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Three signs that you're a difficult patient

Difficult patients come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common: they make life harder for their health care providers, whether they know it or not.

Healthcare providers not only work in a frustrating, fast-paced health care system, they spend much of their time helping people who won't help themselves.

Are you one of them? If so, it could be interfering with your health care and therefore your health.

Here are three signs that your providers might think you're a difficult patient:

You don't follow doctors' orders

Noncompliance is one of the most pressing issues in health care today. When patients don't follow their care plans or medication guidelines, problems arise.

Noncompliant patients have poorer health outcomes — and they waste everyone's time and money.

Yet if a provider were to ask a patient, “Do you plan to be noncompliant?” most patients would exclaim “no!”

So, what's the disconnect?

Noncompliance happens for many reasons: a lack of understanding, an inability to pay for prescriptions, or myriad behavioral health and social issues.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely your doctor will ask you, “What's your plan for following these instructions?”

But if you tend to ignore your doctor's instructions, you need to create a plan to do just that.

You come off as being angry or entitled

Some patients have good reason to be unhappy with the quality of their health care. Some have been on the receiving end of medical error. Some feel they've been treated poorly or have skewed perceptions of the health care system.

Whatever the reason, angry, entitled patients are their own worst enemies.

Alienating care providers rarely results in better health outcomes.

Doctors, nurses and social workers are human beings. As such, they gravitate to those who are pleasant to deal with. They may subconsciously steer clear of difficult patients and family members. Frankly, in these situations, all a provider can do is to listen to a patient's complaints and address whatever is in their power.

It's never OK to berate a care provider, yet it happens all the time. Often patients don't realize how badly they're behaving.

Find a way to share your concerns or frustrations with civility, even on a bad day.

You talk too much during appointments

When patients talk nonstop, it makes it challenging for providers to discern the important information from everything else. It's rather like the boy who cried wolf; doctors may eventually tune out.

Doctors have limited time to see each patient. Excessive talkers unknowingly steal time from the next patient, while making it harder for providers to hone in on what's important.

Ask yourself: who does most of the talking during your doctor visits?

How to be a good patient

If you want good health care — and who doesn't? — start by being a good patient.

Follow your physician's instructions and medications as prescribed, even when you don't feel like it.

Share your health care concerns with your physician, but in a respectful manner. Ditto your frustrations. Don't create distractions from the main issue: your health.

Be mindful that in today's health care environment, ER doctors and hospitalists are generally allowed about five minutes per patient. Doctors' office visits are booked in 15-minute increments. So be prepared: create a list of issues you want to discuss and keep the conversation on point.

Remember, it's never in your best interest to be a difficult patient. Partner with your providers to give them what they need, so they can best attend to your health.

• Teri Dreher, RN, CCRN, iRNPA, is an award-winning patient advocate and a pioneer in the growing field of private patient advocacy. A critical care nurse for more than 30 years, today she is owner/founder of NShore Patient Advocates (www.NorthshoreRN.com), the largest patient advocacy company in the area. She recently published her first book, “Patient Advocacy Matters.”

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