Tag Archives: communicating with your doctor

14 Jan

New Years Resolutions, Are There Better Ones For You For 2014?

carypresant Health Care, Healthcare Reform, Prevention 0 0

Most people make New Years Resolutions. Did you make some for 2014? Well, it’s not too late to edit your resolutions and make some better ones.

Check out my suggestions for better resolutions in my Huffington Post article published 12-3-13 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cary-a-presant-md/dr-presants-ten-better-ne_b_4501572.html and see if there are ideas you may have missed.

03 Jan

Learn About Stroke Risk and Prevention from Harry Reid’s Hospitalization

carypresant Medical Tips, stroke, What to Do 0 0

Stroke is a very common cause of disability, and the fourth leading cause of death in America. So any news about stroke should remind us to discuss stroke risk with out doctors.

Harry Reid recently was admitted to the hospital, and discharged with a diagnosis of exhaustion. But he had perviously suffered a small stroke or transient ischemic attack. Because the risk of subsequent stroke is so high (25 to 45%), any new symptoms should…

26 Dec

New Medical Tips Now on YouTube

carypresant Affordable Care Act, Health Care, Healthcare Reform, Medical Tips 0 0

As we enter 2014, and medical care transforms to comply with the Affordable Care Act, patients are more responsible for their own care. So it is now time to get all the tips you can to help make sure you are with the right doctor, get the full attention of your doctor about controlling all your symptoms and preventing any diseases you might be at risk of developing.

There are many tips about your care…

20 Nov

How You Need to Prepare Now for ObamaCare 2014

carypresant Affordable Care Act, Healthcare Reform, Obamacare 0 0

More Affordable Care Act (ACA, or ObamaCare) changes will take place in January 2014. The most important are changes in insurance policies and in physician networks. Also challenging to everyone are the changes in physician attitudes (anger, confusion, burn out) and practice structure. Many of these are described in my book “Surviving American Medicine” along with tips on how to manage them.

But now you need to take some action to help protect your own…

28 Oct

Have a Good Relationship with your Doctor and Improve your Medical Care

carypresant Doctors, Healthcare Reform, Physician Communication, Uncategorized 0 0

It is logical that having a good physician with whom you have a close relationship can improve your sense of confidence in your medical care. But does it result in improved outcomes?

In an important scientific article, K. Trevino and co-authors studied the relationship between young adults with advanced cancer and their physicians. In 95 young adults between the ages of 20 and 40 years old, who had advanced cancer, having a strong relationship with…

21 Oct

Have You had Your Genes Tested Yet?

carypresant Gene Testing, Physician Communication 0 0

Genetic predisposition to disease is very important. About one-third of all cancers are due to genetic predisposition. Also, about 10% of all cancers may have been caused by an abnormal gene for which doctors today have genetic tests available. Consequently, making certain that you get tests for a gene mutation that can cause cancer when you have a high family risk is important for you and your family.

In a recent article, C. Bellcross and…

25 Sep

Conversations between doctors and patients

carypresant Doctors, Physician Communication 0 0

Communication between physicians and patients is crucial to delivering high quality medical care. However, it is the experience of most patients that communicating with their physicians has become more difficult.

With healthcare reform, physicians often have less time to discuss things with their patients. An informational brochure may be handed out, or physicians may simply say, “talk to my nurses for more information.”

In a recent set of articles in the Journal of the American…

18 Sep

Are you really taking your medications?

carypresant Drug Cost, Health Care, Medication 0 0

When physicians prescribe medications, the doctors assume that patients will take their medications on a regular basis. However, when patients are actually studied, 30% to 50% of adult patients are not consistently taking their long-term medications. This leads to approximately $100 billion in extra health care costs nationally, dollars that could be better used to provide better and more comprehensive care for people. When patients don’t take their medicines, results are worsening of their medical…

19 Aug

How Having a Good Relationship with Your Doctor Improves Your Medical Care.

carypresant Medical Tips, Physician Communication, psychosocial well-being, Uncategorized 0 0

It is logical that having a good physician with whom you have a close relationship can improve your sense of confidence in your medical care. But does it result in improved health care outcomes?

In an important scientific article, K. Trevino and co-authors studied the relationship between 95 young adults with advanced cancer and their physicians. In these young adults who were between 20 and 40 years old, having a strong relationship with the physician,…

08 Jul

Diagnosing and Treating Fatigue

carypresant Fatigue, Health Care, Physician Communication 0 0

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms in people. When fatigue is severe or constant, many doctors do not spend enough time trying to diagnose and treat the problem, leading to poor quality of life in the person suffering from weakness and lack of energy.

Here are some tips for getting to the cause and treating this common condition:

Ask your doctor to do a complete workup looking for all causes Suggest your doctor…

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