Little White-Coat Lies

Doctors need to communicate with patients in a non-judgmental way, while calming emphasizing the need for the patient's candor so that the doctor can best help you, and assuring that all information is confidential. If patients become confident in that reassurance that they really do have a non-judgmental doctor, and everything told to the doctor will be kept confidential, and also fully appreciate the need to be honest & complete in everything they tell their doctor, that will make a big improvement in doctors getting the information they need. (If, for example, a dentist is in the habit of scolding patients like children, such a dentist should not expect as much candor from patients as that dentist wants.)

ANYONE would be crazy to tell their physician anything they wouldn't want their health plan, employer, law enforcement to know. As a rule, HIPAA does NOT protect us from these disclosures . This mostly benefits health insurers, and when billions of our taxpayer dollars are spent on interoperable medical records, all bets are off. Doctors cannot protect their patients. There is little incentive to tell the truth.

hmmm, how about the guy who told his doctor that he drinks a six-pack a night after work. Somehow, someone found out and his drivers license was taken away.

Firstl, some doctors ARE judgemental. I used to smoke in college and when I would tell the doctor how much - she would (instead of telling me about health risks, etc) say "why would you want to smell like and ashtray, i bet you don't get many dates." Anyway, but I think that often people fear their insurance companies - of not being covered because of an admission that you are doing something "wrong." It happens. We need a new system, if health is to ever be priority.

Night.

It's night,
the soft wind
flaps in an
harmony with
the call of
a sleepily forest,
speaking the true
and praying for
the sunshine
that now disappears
in the light
of a new day.....

Francesco Sinibaldi

Frankenbike is 100% correct. Anything negative you tell your doctor can be used to deny you health insurance in the future. Until we get universal healthcare or better privacy we put our long term health at greater risk by being honest with our doctors about our lifestyle than we do by lying to them.

Don't assume that because you didn't hear anything back (or that the doctor still practices at the clinic) that nothing was done about your complaint. Just like when you complaint about a co-worker, your supervisor isn't going to come back and tell you if or how that employee was reprimanded. It's now a personnel issue. However, you do have a right to know that your complaint was taken seriously and would be addressed with the physician. I don't know about your clinic, but at the healthcare system where I work, that physician would receive a formal warning and if his bad behavior continued, he'd be terminated. Don't let this behavior be the reason that you withhold important information.

Don't assume that because you didn't hear anything back (or that the doctor still practices at the clinic) that nothing was done about your complaint. Just like when you complaint about a co-worker, your supervisor isn't going to come back and tell you if or how that employee was reprimanded. It's now a personnel issue. However, you do have a right to know that your complaint was taken seriously and would be addressed with the physician. I don't know about your clinic, but at the healthcare system where I work, that physician would receive a formal warning and if his bad behavior continued, he'd be terminated. Don't let this behavior be the reason that you withhold important information.

The ever wonderful patient privacy law, also known as HIPPA, only works if you can prove noncompliance or a breach of privacy. Most of the time this is very hard to do, and if you actually can present a case that would be investigated you can be assured that it would end up being a Health Information Tech, a Nurse's assistant, or possibly an LPN, or an RN if it was sever enough,but your doctor wouldn't be touched... There are 100,000 ways that HIPPA is violated in very clinic, hospital, doctor's office and nurse's station everyday... Two employee's sitting down at lunch talking about the patients they have seen that day is a common example... Doctors, nurses, and other staff sharing computer passwords so that a nurse's aide at a hospital can view a doctor's notes or orders, or test results, then print it are another good example... HIPPA and other privacy laws are only useful if they are respected... Look at what happened to George Clooney.

It would be wonderful to live in a world where doctor's don't use personal bias or their beliefs to make judgments about their patients... However this is kind of like asking some of them to stop breathing... I have had several difficult experiences with doctors because I did disclose some facts about my life... For example my regular OB/GYN took a leave of absence starting about a month before my appointment date and because I wasn't notified until 5 days before my appointment I had to go see the male doctor that was picking up some of her patients while she was gone. For the record I do not have a problem with seeing a male GYN, and did for several years before I moved and starting seeing this female GYN... When I arrived at the appointment the doctor met with me and everything seemed to be fine until right before the exam started when he asked if I was sexually active... I'm a woman in my mid thirties and I answered that I was, but I have only had one partner for the last 6 years. Then came the questions about why I'm not taking birth control... Are we trying to get pregnant, could I be pregnant, blah, blah, blah... I answered that I was not pregnant, not going to be pregnant, and really didn't have to worry about becoming pregnant. After several more minutes with the doctor insisting that I needed to be on birth control I finally explained to him that it really wasn't something I needed because I am gay and in a committed relationship with another woman, and that the last time I checked that wasn't something I needed to worry about, so thank you, but I don't need birth control pills. That ended that conversation until the exam portion, where I was told about ways to cure homosexuals, and that I was much too pretty to be gay... was I molested, raped, what happened to me... Now this was about the most horrible position to be in at that moment, but I ended the exam and left the office, and filed a complaint with the health system that oversaw the clinic I was seen at. No action was taken because the doctor answered my complaint by saying that he was just trying to get as complete a history as possible from me... I can understand that as far as the birth control issue went, but the things that were asked and preached later were in no way taking a patient history...

Look, most of us miss the big picture here. Routine check-ups or doctor visits should not be confused with social networking or get-along sessions where u try to leave good impressions of yourself. Questions asked are intended to help rather than to humiliate. And yeah, if you have trust issues,find another doctor that suits you as long as you're being truthful. Physicians actually have the right to know any aspect of your life that could hinder your health improvement so they can actually do their job. As a doctor myself,it's so depressing to see patients could not get any better due to poor compliance and for not telling everything.

Not disclosing something to my doctors has never occurred to me. And being a cancer survivor it could mean my life or death. All the other crap doesn't mean squat. There are laws that protect me & my privay & against discrimination .

Perhaps the problem isn't those unscrupulous doctors but actually the ridiculous mechanisms we employ for providing health care in this country. Just throwing that out there.

I know, a health care business whereby profits are increased by denying coverage seems like an ideal method for providing treatment and everything, but...

Not telling your dr. the truth only hurts you. How can they help you if they don't have all the facts? Being a physician is a lot like being a detective. If you aren't going to be truthful, just don't waste your money or time. Don't be embarrassed, because chances are, your dr. has heard everything. You'd be surprised how nonjudgemental they are. Your physician is only human too. They have bad habits and are well aware that they are not perfect. After a couple of years, there are very few surprises left to hear. If you feel you can't be honest, well ,you've got the wrong dr. Get a new one!

God forbid that you tell your doctor anything at all these days. As soon as you visit the doctor everything you tell them and everything they find wrong is queried by your insurance company. If you are on medicaid they (the government) look immediately as well. They then determine what your value is as a recipient of health care and set about trying to cut you off. It's not really the illness or disability that they consider, it is wether or not the next visit is going to cost more.

Money is the deciding factor if you suffer or not, even more pathetic is money also determines wethere you live or die. You have to ask yourself: Is health care a human right, like most countries believe; or a priviledge for those few that can afford it.

I just want to say that Frankenbike has spoken the truth. I could not have said it better myself..