Ideally, when someone goes to the doctor, they should feel like they are participating in the conversation. They are providing the doctor with an account of what happened to them and the symptoms they have been experiencing. In return, the doctor is considering their situation and making an accurate diagnosis.
But what happens when the patient does not get to participate? According to some studies, doctors tend to interrupt their own patients. It happens faster than you might think. The average is just 18 seconds.
But is 18 seconds really enough for a patient to tell their doctor everything they need to know to make an accurate diagnosis?
Significant medical issues
Often, what this means is that the doctor has a very limited amount of information and may make a snap judgment, leading to a misdiagnosis of the patient’s condition. Additionally, the doctor may eventually get the diagnosis right, once they have gathered more information during subsequent appointments. But this could still be a costly delayed diagnosis, all because they did not listen to the patient initially.
Remember that a delayed diagnosis can cause serious medical issues, especially with conditions that get worse over time. If someone is diagnosed with cancer, for instance, finding it early has a major impact on their odds of recovery. If a doctor delays the diagnosis by a few months, the cancer may have progressed to a later developmental stage, making it harder or even impossible to treat.
If you or a loved one has suffered harm due to a doctor’s mistake, be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take to seek compensation.
