Taking control of your own health care.

June 16, 2016 by Dawn Leonard 2 Comments

 

This blog has been a year and half in the making.  January 2015 I sat down with my family physician and asked her what her thoughts were on our health care system.  Is she over worked? What can we as individuals/patients do so that we are working more effectively  with our family physicians?  How can we as individuals obtain better overall care?

Why did I  ask my family physician to sit down to lunch with me?

I have family members that have suffered physical pain for years due to misdiagnosis and “falling through the crack’s” of our medical system. Unfortunately they are still suffering chronic pain due to these mistakes. Personally I had a similar experience but far less detrimental when a piece of glass was embedded in my foot and rubbing against one of my metatarsals. I knew something was wrong, had x-rays done and saw my family physician. I was told nothing was wrong and  nothing had showed  up in my x-ray.  He did thankfully send me to a specialist.  On my arrival the original x-ray was pulled out, this was the first time I was seeing the x-ray and there very clearly was a piece of glass nudged up against my metatarsal.  Clearly in my previous appointment the x-ray was never looked at, shortly after I had a minor surgery to remove the glass and went about my life normally.  My experience only took about 6 months to resolve but many people including my family members are still suffering due to  these kinds of mistakes.

It is not one individuals fault that these mistakes happen it is the medical system in general.  We have to remember we are dealing with people who are human, make mistakes and are often overworked.

What can we do personally to make sure we don’t get overlooked?

I have my own opinions of the health care system so instead of just going on a rant and blaming individuals or the system as a whole I decided to go right directly to the those individuals involved in the system.  I asked my family physician Dr. Yam to lunch and she graciously accepted.  It was a quick 30 minute lunch but I was able to glean enough information from her to come up with a plan that I want to share with you on steps to taking control of your own health care.

5 Steps to creating your personal health care plan.

1. Create your own personal file.  Have a file that includes any lab work , X-rays, scans that you may have had in relation to a problem.  I recommend making hard copies of these reports. Yes a bit old school but so much easier for you to hand a few pieces of paper to a physician so that he/she can be undated on your health instantly. This is Dr. Yams suggestion.

2. Go online and sign up for my ehealth  My ehealth will allow you to gain access and keep track of all your lab tests.

3.  Share your results.  If you are ever having tests other than lab work (only lab test results are uploaded to my ehealth) X-rays or scans of any type ask for a copy of the report to also be sent to another one of your other health care practitioners. (Ex. Physiotherapist  or Massage Therapist)  Simply have the fax number or email address added to the intake form when you are checking in for your test.  How information is shared within the medical community has changed so having test results sent to multiple practitioners ensures you will not only have access to a copy but your other practitioners will have access to the results. (This information goes into your personal file.)  This information can be very helpful for your other health care practitioners, what may seem inconsequential to your family physician could be very helpful to a physiotherapist or massage therapist in creating your treatment plan.

4. Ask for another opinion.  No one person can have all the answers and every health care practitioner has different experiences to draw from.  If you don’t feel you are being heard or would just feel  more comfortable with another opinion don’t hesitate.

5. Create your own health care team.  No one physician, health practitioner or specialist will be able to see the entire picture.  These individuals are giving you information that you must be willing to take and put into a larger picture.  I personally have a family physician, massage therapist, physiotherapist, natriopathic physician and kinesiologist; all are crucial in my personal health care plan.

It is your responsibility to create the “big picture” of your health care plan yourself.