November 11, 2016
Interview with Martine Ehrenclou, author of the book The Take Charge Patient
Mike Carruthers: If we want to receive quality healthcare we really need to take more responsibility.
Martine Ehrenclou: You know there’s a doctor shortage and doctors are forced to see …you know doctors who take insurance are forced to see patients between 7 to 15 minutes.
Martine Ehrenclou, author of the book The Take Charge Patient
So every physician or most physicians that you’re seeing, if you’re seeing physicians who take insurance they’re going to be rushed. They’re going to have too many patients to see in too little time. So partly because of that the patient needs to pick up a little bit of the slack, not for the sake of the doctor but for the sake of the patient.
Which means don’t be afraid to ask questions when you don’t understand.
And also I think that if patients can be a little bit more well informed about their diagnosis or medications that they’re taking. There are many patients out there that go by the blue pill, the pink pill well it’s important to know the name and the dosage of the medication that you’re on and what you’re taking it for. Why? Because you can go see another specialist and that specialist can either give you the brand version of what you’re on or the generic version of what you’re on. And you can end up on double the dose.
And if you have questions about medications your pharmacist is a great well trained resource you should take advantage of.
Oh yeah the pharmacists are wonderful resources, they are there for you. You can call and ask questions or can show up and ask questions about any kind of medications that you’re taking – that’s what they’re trained to do.
