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Dr Shapiro completed his undergraduate education at UC San Diego earning a B S in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a B A in Political Science He furthered his education at UCLA where he earned a Masters Degree in Public…
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How Does Your Physician Communicate with You?
Having that brief opportunity to sit outside in less than 100 degree heat yesterday, I had the opportunity to clear off some old text messages and emails from my cell-phone. Now, for me, this is something I thoroughly enjoy as I compare it to cleaning the house or washing the car...it just happens to be on a smaller scale. But while in the midst of my purging session, I began thinking of the variety of methods I can communicate with my patients...and my patients (and their families) can communicate with me. And while I am not here to speak on behalf of all physicians, I certainly believe there is a place for newer technology to simplify our communicative efforts. But, as you will soon read, even I have to set some limits, as well.
Office phone: Yes, the old-fashioned way. During the work-day, still the most efficient as even though I may be busy with patients, my office staff is well-equipped to handle any situation and triage each call appropriately. If I need to be called out of a room immediately, then I will be. But during the work-day and a question of whether a child needs to be seen or more immediate direction is needed, a phone call to the office is the way to go. Now after hours, any phone calls go to our on-call physician. For my small group, we use a phone messaging system but others employ an operator controlled forwarding center. Other groups hire a nursing triage system using the physicians only for back-up. But regardless of the system, if you have a midnight concern that you fill cannot wait until the AM, then call the office phone and follow the directions.
Email: Frankly, I love this way. Now I do make things clear with my patients and their families that if it is an issue that requires my immediate attention then a phone call to the office is in order. But for a general question or just an update which I requested of the parents, sending an email is great. It saves time for both the family and myself and I believe gives the patients and their families a personal connection with me. And I tell them I will return each email by the end of the day unless the email comes in at 11:30 PM, when it will have to wait until the next morning as at that time, I'm hopefully catching up on some much needed shut eye.
Cell phone: Or whatever you want to call the "direct phone". Myself, I feel emailing makes me quite accessible so the direct phone at this point is not necessary. If it's an immediate concern, a phone call to the office line is the way to go (see above)...during or after office hours.
Twitter: Yes, I twitter and even my office tweets, as well. This is not necessarily a means for my patients' families to communicate with me but an opportunity for me to simply keep them updated. I've tweeted about topics ranging from developmental milestone tips to current medical issues, such as the H1N1 influenza. But one thing I do not routinely do is follow the tweets of my families.
Texting: Although this method would simplify things to a core, I'm not ready for this. I always identify texting with immediate gratification which implies an immediate response is needed. And if that's the case, a phone call to the office phone is the way I currently prefer.
So how would you prefer to be in touch with your doc?
Dr. Jeremy
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Displaying comments 22-3 of 22
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my daughters pcp is easily accessable thru email and a phone call. i get immediate response from emails and a call back sometime during the same day with a call to the office. she has gone out of her way to check on my daughter on several occasions. i really appreciate my daughters doctor!
my daughters crohns specialist office sucks...the specialist is amazing!!! their voice mail always answers and the message says to expect a call back with in 3-5 business days and it says dont leave multiple messages...THANKFULLY, the specialist offered me her email address, if its important i will use the email address and always get an immediate response! if its something like refills for something not so urgent, i will call the office and wait for a call back, which usually takes about 5-7 days.
all of our doctors always call back with test results, whether good or not so good, im glad for that!
God Bless
chip
I fear, if the legislation before congress is passed, long waits will be even longer. If medical care is set up like the old HMOs like the early 80's, where doctors are paid contract amounts to care for a group of people (say $25.00 a month for 200 people), there is no incentive to speed up. Why work hard. See 8 patients a day and call it done.
Another option, though not as desirable, is like Mexico and some other countries. Antibiotics and many other Rx meds here, are available OTC from a pharmacist leaving the doctor out of the loop.
I feel safe and they go above and beyond.
She is not the only one...my pulmonary doc gives me 5 to 6 minutes...primary doc gives me the most time which is 10 minutes. But I NOTICED he never follows up or does anything he promises me he will do. I've been calling my oncologist office for months because I'm very concerned about my lungs...they take the message and say my oncologist will call me back but she never does. You can't get in touch with her by email or any other way...I've tried!!! I can send a actually letter and send it "return reciept" to make sure someone signs for it...then and ONLY then will she get back to me.
Doctors today, thanks to the HMO'S...they have gotten inbetween the doctor/patient relationship and ruined it for all of us. Profit over patient. They don't have time for any of us. Rush you in and get you out as fast as possible...and then they pray you don't darn ask them questions or try to get ahold of them. If its serious they tell you to go to emergency which is always a joke. You sit there for 10 hrs only to be checked out and then told to follow up with your regular doctor asap. I could go on for days...but its all been said here.
But I admire you as a doctor that geninuely cares about your patients and you make sure you are accessible. Your one in a million doctor. :)
Bless you!
Chelee
they get upset if you're a few min. late but will put you in a little room to wait for them to come in an hour later n see you for 4min 32 seconds, I've had better service from fast food restaurants & auto parts stores.
the doc me n my wife have now gets mad if my wife listens to the specialist surgeon instead of her, she's not even a doc legaly, she's a nurse practitioner. we can't find a doc here who's taking on new patients so were stuck with this lady.!, I could go on for hours talkin about bad experiences with ppl in the med field.
we have to be on the verge of dying before we'll go to a hospitol here in owensboro ky. the wait to get into the 'EMERGENCY' room is usualy 6 to 10 hours unless u go in an ambulance & you still wait about 3 hours after you're on the bed with your EMERGENCY,
for many yrs I avoided the medical field cause of all the BS.
docs insisting I get a 'flu shot', lol it's been quite a few yrs since I had the flu, why should I waste my cash on it? I'm better off buying $25.00 in lottery tickets than payin same price for a shot I don't need, anyways whiskey is a cheaper shot & it works better than the flu shot!
communication with doctors? it's easier talking to a drunk on the street!!!!!!!!
Once I remember calling after hours because my legs were swelling, and reached the doctors answering service. When the On Call doctor called me back, he was so rude and unbelievably unkind.He was one of those we fired.
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Bill D.