Comments on: Should Patients Be Allowed to Direct Their Own Care?

By: Albert Maruggi

Albert Maruggi — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:53:26 +0000

that is a great analogy. similarly I have retired physicians in my family. I ask them what doctors I should go to, but I also check website just to make sure. I think there are two levels of information, peer to peer that is one patient to another gives you comfort and information from experts, e.g. physicians gives your confidence

I suspect you are supportive of patient comment sites. for example http://www.healthcarescoop.com – it’s where I posted about my experience with kidney stones.

I hope this helps others that might be facing the same procedure https://www.thehealthcarescoop.com/hcs/searchResults.do?cmdField=selectByAuthor&reset=true&authorIdParam=933

But like anything you need to take information with a grain of salt. sorry I didn’t mean to make a pun there about the kidney stones and salt.

all the best

By: Jan Holland

Jan Holland — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:08:09 +0000

In the Netherlands(NW-Europe) the unions of (medical) specialists have defined a number (around 30.000 of Diagnoses-Treatment Combinations (DBC’s in Dutch). They get redefined every 5 years after statistical analysis of about 1000 treatments in that period. The insurance-companies ask the hospitals what their prices/results are and send their patients to the cheaper _and_ most successfull (hospitals). The doctors are employed by the hospitals. The government (is about the same as the social insurance) defined that “everybody” is entited to get treated for about 1200 Euro for about 95% of all DBC’s. Many hospitals are not profitable, mainly because their administration is/was not organised to adnminister costs according to DBC’s.

By: William

William — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:55:20 +0000

I totally agree with both comments., All those holistic and alternate treatments are obtainable from the local GNC-type store.

Dr. Google is your friend and will never let you down.

By: Should Patients Be Allowed to Direct Their Own Care? « The ACUTE CARE Blog: Non-Urban Emergency Medicine

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:38:47 +0000

[...] Should Patients Be Allowed to Direct Their Own Care? Posted on November 1, 2008 by coptermedic From Citizen Economists: [...]

By: Stephan Zimmermann

Stephan Zimmermann — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:55:37 +0000

Since doctors generally work with or are on the staff of profit-making hospitals, and in addition are part of the biggest union monopoly in them U.S. – the AMA – it is not necessarily in the best interests of the patient to be treated as a child under authoritarian auspices.

The result is that too many doctors have become businessmen (or women) who have forgotten their original oath: “I will use regimens for the benefit of the ill…”

Those regimens have to be effective, not the most expensive! They even might be natural or holistic remedies.

From personal experience, physicians throughout the world, from Argentina to the U.K. to Bangkok, concentrate much more on the emotional and psychological well-being of their patients than on the rapid dispensing of often unnecessary medicines or other regimes..

A qualified doctor should have the experience and judgment to advise a patient on the recommendatons and alternative options rather than relying on the dictates of the AMA.

By: Tom Hanna

Tom Hanna — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:58:32 +0000

That level of condescension is one reason so many people put off going to the doctor when they really should. I’d rather stick with over the counter treatment, nutritional and alternative therapy and a chiropractor who realizes he’s human than go to your practice unless I was on the verge of death.