Shout it from the rooftops Alana! I can’t stress enough how important this message is. Don’t just go along with what a physician tells you or what your insurance is willing to cover if you aren’t comfortable with a treatment or diagnosis. I have seen so many disastrous consequences from patients who didn’t realize they had options.

I have told an emergency room physician who was trying to get me to sign discharge papers for my teen who was in agonizing pain that they would need to call the police to get me to leave. 3 hours later she was rushed into emergency gall bladder removal surgery after I refused to leave and insisted on an abdominal CT that was “Not covered by insurance.” You must advocate for yourself and your family in our broken healthcare system.

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The essence of health care success, to me, is the development of trust- from both the patient and from the physician/dentist/provider. And of course that trust needs to be earned within some sort of relationship! If a person comes to me in a deeply distrustful state, I really can’t be of much use to them!

Of course, but how many lone practitioners do you know in medicine anymore. Group practice and corporate hospital systems tends to promote profit over fostering relationships with patients. I have heard this complaint from my long time OB as well as MD friends.

This is true my oldest son has many medical problems. It is hard to find Doctors that can be trusted and listen to him as he knows himself well. It seems that that most think that a medication will cure everything.

I’m old enough to remember when my PCP had a name, currently my PCP is a clinic.