The Secret That Most of Your Patients Don’t Tell You

Patients sometimes overlook the effects of their actions in their overall health. They always seem to depend on the best doctor, the most expensive care or the best technology to treat them when they get sick.

One of the most dangerous choices that patients create themselves, besides what they choose to put in their body, is choosing to hide their medical history. There are a lot of reasons why people don’t tell you their past medical history:

• They think that treatment will be more expensive 
• They are worried about insurance experience 
• They fear judgment from their healthcare providers

Or...

• They simply don’t remember  

We, as healthcare professionals, already know the importance of keeping track of medical records (with tools like medical apps for Android and Apple), and especially presenting them to their physicians when future illnesses come up, as it serves as a path for doctors to come up with accurate diagnoses.

How Do You Teach Patients About Their Responsibilities? 

The chances of having your patients listen to you depend on how you interact and communicate with them. It’s important to establish a rapport by learning how to communicate through body language, choice of words, empathy and eventually, transparency.

For patients who think their treatment will be more expensive

It’s easier to tell them the dangers of concealing their medical history for this reason because inaccurate diagnoses can lead to more expensive causes. 

For patients who fear judgment

Its a natural occurrence in patients to feel fear. It’s important to indirectly tell them firsthand that hiding their past records cannot retrieve the illnesses or the scars that are still in their body.

Note: Develop an impression of trust before revealing this idea. 

For patients who simply could not remember 

Patients are bad at remembering medical records because most people don’t think about their health on a day to day basis. Heck, it’s even difficult for them to remember where they put their medical records in the first place.

Helping tools like a medical history app for Android and Apple is especially difficult to implement with patients in the older generation, such as with baby boomers, who did not grow up with modern technology. With this in mind, finding medical history apps that have a friendly and easy interface is necessary to convince patients of all ages to take responsibility of their own health records because it’s for their health nevertheless.

The secret patients never tell you is their past [medical records]. One technique that you should always hold close, whether you’re talking with your lover or your patients, is knowing the right questions to ask with the right tone and positive choice of words.