Want new doctor, will this work?

[trc1962]

Hi to all. I am flaring big time, like very badly and I am hoping my rheumatologist responds. He has too many patients and he has a bad bedside manner and I don't care for him at all. I know his associate is an excellent doctor as my friend sees her, caring, compassionate and helpful. I want to see her instead of the guy I have been stuck with for 2 years since my excellent rheummy left the area. My friend said since I am dealing with pelvic and hip stuff now to call and ask if I can switch to the other doctor because she is a woman and I am more comfortable with that (which is true). Is this unprofessional, or not a good thing to inquire about? There are not many choices in the area of rheumatology near me, so the thought of asking to switch. Thanks for your thoughts as I need input. Many thanks to all!

[confused]

Work with the doctor you can trust!  You would be amazed at what can really take place that you don't know about.  Get all tests and all write ups on your visits if you can.
Check what has been written as sometimes my husband will look at me and say who the heck are they writing about?
Did not realize everything was going on line and that means anything you say to a doctor receptionist etc can be in your chart.  If it is wrong I have no idea how to get this taken care of.  Any doc can read your chart if you are in their system and there is no way to fix what is wrong.
Thank heavens I am old.  I do not fit in.  I am from the days that doctors cared.  Here a doc can kill someone in surgery or maybe 2 but they have one week to get out of town and then the hospital will not report the mistake so that doc can and is doing surgery in a well known hospital on the East Coast.

[Linda196]

The choice of gender in a physician is a legitimate reason for a special request. It doesn't have to be based on the area of anatomy being treated, either, it's perfectly acceptable to be more comfortable with one gender over another, and if you are lucky enough to have the choice, make the attempt.

Considering the current climate of offence and lawsuits that I read about, I would just be very careful not to phrase it in any way that could be interpreted as the previous doctor having performed in any way that could be considered controversial (unfortunately a bad bedside manner or uncomfortable interpersonal relationships aren't an indication of skill or ability). It's entirely possible for someone in a position of authority or influence (doctor, clergy, teacher, law enforcement, etc) to be "branded" and suffer permanent damage to their reputation or livelihood due to the misinterpretation of a complaint.

@Confused, I can see there are obvious differences in your system over ours, since here, it's a legal offence to read any information in a patient's chart, either hard copy or digital, with out a code indicating you have a legitimate reason, such as a consult or referral, and there were prosecutions and losses of jobs in the early days. In our province any information online is available to the patient, with a disclaimer stating if there are any inaccuracies or errors, call a posted number, contact the poster, or complete a provided form, and from a few people I know who have used these methods, the errors were corrected quickly.

It does get tricky if the error is a personal opinion of course, and requires discussion with a patient representative and the poster, and as a result the posting of personal opinions in notes is discouraged, resulting in almost all digital files being fact based; only lab or imaging results, prescribed treatments, and procedures that can be verified. The posting of actual diagnoses is cautionary, since they can be considered opinions, and will often be posted as "suggestive of Dx"

[confused]

Sorry that I did not finish this well but I collapsed.  Seriously, this new change was first that you could get hold of doctor and ask them to keep the files in their office's and not bring up anything about the patient to any doctor.  If the doctor disagreed you could go to somewhere southwest Denver area and they would have you sign up and would be sending out a letter that would tell the doctor this.
Somewhere all that has changed and since they are not using paper anymore everything goes into your chart. (Supposed to help if you end up in ER and are not aware of things)  I do not know when this changed to having no paper means everything goes on your chart and I have questioned and questioned but this seems to be that anything said will go in your chart.  Could just be my weird state but I have to try to stop this as I have so many wrong things in my chart and I do not want to take any doc to court as could not afford.  Doctors and lawyers socialize together as my brother was told after his half his face was paralyzed. Hospitals have deep pockets and what is left of the middle class do not!

[meirish]

My advice is always make sure that what you say will not come back to bite you. Drs. put many things in charts, and have years back. I am an 80 year old retired registered nurse and remember well the old paper charts. The good thing is...handwriting on medical records is usually hard to read so it takes time to sort things out at times. That was then but now with computers we can read everything quite well.

Never bad mouth another doctor. And doctors should not bad mouth other doctors. I have had this happen two times in past year where the doctor I was seeing bad mouthed another doctor I was seeing. I did not go back to these 2 doctors. These 2 doctors have "loose lips" and are not appreciated. We go for medical care and both the patient and the doctor should use common sense and good manners during a visit. My opinion for what it is worth. meirish

[susanep]

Thank you irish. Your input is worth everything. I am  70 now, and doing ok. My lupus gets worse, and my rheumatoid arthritis makes itself known. My sjogrens always lets me know I am dry. I have one more week of wearing a heart monitor, and next month an echocardiogram for my cardiologist to figure out. Me and my husband celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in August. I still am totally in love with my little dog Bonnie. She is family. I love all of you, and those I know are always in my prayers.
susanep