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在某个诊所看到的: “How to keep sweet with your doctor” - -
The following helpful tips apply to only a few patients who do not seem to understand how a medical practice works.
Time is the essence
Remember that the medical consultation is always time based. In the past, GPs at this practice made appointments at set times, usually seeing 5 or 6 patients per hour.
Unfortunately, our expectations have not always been the same as our patients. That is why, at MMC, we now provide a wide range of timed consultations for your choice. Basically, you may choose any time (in multiples of five minutes) from 5 to 60 minutes. The time is yours to choose, but it also becomes your commitment for which you will be billed.
Plan your visit
1. Give a little thought to your consultation before arriving at the surgery.
Do you need
a quick visit (eg a flu vaccine) – lasting less than 5 minutes
a standard consultation (eg a single complaint), lasting 10 minutes
a long consultation (eg life insurance examination, minor surgical procedure) lasting up to 30 minutes, or
a very long session (eg counselling) lasting 30-60 minutes?
2. Tell the receptionist of your time needs. You may find this hard to decide; but have a go, after all, you are the only person on the planet with the slightest idea of your thoughts.
3. Write down your concerns, in order of importance, before your visit to the doctor. Remember - all your concerns may not be met at the one visit and it is best to deal with the chest pain before the tinea.
4. Try to be clear with your symptoms. Feeling “really crook”, “yuck” or “shit-house” means nothing to anyone. Learn a few words like pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or discomfort, so that your doctor might understand you. You may be asked to undress. In this case, learn to undress and to speak at the same time.
5. Refrain from giving your doctor your diagnosis, he/she might believe you and this could be very dangerous to your health.
6. Bring a friend or family member who can interpret for you, if English is not easy for you.
Things patients must never do:
- The multiple complaints patient. A standard consultation lasts about 10 minutes. It is simply offensive to your doctor to make a list of complaints and services, which would normally take 30-45 minutes to handle, and present these as an expectation of a standard consultation. If your doctor is particularly kind to you, he will provide the requested services and charge a longer consultation rate, but most doctors will ask you to return at another time.
- Multiple patients. Patients making an appointment for one person and then expecting services for others at the same time are deceptive and dishonest and always succeed in upsetting their doctor.
- The ‘just a quick word’ patients, who when gaining access to their doctor then request results of tests, a prescription or two for another family member and a quick blood pressure check “while I’m here”.
Very high fees, usually at twice the quoted rate, apply in these circumstances.
Your receptionist is your friend
Understand the role of the receptionist. They have been asked to follow certain procedures and are not deliberately making life hard for anyone. They are often under considerable pressure, trying to accommodate the needs of both patient and doctor.
We suggest you should
- Smile at our receptionists
- Apologise for the silly comments you made when you rang.
- Give them flowers, chocolates or any appropriate gift, which might help them forget any obnoxious behaviour in the past. Remember that offensive comments to our receptionists are a common reason for patients being denied access to our practice.
Paying your doctor
Some patients think this is not worthwhile or that they can’t afford to pay. We understand. Anyone can make a mistake – once.
You must pay at the time of your visit (cash, credit card) or make a personal representation to your doctor.
Our fee list is available on request, before your consultation or procedure. Failure to pay our fees, without discussion with your doctor, is not a good idea.
Where have all the doctors gone?
The worldwide shortage of doctors, especially here in Australia, often leads to frustration and sometimes anger in patients as they try to consult the doctor of their choice at the time of their choice. More and more, patients are obliged to see a strange doctor, sometimes at a very inconvenient time and to accept medical care which they might not understand and which might appear to be rushed or even dispassionate.
Patients have a right to feel aggrieved as successive governments interfere with the numbers of doctors graduating from medical schools around the country. The undersupply of Australian graduates has been policy for at least twenty years and coincides with a growing dependence on doctors from other countries. This is the prime cause of dissatisfaction in patients and the growing distress of doctors trying to manage their increasing workloads. Successive governments from both sides of the political spectrum have used health policy to achieve our current situation and are responsible for the difficulties experienced by patients and doctors.
Many doctors have closed their patient lists, refusing to accept new patients. Some restrict their hours of work, curtailing certain services (such as home visits) or simply increasing their fees in an effort to discourage people.
With the intention of making the medical consultation more efficient and rewarding for both patient and doctor, the preceding information is offered as advice to patients, considering many doctors have full appointment books many days in advance. |
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