The Patient's Responsibility

There is only so much we can do to ensure a patient gets the proper care.

Suppose a patient comes to you in your clinic with a problem that is going to require regular and frequent follow up. They came to you in the first place because no one else could or would take care of it. It's obviously a bad enough problem for them to seek help, so expecting them to maintain good follow up should be natural, right? I think so - it's certainly not an outrageous expectation.  So you tell the patient, "Mrs. Flaggerbatham, I will need to see you again in two days."  "All right," she says. You make the appointment, you give her a specified time, and even a phone number to call if she can't make the appointment.

Two days go by. You are nearing the end of clinic and you have realized, perhaps an hour or two before, that Mrs. Flaggerbatham didn't arrive. You call the phone number she gave reception at her initial check in. This may or may not be a real phone number. You call it anyway, but no one answers. You leave a polite, though blunt and grounded message. "Mrs. Flaggerbatham, I noticed you didn't keep your appointment today. It is very important we see you again. Your condition is very serious and without proper care you could loose your vision or your eye. I expect to see you in clinic tomorrow, and if not, please call us." This message is also documented in chart, for you lawyers.

Another day goes by. No Mrs. Flaggerbatham. Another phone call, another no answer, another message. You do this two or three days in a row, and then send a certified letter, to what is possibly a rogue address. Ultimately, Mrs. Flaggerbatham doesn't show and is never heard from again.

Sadly, this happens. As doctors, we kind of feel that this circus should end after the first phone call, perhaps even at the end of that first visit. If a patient is given all the proper warning, all the proper information, the ball is in their court from the time they leave the clinic, the hospital, or the emergency room. It should be, and quite frankly is, their responsibility to get proper medical care.

Unfortunately, malpractice attorneys don't see it this way. Bastards.

All characters above are fictional, except for me. Anyone found to be named Mrs. Flaggerbatham, on Google or otherwise, is purely coincidental and has no bearing on my saying so.