Researchers looked at adult visits to seven primary care practices in North Carolina during 2008. They asked patients about their perceptions of medical mistakes and how did it influence the choice to switch doctors.
Of 1,697 patients, 265 (15.6 percent) reported a mistake had been made, 227 (13.4 percent) reported a wrong diagnosis, 212 (12.5 percent) reported a wrong treatment, and 239 (14.1 percent) reported changing doctors as a result. Results appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
But anecdotes cited by patients as mistakes were often normal diagnostic or therapeutic challenges. A typical scenario might be the patient reported symptoms, the doctor did not correctly diagnose it at first presentation, and a specialist or second physician offered a specific diagnosis. Other scenarios included medication trials or side effects from the prescription.
If you are not happy with your doctor ( or his staff), please speak up ! You have invested time , energy and money on your relationship - why throw it all away without giving him a chance to fix the problem if you are not happy ? If patients do not provide feedback, how will doctors improve ?
One good way to offer feedback (for extreme cases, that is) is to confront your doctor with a medical malpractice lawyer. Sure, if the mistake or misdiagnosis was minor and didn't cause you any real harm, a friendly conversation might suffice, but if your doctor's errors have resulted in preventable injury for you or your family, you should really get your point across by filing a lawsuit.
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