Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit on the other side of a health care decision and learn again a lesson about how I support my patients in managing the real life pieces of moving forward with care. I was at the ophthalmologists office for a “recall” appointment, to continue to follow a problem I have dealt with following a severe corneal abrasion injury last June. I knew before I even got out of my car for the appointment, that the surgery I was hoping wouldn’t have to be done, would be the doctor’s recommendation. I was aware of the symptoms, he and I had covered these bases before and I knew what my options were and all the risks and benefits.
So when he pushed his chair back and said, ” I think it’s time to schedule the surgery” I wasn’t the least bit surprised. He was concerned and accommodating, “I know how inconvenient it will be to have another acute incident and be out of work for a few days, so let’s get you in on a day that works around your patient schedule.” He called in his assistant and instructed her to let the scheduling nurse know he had said to make it work where ever on his schedule it worked for me.
I walked over and sat with the surgical coordinator. I knew I had to have this done, the discomfort from the last acute attack is still vivid in my mind, and yet I pulled out my iphone and began to pour over my calendar. I was truly ready and committed to having this done, but how to fit it in to my busy life became the next obstacle. Finally after vexing over what days Kelly could drive me, and which ones meant the least movement of my patient schedule, and gave me the most days for recovery without missing work I told her a date. She worked diligently to fit me in on my requested date.
As she was filling out my appointment card, I stopped her, ” Do you know what my portion of the surgery will be?”. She looked at me for a moment before responding that she would have someone call me with that information. Not knowing what to expect financially has been a challenge, so much so that tonight I was contemplating canceling until I have all the information. Having the ability to pay my portion is not the issue, feeling comfortable with it, and having the opportunity to plan and strategize how to best pay my part is important to me. Being in control, and not being worried about financial surprises is very important to me.
My learning in all of this is I am just like my patients. It isn’t realistic to expect everyone to manage time and money issues on the spot during a treatment conference. I want to know that as a team we are supporting our patients in managing their own comfort around time and finances.
so right ! Time and finance. How about those patients you’ve seen for years, you went through esthetic, fonction, biology… and say yes , yes ,yes when can we start? There is a whole process of co discovery, others would say awareness or else.
Thanks for posting this one LeeAnn.
Great observation Lee. Thanks for sharing. Ive noticed with my patients, the ones with greater financial ability tend to have more barriers to “free time”.
Barriers to care are an interesting discussion. I think everyone has them and moving forward is about the positives of treatment being “stronger” than the barriers. I also think we often use time and money as easy reasons, when the true barrier is fear of the procedure or pain, or uncertainty around something we don’t understand. I think because of this often we put systems in place to help our patients solve things they could easily figure out, and leave the actual barrier in the background and never address it. One of my favorite questions for patients who aren’t scheduling treatment, is ” If you feel comfortable sharing this with me, I am curious what is getting in the way of moving forward with treatment?”
Lee