Finding A Healthcare Partner in a Practitioner

You’ve heard it before and might have said it.  “I hate doctors.”  “I don’t know who to trust.”

How to find the right health care practitioner to fit you the individual looking for a healthcare partner is a quandary for many.  Where to start. Upon inspection, there was surprisingly little on the web to guide us in this search.  Following is a somewhat informative article from the NY Times: How to Find the Right Doctor - NYTimes.com

Most people know to get several recommendations and referrals, do their homework, look up the credentials and go with their sensibilities and gut, picking one of the probable options. Some folks often take it an extra step and try to talk to the practitioner on the phone briefly to get a feel for them, and have some questions answered.  This is an attempt to sense if a health care partnership is possible or not.  Is the practitioner annoyed, rushed, disinterested?  Chances are a partnership would be challenging.  Many MDs (in particular) come from the point of view of “I know better than you…. I’m the boss here….I am always right”, and have little respect for your sense of your own body, your choices or values.  Though the healthcare industry nowadays is pushing doctors to have better bedside manners, be patient-centered, support the patient in taking more responsibility for their health and their medical outcomes, the Cartesian hierarchy exists in medicine and it is not uncommon to have MDs want to be fully in control.  And in this day and age, with  malpractice insurance being what it is (basically, putting MDs in the position to be a control freak  or get sued) and insurance companies allowing MDs approximately 7 minutes per patient; their backs are against the wall, even if they wanted to practice differently.

So, if relationship is the key to all healing (which I’m always saying in one way or another), what am I looking for in a healthcare partner?

Know Thyself.

Polls say, the number one quality sought in a healthcare professional is good listening skills (this ranks over competence!  Does this say something about how “unheard” most people feel?).  Can this person listen.  And I will add here, without their own agenda in the foreground or background (if this is happening, it would not constitute listening).  Does this person seem distracted or disinterested in what I am saying?  Does this person seem to care?  A quiet, introverted person who is not particularly expressive, can still exude care.  We have to be able to sift the wheat from the shaft.  Our “type” preferences and unspoken prejudices will sometimes get in the way.  Too young, too old, too fat, too unkempt, too glamorous are all first impressions that have little to do with competence or the right fit.  Very reserved, hyper conservative types provoke anxiety in me usually; but I’ve found excellent, caring healthcare partners who fit that description.  Nice-as-the-day-is-long practitioners might not be a guarantee they are in your corner when the chips are down. One needs to be careful what one is measuring.  Know Thyself.

What are your priorities in this relationship? Is there a trust possible (both ways)?  If you are a person who wants a very active role in health care decision making, you want to take responsibility, to have a say, what are the indicators of trust in a practitioner that will determine this will be likely?  Can this person tolerate, nay respect, a different point of view? Is this person, tired, depressed, besieged-looking?  Or do they appear to be refreshed and in-love with what they do? Negativity and attitude make a big difference in decision-making. Is this person willing to engage with you, or are they a lone ranger?  One could tolerate bossiness or a prickly nature, if the practitioner is willing to engage you, respects you and has your best interests in mind.  We are not looking for a friend, we are looking for a type of partner.  Usually, there is a type of practitioner that is also looking for that in a patient, who wants to work toward solution-finding and a best approach, together. 

Functional Medicine (Institute for Functional Medicine > What is Functional Medicine? ) is a fairly new area of medicine that often accommodates those who lean toward integration of traditional/alternative healing practices with the conventional. Practitioners are usually MDs.  They are better educated in nutrition and underlying conditions that are not usually on a conventional MD’s radar (ie: long standing fungal or systemic yeast problems). Naturopathy (Naturopathy | NCCAM ) or Osteopathy (What Is Osteopathy? ) is another avenue to go.  Many Naturopaths are Physician Assistant trained so they have a pulse on western medicine and Osteopaths are MDs with a concentration in spine health.  I don’t usually recommend MDs that are trained in acupuncture or homeopathy for that discipline.  I have found that their MD/western training usually trumps any complimentary/alternative approach and their knowledge and experience in that specialty practice tends to be superficial.  MD acupuncturists have four times less training time under their belt than full-fledged acupuncturists, and it tends to be what I call “band-aid” or cosmetic acupuncture; definitely not classical. Obviously, there are exceptions. As an aside, the above-mentioned practitioners can’t or won’t usually be your primary doctor or general practitioner for insurance purposes.

Many people want to have a primary physician with hospital privileges for the purposes of a medical health crisis. You won’t use them as often as these other practitioners for general health maintenance, but in case of an emergency, a relationship has been established. When seeking one of these professionals, you might want to consider first the hospital they are associated with.  Is the hospital patient-centered in their approach?  What is their philosophy, their business model, mission statement? How do they walk their talk? What is their nursing philosophy (this will be different)? Is it a Magnet hospital (a mark of excellence in nursing rarely bestowed)?  Is it a community hospital (“cozier” more personable but less able to deal with traumas or complicated crisis) or a medical center (bigger, teaching-based, often less personal.  Check their trauma grade)? Do they have a fully functioning integrative medicine program? (this says a lot about their commitment to the whole patient); most trending facilities have a free standing IM center, but there is little interfacing with the in-patient experience. 

If you have a history of heart disease, diabetes, cancer or stroke, there is probably a choice in a local hospital that specializes in at least one of these areas; in a specific crisis like a heart attack, you would want a hospital that specializes in heart disease; their technology will be the best and their staff will be the better trained. If you are motivated, a tour is possible.  Pay more attention to what the staff look like (their energy fields, demeanor, sense of presence) than the surrounding accoutrement meant to impress.  Choosing  a GP and a hospital intentionally is like making a Living Will or Last Will and Testament preparations.  It’s hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. It's a type of emergency preparedness you (and your loved ones) will be glad is in place when the need arises.

So, why is relationship between a provider and a client so important in making healthcare decisions? Trust is a huge healing factor.  When there is trust, there is a vibrational symbiotic response in the organism that aligns in the healing direction.  When there is the subtlest dis-trust or lack of confidence, the opposite occurs.  You see it in relation to animals frequently.  When you get the mere notion you want to get up and move, the cat on your lap “reads” that and is off before you begin to mobilize.  A dog forbears you being in a master’s room, but you get the idea to move toward a desk with personal papers on it, the dog growls.  There is subtle communication (from our layered energy bodies?) at work constantly.  Trust is imperative in the healing relationship.

Know Thyself.