Five Ways To Get Fired By Your Primary Care Physician

Health & Medical Blog

While you're free to find a different doctor who meets your needs at any time you wish to do so, it's rare for your primary care physician to suggest that you see a different practitioner. However, there are some circumstances that may test your doctor's ability to give you good medical care. In these situations, you may find that your doctor gently requests that you find a practitioner who better meets your needs. 

What things could you do to alienate your primary care physician? Here are five common scenarios where a doctor may ask a patient to seek other care:

1. You demand a treatment that your doctor isn't willing to provide. 

This is most likely to happen if you are asking for a specific type of medication, as many doctors must be wary of prescribing opioids and other painkillers too often or for too long. But it can also happen when a patient goes to the Internet to research treatment options and insists on a course that the doctor disagrees with. Most doctors are more than willing to talk to you about research you've done, but if you think you know more than your physician, he or she may release you to find a practitioner more in line with your thinking.

2. You refuse to follow medical advice -- and blame the doctor for problems that result.

Your doctor may suggest weight loss and exercise to help a health problem that you're having. Don't do it? You probably won't get more than a short lecture about healthy eating from your physician. But if you have diabetes, you fail to heed your doctor's advice about avoiding sugary foods and you get mad at your physician when you have to have a foot amputated, that may indicate a troubled doctor-patient relationship.

A common reason why doctors may strongly suggest another practice if you're not following medical advice is if you choose not to vaccinate your children. Some primary care physicians and pediatricians believe so strongly in the importance of immunization that they will ask you to find another doctor if you're unwilling to follow established vaccination schedules.

3. You're impatient and rude if your doctor can't find the right diagnosis.

You've got something wrong, but your doctor isn't able to find a cure and you're getting frustrated. If you're calm and comfortable trying different options, that will likely be no problem for your physician. But if you're unhappy that your physician hasn't found the right treatment for you, and your behavior indicates your displeasure, your doctor may ask you to work with a different care provider.

4. You don't pay your bills.

Some patients don't believe that their doctor can stop seeing them for non-payment of medical bills, but that's not the case. If you aren't making an effort to at least work out a payment plan, your doctor may decide to stop providing care until you have caught up.

5. You've threatened a lawsuit.

We live in a society where doctors can't take chances when patients say they will sue. One in six doctors has been threatened with legal action, so especially if your physician has had to deal with litigious patients in the past, they simply may not want to risk that you'll follow through. 

Fortunately, most patients are not unreasonable and most doctors are more than willing to overlook a little bad behavior here and there. But if you engage in any of the above behaviors on a regular basis, your doctor may decide that you're not a good fit for the practice, and ask you to find a different primary care physician. To learn more, contact a clinic like Rural Health Services Consortium Inc.

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9 July 2016