Revealing the secret of efficient medical treatment: How to accurately communicate with nephrologists about your condition

Revealing the secret of efficient medical treatment: How to accurately communicate with nephrologists about your condition

Author: Chen Zhou Shanghai Changhai Hospital

Reviewer: Mei Xiaobin, Chief Physician, Shanghai Changhai Hospital

Kidney disease is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment and management. Nephrologists are your most important partners who can help you diagnose and evaluate your kidney condition, develop and adjust treatment plans, monitor and prevent complications, and provide you with professional and comprehensive guidance and advice.

Therefore, it is important to communicate with your nephrologist, which can help you better understand your kidney condition, implement doctor's orders and treatment plans more effectively, participate more actively in self-management and care, and detect and solve problems more promptly.

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1. Why is communication inefficient?

In the actual medical consultation process, many patients always feel that the communication with nephrologists is inefficient. There are mainly the following reasons:

1. Limited consultation time Due to the large number of outpatients in the Department of Nephrology, each patient is allocated very little consultation time, often only a few minutes. At the same time, the doctor also needs to handle a lot of other work, such as filling out medical records, checking test results, prescribing, etc. Therefore, in such a short time, the doctor may not be able to fully understand your condition and needs, nor explain and answer your questions in detail.

2. Insufficient preparation before consultation Many patients do not make adequate preparations before consultation, such as not organizing their medical history, examination reports, medication status and other information; not thinking about what questions they want to ask in advance; not bringing relevant tools or equipment, etc. Such situations often lead to a lot of time being wasted during the consultation process, and also affect the doctor's accurate judgment and decision-making on the patient's condition.

3. Improper communication methods during medical consultation Many patients do not pay attention to their communication methods when communicating with doctors. For example, they do not answer the doctor's questions, but answer irrelevant questions or talk endlessly; they do not respect the doctor's professionalism and privacy, but interfere excessively or interrupt at will, affecting the doctor's diagnosis and treatment ideas. These behaviors are not conducive to effective communication.

2. What are the possible consequences of inefficient communication?

1. Affecting the timeliness and accuracy of diagnosis and treatment. If the doctor cannot fully understand the patient's condition and needs, the patient's condition may be missed or misdiagnosed, and then an inappropriate or insufficient treatment plan may be formulated, delaying the disease.

2. Lack of sufficient and effective health guidance and advice. Poor communication may also lead to doctors being unable to explain and answer patients' questions in detail, causing patients to lack a clear and correct understanding of their own condition, treatment plan, complication prevention, etc., and thus making patients lack confidence and motivation in self-management and daily care.

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3. How to improve the efficiency of communication with nephrologists?

Now that we know the causes and consequences of inefficient communication with nephrologists, how can we improve the efficiency of communication with nephrologists? In fact, as long as we make the following preparations and precautions before, during and after the consultation, we can greatly improve the efficiency of communication with nephrologists.

1. Before consultation

Here are some things you can do to prepare before your consultation:

(1) Reasonably arrange the time and method of consultation. If you are visiting the Nephrology Department for the first time or you have many questions to ask, it is recommended that you choose a specialist clinic or a special clinic, which can ensure that you have more time for consultation. If you are visiting again and only need to adjust the medication or interpret the test results, it is recommended that you choose a general clinic or an online clinic (if available), which will help save your time and money.

(2) Prepare your medical materials before visiting the doctor. Please organize your personal information, medical history, previous examination reports, medication status, etc. and put them in a file bag. It is recommended to sort and organize them in chronological order and clearly mark the date, location, results and other information. Please remember the information that the nephrologist is most concerned about, such as recent urine routine, 24-hour urine protein quantification, renal function, renal ultrasound and other examination reports. Be sure to bring them all or take photos and save them in your mobile phone so that the nephrologist can evaluate your kidney condition and treatment effect. In addition, if you have a discharge summary or referral form, please bring them along.

(3) Think about what questions you want to ask in advance. Before you see the doctor, please list the questions you want to ask in advance and rank them in order of importance. Please try to express your questions concisely and avoid being vague or lengthy.

2. During consultation

During the consultation, patients or family members should pay attention to the following points:

(1) Comply with the order and rules of medical consultation. Before seeing a doctor, please wait in the order of registration and remain quiet and polite. Please communicate with the doctor face to face and do not stand behind or beside the doctor, especially behind him. If you have special needs or emergencies, please inform the outpatient nurse in advance to help coordinate.

(2) Answer the doctor's questions carefully. When you are seeing a doctor, please listen carefully to the doctor's questions and answer them according to the content of the questions. Avoid answering irrelevant questions or talking too much, which will waste time and affect the communication effect. Please try to express your situation and needs in simple and clear language so that the doctor can better understand your health condition.

(3) Respect the doctor's expertise and privacy. When visiting a doctor, please respect the doctor's expertise and judgment, and do not question or deny the doctor's diagnosis and treatment plan without basis. At the same time, in order to protect the doctor's privacy, please do not ask the doctor for personal information or contact information.

3. After the consultation

After your consultation, there are several things you can do:

(1) Record the doctor's advice and treatment plan. After visiting the doctor, please record the doctor's advice and treatment plan in detail and keep it properly. Read the prescription, examination form and medical records carefully. If you have any questions or do not understand something, please ask or check with the doctor or nurse in time.

(2) Regular review and monitoring of health indicators After the visit, please follow the doctor's instructions to regularly review and monitor your health, including regular urine routine, renal function, 24-hour urine protein quantification, renal ultrasound and other examinations, as well as regular measurement of blood pressure, blood sugar, weight and other indicators. Please record the review and monitoring results and bring them to the doctor for reference at the next visit.

(3) Participate in relevant education and training activities After seeing the doctor, please actively participate in relevant education and training activities, such as health education courses in the nephrology clinic, popular science videos or articles on professional medical websites, etc. These activities can help you better understand your kidney condition, manage your lifestyle more effectively, and deal with your psychological pressure more actively. They can also allow you to meet more kidney patients with similar experiences and confusions, thereby enhancing your confidence and motivation.