatment - Duke Health Referring …

3 hours ago  · Patient harm is often not reported or filed in formal complaints due to: trauma, disability, or lack of understanding of patient harm and bureaucracy. >> Go To The Portal


Why do patients report not taking their medications?

They may have also experienced previous side effects with the same or similar medicine. Additionally, patients report not taking their medication because they may have witnessed side effects experienced by a friend or family member who was taking the same or similar medication.

What happens if your doctor doesn’t have access to your health information?

Depending on what you’re visiting your doctor for, you might not receive the most comprehensive, necessary treatment if your provider doesn’t have access to crucial information on your overall health.

Why do patients hold back information from doctors?

- Patients commonly hold back information from doctors that could help in their healthcare, which could influence the care they receive or even harm them, researchers say. - Patients commonly hold back information from doctors that could help in their healthcare, which could influence the care they receive or even harm them, researchers say.

Why would you withhold information from a doctor?

The majority said they withheld the fact that they disagreed with the doctor’s recommendations or that they didn’t understand the doctor’s instructions. The most common reasons for nondisclosure included not wanting to be judged or lectured, not wanting to hear how harmful a particular behavior is, and being embarrassed.

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Why do patients not follow up?

Three interconnected themes emerged from the interviews as barriers to appointment attendance: emotional barriers, perceived disrespect of the patient's beliefs and time by the health care system, and distrust and lack of understanding of the scheduling system.

How would you deal with a patient who is not satisfied with the care they received?

Empathy is and will almost always be key when it comes to successfully handling a patient that is dissatisfied with their care. Keep in mind that your patient is a person, he or she may not feel well or just received a new diagnosis. You'll always want to be empathetic, never make assumptions, or get defensive.

What are error reporting systems?

Reporting systems that focus on safety improvement are "voluntary reporting systems." The focus of voluntary systems is usually on errors that resulted in no harm (sometimes referred to as "near misses") or very minimal patient harm.

What happens if a patients expectations are not met?

Not meeting expectations can also result in non-compliance or suboptimal compliance and affect physicians' reputation in a community. Patients with unmet expectations may never complain to the physician directly but instead they just will not return for ongoing and follow-up care.

What situations may lead to patient dissatisfaction?

Top Reasons for Patient Dissatisfaction Wait time in waiting room. Wait time in exam room. Promptness for returning calls. Waiting for test to be performed.

What should patient's be told when they have a grievance regarding any part of care provided to them?

When patients have a grievance regarding any part of the care provided to them, they should be told about the process or policy involved in how to file a complaint. A patient is entitled to see their records as well as receive an itemized bill for healthcare services provided.

Why do medical errors go unreported?

The main reasons mentioned for underreporting were lack of effective medical error reporting system (60.0%), lack of proper reporting form (51.8%), lack of peer supporting a person who has committed an error (56.0%), and lack of personal attention to the importance of medical errors (62.9%).

What are the 4 elements you should try to get when reporting an adverse event to patient safety?

The minimum dataset required to consider information as a reportable AE is indeed minimal, namely (1) an identifiable patient, (2) an identifiable reporter, (3) product exposure, and (4) an event.

What is the most common type of incident reporting event?

medication incidentsThe most common types were medication incidents (29%), falls (14%), operative incidents (15%) and miscellaneous incidents (16%); 59% seemed preventable and preventability was not clear for 32%. Among the potentially preventable incidents, 43% involved nurses, 16% physicians and 19% other types of providers.

Why is it important to consider the role of patient expectations in the health care process?

The importance of understanding patient expectations of health care is being increasingly recognized. Expectations can significantly influence health outcomes (1), including the effects of medical treatment such as cardiac surgery (2), joint replacement (3), and chemotherapy(4).

Why is it important to manage patient expectations?

Summary. Patients and doctors will always have different perspectives, but being aware of this will mean you can anticipate concerns and prevent them from arising, which can improve patients' confidence in the care you provide.

How do you handle challenging patients?

7 Tips for Handling Difficult PatientsDon't Get Defensive. ... Watch Your Body Language. ... Let Them Tell Their Story and Listen Quietly. ... Acknowledge the Situation. ... Set Boundaries. ... Administer Patient Satisfaction Surveys. ... Be Proactive.

Why do patients miss appointments?

Previous research indicates patients who miss appointments tend to be younger2,8–11and of lower socioeconomic status.2,11They often have a history of failed appointments,2government-provided health benefits,9,10and psychosocial problems.12They are also less likely to understand the purpose of the appointment.8No-show rates increase with increasing time between scheduling and the actual appointment.3,10,11,13Longer waiting times have been shown to be related to lower satisfaction,14,15which, in turn, leads to less reliable appointment keeping.16

Why did participants not feel obligated to keep a scheduled appointment?

Participants did not feel obligated to keep a scheduled appointment in part because they felt disrespected by the health care system. The effect of this feeling was compounded by participants’ lack of understanding of the scheduling system.

What is the impact of scheduling clinic appointments?

Patients who schedule clinic appointments and fail to keep them have a negative impact on patient care, productivity, and learning opportunities .1–4The financial impact is not relieved by same-day appointments.1The size of the problem varies,3,5,6but an average of 42% of appointments become no-shows.7

Who provided human subjects approval?

The University of Nebraska Medical Center Institutional Review Board provided human subjects approval. Each subject was provided with a description of the study, informed of the right to not participate, and given an alias.

Can self-resolving symptoms result in missed appointments?

Likewise, self-resolving symptoms resulted in missed appointments. Ms. Y explained, “If it isn’t a dire need to get into the doctor’s office …, then people forget about it…. My feet swelling, when they’re swollen it was on my mind, but as soon as the swelling went down, then I forgot about it .”

Why do patients hold back information from doctors?

(Reuters Health) - - Patients commonly hold back information from doctors that could help in their healthcare, which could influence the care they receive or even harm them, researchers say.

Why do people not disclose their health information?

The most common reasons for nondisclosure included not wanting to be judged or lectured, not wanting to hear how harmful a particular behavior is, and being embarrassed. In both groups, women, younger participants and those who rated their own health as poor were more likely to say they withheld information.

What types of information do participants have avoided telling a health care provider?

The researchers primarily asked whether participants had “ever avoided telling a health care provider” seven types of information, such as medication use, exercise frequency, unhealthy diet choices, not understanding their doctor’s instructions, disagreeing with their doctor’s recommendations, not taking their prescription as instructed or taking someone else’s prescription medication.

What percentage of Mechanical Turk participants said they had avoided disclosing at least one type of information?

The study team found that 81 percent of the Mechanical Turk participants and 61 percent of the Survey Sampling International participants said they had avoided disclosing at least one type of information. The majority said they withheld the fact that they disagreed with the doctor’s recommendations or that they didn’t understand the doctor’s instructions.

What can clinicians do to help patients?

Or clinicians can help mobilize social resources for patients who need help with housing, food, or addictions—factors that can affect their ability to maintain a treatment regimen, Montori said.

How can health care teams make it easier for patients?

In addition to being more judicious about how many appointments are necessary, the health care team can make it easier for patients by trying to bundle appointments or procedures on the same day , he suggested. Or clinicians can help mobilize social resources for patients who need help with housing, food, or addictions—factors that can affect their ability to maintain a treatment regimen, Montori said.

How does Feldman's work lead to better patient accountability?

Feldman has found that being a caring provider leads to better patient accountability. When prescribing a new treatment, for example, he writes his mobile phone number on a business card and tells his patient to call in three days to report on progress.

Why do people stop taking medication?

Patients may also stop taking a medication if they experience unpleasant side effects, are not seeing any immediate benefit from the therapy, or if they simply grow tired of taking pills.

How many people don't take blood pressure medicine?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in September 2016 that one in four Medicare participants age 65 or older—that’s 5 million people—do not take their blood pressure medicine as directed. In fact, 20 to 30 percent of prescriptions for chronic health conditions are never filled, and about half are not taken as prescribed, ...

How many prescriptions are never filled?

In fact, 20 to 30 percent of prescriptions for chronic health conditions are never filled, and about half are not taken as prescribed, according to the CDC. Patients’ failure to follow their medical treatment regimens is a common and costly problem with potentially dire consequences. A 2012 study in American College of Preventive Medicine found ...

When did Medicare start penalizing hospitals?

Medicare started penalizing hospitals for excess readmission rates of Medicare beneficiaries in fiscal year (FY) 2013 after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed. In the beginning, the program measured readmissions for only three clinical conditions. Since then, Medicare has increased the number of conditions being monitored and may continue to add to the list.

Why is it important to understand why patients don't take their medications?

This will help teams identify and improve patients’ adherence to their medications.

Why do people not take their medication?

Additionally, patients report not taking their medication because they may have witnessed side effects experienced by a friend or family member who was taking the same or similar medication. From seeing those side effects experienced by someone else, it may have led them to believe the medication caused those problems.

How to simplify a patient's dosing schedule?

Physicians can try to simplify a patient’s dosing schedule by adjusting medicines so they can be taken at the same time of day. Choosing long-acting drugs can also help if the dosing burden is too complex. Additionally, if possible, consolidate medicines by using combination products.

What happens if you don't have a true picture of a patient's medication taking behavior?

If you don’t have a true picture of a patient’s medication-taking behavior, you may needlessly escalate their treatment, resulting in potential harm to the patient, unnecessary work for the practice and increased costs overall. Most nonadherence is intentional with patients making a rational decision not to take their medicine based on their ...

How to overcome nonadherence?

If a patient is concerned about becoming dependent on a medicine, it can also lead to nonadherence. One way to overcome this is to improve patient-physician communication. Inadequate communication can account for 55% of medication nonadherence, making it important to understand the patient’s rationale for nonadherence, according to an AMA STEPS Forward™ module on medication adherence.

Why is nonadherence intentional?

Most nonadherence is intentional with patients making a rational decision not to take their medicine based on their knowledge, experience and beliefs. These are the top eight reasons for intentional nonadherence.

Why do patients withhold information?

The desire to not want to engage in a difficult follow-up as well as not wanting this information to be preserved on their medical record were cited as top reasons why patients withheld information.

Who suggested people look to when self-disclosure to a physician may be challenging?

Bea suggested people look to “a trusted friend, partner, or confidant [when] self-disclosure to a physician may be challenging.”

How old was the average respondent in the 2015 survey?

The researchers analyzed responses from more than 4,500 people from two online 2015 national surveys. They varied in age — one survey’s average respondent age was 36, the other had a median age of 61 — and were asked if they ever withheld information from a doctor on these various health threats.

Is it difficult to disclose sensitive health information to doctors?

New research shows that a high number of people who are dealing with some serious, sensitive health issues find it too difficult to disclose this information to their doctors.

Do people who live with depression have to keep their information private?

The new study published in JAMA Network Open shows that people who report they live with depression, are survivors of sexual assault, have faced domestic violence, or have thoughts of suicide, specifically, are more likely to keep this information private from their health providers. The researchers analyzed responses from more than 4,500 people ...

Do people who have depression keep their doctor's information?

A new study found that nearly half of people who live with depression, have faced domestic violence, have thoughts of suicide, or are survivors of sexual assault, are more likely to keep this information from their doctor.

Do vulnerable people trust their doctors?

Sometimes, particularly vulnerable populations don’t always have reason to trust they’ll be well received by their doctors when they come forward with serious, heavily personal information.

What is a complaint on a physician review site?

Another common complaint we’ve seen on physician and practice review sites is from patients who were under the impression a procedure or visit would be covered by insurance, only to later receive a large bill. This nasty surprise taints the entire patient experience—even if, up until that time, it has been positive.

What is the most important aspect of patient care?

As a health care professional , one of the most important aspects of patient care involves listening to and addressing the concerns of those in your care. When patients feel they are not being taken seriously or their distress is ignored, they will leave the practice—often leaving scathing online reviews as they go.

What is medical marketing?

There’s no one “set and forget” digital marketing strategy—instead it’s a careful combination of addressing online reviews, engaging in social media, maximizing your search engine optimization potential and creating new, relevant blog content to establish you as an authority—as well as engaging and educating current and potential patients.

Can lab results be routine?

While the lab results may be routine for you, for many patients, they are anxiously awaiting that call. Or perhaps, one of your patients has a concern about a reaction to certain medication and isn’t sure that it warrants a trip to the doctor.

Is waiting too long a good thing?

Waiting is a fact of life, but it’s never pleasant. Remember that your patients are taking time off of their work schedules and their families to seek treatment. Extended waits are not only frustrating, but it translates into a lack of respect for their time. As a result, the patient is most likely fuming and upset before he or she even enters your exam room.

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