Empowered Patient: Bring a Family Member or Friend with you to Your Doctor’s Appointment

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Should you bring a family member or friend with you when a patient has a doctor’s appointment? That is a question explored on a recent post on KevinMD by guest blogger, Diana E. Lee, a chronic migraine patient who blogs at Somebody Heal Me. “Most of the resources I’ve read about how to prepare for a doctor’s appointment recommend bringing a loved one with you so that person can…

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Doctor-Patient Relationship: How Patients Can Help Enhance Communication

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA From Kevin Pho’s medical blog, KevinMD, a post archived from 2004, Pho talks about the struggles of communication between doctor and patient during the 15 minute office visit. Pho sites a NY Times article that explains that more than two decades ago, research shows that patients were interrupted 18 seconds into explaining their problem (on average) and less than 2 percent got to finish their explanations. Pho sites that…

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