The Questioning Patient

What is the best way to address "questioning" patients? These are patients who clearly imply a lack of confidence in your expertise by questioning everything you say and do.

Posted in Risk Management on Friday, June 21, 2019

With these patients, a three-tiered approach may be advisable.

FIRST, make sure to take the time to fully explain your decisions—even more so than you normally do. Go over X-rays, review their progress frequently and answer all questions. Make sure your staff keeps you in the loop about any comments, complaints or questions, so you can follow up with the patient directly.

SECOND, sometimes when a patient is questioning everything, what they really want is a second opinion, but they won’t come out and say so. You need to read between the lines and see if they would prefer to see another or a different doctor or specialist. If a health insurance plan refuses to authorize a referral for a second opinion, patients have the option to pay for it out of pocket if they’re really worried.

THIRD, document everything you do, including any request for a referral. Keep complete, legible records of the treatment, your communications with the patient and family members, your opinion on whether a referral is necessary, and any efforts you made to coordinate the patient referral. It is a good idea to give patients the names and phone numbers for the referrals and note them in the chart.