Managing your Health Conditions: Steal a Page from the Corporate Playbook
Dr. David Manela is the medical director of Manela Cardiology PLLC. This is a premier cardiovascular center that offers a comprehensive spectrum of services from prevention to treatment as well as providing help from nutritionists and behavioral therapy. All of this is included in a fixed annual very affordable membership... more
Imagine seeing your accountant without any financial records in hand. How about coming to your lawyer without any evidence of the claims being made. And for that matter, imagine coming for consultation with your new physician and sometimes not even knowing why! The referral was made, the patient was told to come, and the physician asks, “Mr. Anderson, do you know why you’re here?” This isn’t some line from a movie (hint – agent smith); it’s what’s happening in today’s practice setting. Providers will interact mostly with the EMR and relegate their patients to please do this, don’t do that, see you back, and don’t forget to leave a urine sample on the way out. In time, patient responsibility reaches a level in which all they need to do is show up and check-in.
Healthcare has become mammoth in size, and patients are lost in the shuffle today's solution is one that keeps them in line but out of touch. And perhaps this ensures they show up for their screening test or their annual exam, but it breaks down when the management plan requires considerably more engagement. This is particularly true in cardiovascular disease and lifestyle medicine. Here, the path to success is gradual and long, and the steps needed to succeed are patient-driven. Obesity is not handled by a series of diagnostic tests and a follow-up intervention. With these, patients just need to show up! Instead, these patients need to follow through! They must make changes at home; show accountability; ask for help, and truly become the CEO of their own health. Taking a page from the corporate playbook, it’s time for patients to keep detailed notebooks, to-do lists, and reminders and mark up their schedule with all the necessary meetings that ensure the job gets done.
The next time you’re at the office, bring the attaché (leave the pinstripe suit at home) and have your documents in order. Your discussion with your physician is so much more than meeting with your accountant or attorney. It will set the stage and price for the company that matters most – YOU!
