By Jane A. Malkoff MSN RN NP
What does it mean to be a savvy health care consumer? Let’s start with some words synonymous with savvy to get a feel for what it might mean; Sensible, Streetwise, Brainy, Discerning, and Intelligent just to name a few.
We typically will enter into the health care system to have expert advice and support to assess our well-being and to prevent health problems as well as to guide us through health care issues we are currently facing – some minor, some major. The health care system can be a very useful and necessary partner supporting our efforts to be at our best. It is often filled with wonderful people doing wonderful work.
However, being savvy about a system we enter into in order to be at our best means recognizing when it is not functioning in our best interest. Below is a list of the red flags you could encounter in the health care system. Being in the know and acting in your own best interest is a very large part of having your health care goals met.
Red Flags anywhere in the health care system include but are not limited to the following;
- Poor communication with you and/or among the medical team
- Expression of your ideas, concerns, or research leaves you feeling as if you were foolish or not able to be self-aware
- The person answering the phone is inadequate in addressing the issues at hand in a mature, timely, and adequate fashion
- You were not actively engaged in the plan put in place for your needs but left on the sidelines watching and waiting for “orders” about what will happen next
- Infection obtained while you are a patient
- Options were not presented to you or you were not given a chance to understand and ask further questions about the options
- Concerns and/or questions you have are not supported or answered but deflected
- You experience a medication error
- Inadequate staffing reduced the quality and safety of your care
If you are currently struggling with any of these red flags and do not know where to turn, please call me #317.979.3700.