Patients Want Personalized Care Not Computerised Protocols

One of the big complaints that patients have in doctor’s practices, especially multi-doctor corporate practices, is that each time they go in, they see a different doctor. One doctor will say and do one thing, while another will take a totally different approach, resulting in inconsistency.

We all want consistency in a patient-centred approach. Unfortunately, too much today is relegated to computer algorithms. If a patient has condition A, you treat with drug A; condition B, you treat with drug B; and so on. What people want is personalized service. Unfortunately, with the current state of health care funding and the pressure on the whole system, things are reaching breaking point. Where we are, it’s not unusual to wait 10 hours in an emergency room to be attended to.

While we want personalized care, we also wish consistency and repeatability in the procedures. You wouldn’t want a brain surgeon to skip a step in removing a tumour or perhaps an abdominal surgeon not following checking procedures and leaving a sponge in the abdominal cavity. This has happened on occasion, and people have died.

It’s not too dissimilar to an airline pilot and his co-pilot. We want them to care for their passengers and the plane with the utmost consideration, and when they do their pre-flight check, we don’t want them to skip any steps. There have been air crash disasters resulting from these simple omissions.

When people visit a chiropractor, they want similar standards. In bygone days, sometimes a chiropractor would just lay a patient down and start working on them without anything other than a rudimentary exam or explaining what chiropractic is all about. Sometimes, this can have disastrous results. 

A common symptom that people will present to a chiropractor is mid-thoracic pain radiating to the front of the chest.