subject: Ways To Handle Multiple Patients [print this page] After doing a very thorough patient intake but prior to treatment you must honestly discuss a specific, defined outcome with both the patient and, if it's their choice, their family.
-Pain that us unmanageable, despite medications.
-Loss of normal mobility., and inability to do even basic daily functions
-Disability, as well as the financial and emotional strain that results.
-You can sometimes experience the same feelings as they have. Their insecurities, pain and anxiety about their condition.
-As you should know, they want to escape from their condition and eager to pass of what they've been through.
-They feel like they're at the end of their rope.
So what do you do? How do you help these patients the most? Where do you the clinician actually begin?
First Things First - Talk About the Big Picture
After doing a very thorough patient intake but prior to treatment you must honestly discuss a specific, defined outcome with both the patient and, if it's their choice, their family. Make sure they understand what is and is not possible. Explain all the components of a proposed treatment plan. Determine what the patient wants to accomplish and design your treatment protocol by taking the patient's intent into account. But, be alert! If you start talking about adding exercise and diet and their eyes glaze over or they start looking around the treatment room at anything but you, you can be pretty sure either you have not effectively communicated why these are crucial. Maybe you're looking at a potentially non-compliant patient. Make sure they're as dedicated to their outcome as you before you ever talk finances or begin care.
Second - Address Any Underlying Metabolic Issues
Work with your patient's other physicians and talk to the patient about any other underlying medical conditions they have. Be positive and think of a good outlooks in mind. Get a thorough history and physical. Chances are very good that they've been through a battery of tests with their regular treating physician. Don't hesitate to ask, evaluate and analyze a certain outcome. If the results are current, you can save your patient a lot of time, money and frustration by not putting them through tests they've already had.
Third - Explain The Healing Process
Take it for granted that no one before you has really explained the physical causes of their pain and/or loss of sensation. At least not in a way they could understand. All they know is that they're in pain.
Neuropathy and chronic pain patients very often don't understand their suffering because nobody ever took the time to explain the basics. And this is even more true for patients having been treated in large institutions!
For example, we suggest that you use multimedia tools. I'll very often use simple diagrams aided by powerful interactive software to demonstrate that nerve cells being deprived of oxygen causes them to shrink, widening the synaptic junction between the nerves and preventing the impulses from reaching from one nerve to the next.
Break it down into terms they can understand. Picture a motorcycle trying to jump from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other. There is virtually no way it will make it to the other side. That's the same with nerve impulses trying to reach from one nerve to the next when the synaptic junction is enlarged. Tell your patient that effective chronic pain care may help restore neurologic function, even where other systems have failed. Often times you can explain to them that your treatments are like building a bridge back across the Canyon. And that like a bridge under construction, this is not going to happen overnight.
The Final Caveat
-Your patients have been through a lot.
-They want to finally be free from pain.
-They want their live back!
-But they must completely understand the process, game plan, and their responsibilities in recovery.
-You must take control, fully assess their intentions from the outset, and involve yourself completely in their treatment.
-And then watch your referrals and practice revenues growing every week.
