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Medical Forum / General / Dentistry / November 2005Patient Rights and Patient Responsibilities
Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and Responsibilities of dental patients? I'm going to cross post this to alt.support.jaw-disorders . Webby >Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and >Responsibilities of dental patients? > >I'm going to cross post this to alt.support.jaw-disorders . Well I'm interested. Philosophy is my subject so go for it. Ann > >Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and > >Responsibilities of dental patients? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Ann Hello Ann, Great! I'm glad that philosophy is a subject of special interest to you. If I may, I'd like to ask you to consider and respond to the following: As a dental patient, what do you consider your responsibilities and to whom? Webby >> >Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and >> >Responsibilities of dental patients? [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >Webby See Chapter XIV: "Patient Responsibilities, The Paying Of THe Bill." > >> >Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and > >> >Responsibilities of dental patients? [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > See Chapter XIV: "Patient Responsibilities, The Paying Of THe Bill." Oops. Hadn't seen this one yet when I ask for your discussion. Oh yes, that would be a responsibility without question. But what about the questionable-philosophical responsibilities? Do you have some thoughts on those? Webby >As a dental patient, what do you consider your responsibilities and to >whom? Thinking about it, I don't think I have many. I obviously ought to turn up to appointments on time or let them know if I am delayed or wish to cancel. If I expect to be treated by the dentist, then I ought to do what the dentist tells me with regard to continuing care etc.. ie brush and floss and pay extra attention to the bits he tells me need it. I don't believe in people having responsibilities or duties to themselves. I think we can do what we like as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. Of course, we can say that anything I do affects others, for example if I don't get dental treatment and get miserable then it affects my family, but I wouldn't want to take a person's obligations to that level. Imagining that one has responsibilities to oneself is a pathway to guilt and I don't do guilt any more. Guilt is a wasted emotion! Ann > >As a dental patient, what do you consider your responsibilities and to > >whom? [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Ann Ann, if you don't believe in people having responsibilities to themselves, how do you explain this quoted material from another post of yours? Ann wrote: "Similarly with the dentist, I need to know exactly what he's going to do and why, otherwise I will panic. It's up to the dentist to be able to work out what the patient needs and how they need to be treated as a person. That's what marks out a good dentist." Maybe we are not quite on the same page yet about the whole matter of "patient responsibility". What are you thinking at this point? Webby >> >As a dental patient, what do you consider your responsibilities and to >> >whom? [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] >Maybe we are not quite on the same page yet about the whole matter of >"patient responsibility". What are you thinking at this point? I don't see any conflict in the two paragraphs I wrote. The dentist has a responsibility to me. What he does to himself is up to him. Ann > >> >As a dental patient, what do you consider your responsibilities and to > >> >whom? [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > Ann Ann, The way I read it, you're taking responsibility for knowing exactly what your dentist is going to do and why because you seem to be aware that if you can't prepare yourself in this way, you will suffer for not having done what it is you know you need to do for yourself. The dentist's responsibility is to be certain that the patient is properly informed of any problems found and any treatment recommendations are explained in words the patient understands. The dentist needs to answer all of the patient's questions in an effort to be certain that the patient is properly informed. The patient then must understand the risks and benefits of treatments recommended and the same risks and benefits to oneself, the patient, if the patient should chose not to follow through with recommended treatment. Knowing your options is your responsibility because only you know whether you feel as though you understand everything well enough in order to accept or refuse treatment. And the patient may have a responsibility to oneself to seek additional opinions given certain circumstances and the patient may need to leave the care of a particular dentist if he/she does not have appropriate levels of confidence in a given dentist. This is the way *I* see things (the abbreviated view of how I see things) and I'm interested in your opinion. Webby >The way I read it, you're taking responsibility for knowing exactly what >your dentist is going to do and why because you seem to be aware that if >you can't prepare yourself in this way, you will suffer for not having >done what it is you know you need to do for yourself. You seem to just want to add the word responsibility to any action, and it doesn't really work. >The dentist's responsibility is to be certain that the patient is >properly informed of any problems found and any treatment recommendations [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >know whether you feel as though you understand everything well enough in >order to accept or refuse treatment. Lots of people, many many people, will never understand what you are telling them. Does that mean that they shirk their responsibilities? I don't think so. You are expecting too much of your patients and it is up to you to know which patients will understand and can make informed decisions and which you must push into the right course of action. >And the patient may have a responsibility to oneself to seek additional >opinions given certain circumstances and the patient may need to leave >the care of a particular dentist if he/she does not have appropriate >levels of confidence in a given dentist. You expect too much of your patients. Many don't have the ability to understand and many don't want to understand. Your responsibility extends to these types of patient too. Ann > >The way I read it, you're taking responsibility for knowing exactly what > >your dentist is going to do and why because you seem to be aware that if [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > You seem to just want to add the word responsibility to any action, > and it doesn't really work. If you see it that way, that's okay. And I've shared my personal opinion, for whatever that's worth to readers in general. > >The dentist's responsibility is to be certain that the patient is > >properly informed of any problems found and any treatment recommendations [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > informed decisions and which you must push into the right course of > action. If a person, a patient, does not understand the nature of problems found, the reasons behind proposed treatment plans or the recommendation of no treatment, then the dentist should not push the patient into anything. The dentist needs to explain to the patient what he/she as found and any recommendations. If the patient can not understand this information, the patient can not give an informed consent for treatment (including the option of no treatment). In such a case, someone else who is designated as being responsible for making decisions for that patient must be the recipient of all the information prior to deciding what the patient should have. This person would be a legal guardian of some sort. (Note: These comments concern routine dentistry and not care for a patient in an emergency with a life-threatening condition.) > >And the patient may have a responsibility to oneself to seek additional > >opinions given certain circumstances and the patient may need to leave [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Ann It is the dentist's responsibility to be certain that the person making an informed consent to a treatment option understands what the dentist has asked the patient to agree to. In this respect, a patient who is incapable of understanding the information provided is also not capable of deciding whether to agree or refuse treatment. These patients require special communication considerations. It could be that we will need to agree to disagree about this. I find the discussion quite interesting and I appreciate your willingness to share your ideas about this with the newsgroup's readers. Webby Webby wrote: Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and Responsibilities of dental patients? I'm going to cross post this to alt.support.jaw-disorders . Webby ____________________________ It does sound philosophically academic. People may be able to come up with different rights and responsibilities, but if it's not written into the state law, it can't be legally enforced. - dentaldoc > Webby wrote: > Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > - dentaldoc Aside from the responsibility to pay for services rendered, to be responsible with appointments (keep or cancel according to office policy), and to provide an accurate health history as requested by the dentist, I suppose all others would likely fall into the category of personal philosophy. But ... maybe those other aspects should be illuminated. Patients have responsibilities to themselves and their dentists that are not matters of state law. Example: If a patient does not feel comfortable with a particular dentist's professional care, what is the patient's responsibility to self and the dentist? Philosophy or not, this represents a problem in need of a solution, IMO. Webby Explain his concerns to his dentist and, if he doesn't receive an adequate explanation, seek a dentist more suited to his needs. Sometimes, misunderstandings occur and the mere mention of the patient's concerns can solve the problem and establish a very strong relationship between dentist and patient. Different people will probably need different dentists. Some will be better with a softly-spoken dentist, while others might need someone with a stronger personality, even though the clinical ability of both might be the same. George > Explain his concerns to his dentist and, if he doesn't receive an > adequate explanation, seek a dentist more suited to his needs. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > George I can agree with this. And of course, some people are difficult to please. Whether those patients realize this or not becomes part of the dentist's problems in building a good relationship with the patient. Someone with a special tolerance for "difficult personalities" becomes important. ???? Webby Yes, I suppose that's true. Although I believe that there is no special trait as "tolerance to difficult personalities". If you are too difficult, your dentist will tend to dismiss you after too much aggro and you will probably find yourself drift around until you meet a dentist that just doesn't care too much to take all of this personally. Note that this attitude might not be a bad thing after all. George > Yes, I suppose that's true. Although I believe that there is no special > trait as "tolerance to difficult personalities". If you are too [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > George Tolerance of difficult personalities is probably closely related to "patience with difficult personalities". OTOH, patients can often be heard saying something like, "I don't go to Dr. X for his beside manner -- I go for his technical skill." It works on both sides of the coin, doesn't it? Have a good evening, George. Webby >Explain his concerns to his dentist and, if he doesn't receive an >adequate explanation, seek a dentist more suited to his needs. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >personality, even though the clinical ability of both might be the >same. But.. at the same time it's part of being a professional in the people professions that you learn to be able to respond to different types of people and to work out what they need. It's easier for me to explain with regard to doctors but it's similar for dentists. For the doctor it's a matter of knowing how each patient needs dealing with and how much they need to know. For me, I need to know everything and I have found a doctor who realises that and tells me everything. When that same doctor treats my friend, she tells her enough to satisfy her. My friend doesn't want to know the details or necessarily the prognosis. Similarly with the dentist, I need to know exactly what he's going to do and why, otherwise I will panic. It's up to the dentist to be able to work out what the patient needs and how they need to be treated as a person. That's what marks out a good dentist. Sometimes sadly, specialist doctors are interested in the anatomy and physiology of disease but are not interested in the person with that disease. Sometimes it isn't so important because there's usually someone else to fill the personal role, but with the dentist that isn't so. The dentist needs to be a skilled peoples person. Many are not! Ann >Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and >Responsibilities of dental patients? > >I'm going to cross post this to alt.support.jaw-disorders . > >Webby Yup. I like rights. Come to think of it I like Lefts too! Eh Steve Fawks? He's got my number. When he suggested I was an old Leftist! > >Is there any interest in discussing the topic of Rights and > >Responsibilities of dental patients? [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Eh Steve Fawks? He's got my number. When he suggested I was an old > Leftist! And about the other R -- Responsibilities? You must like those too!?? Or at least you might like to talk/write about the Responsibilities of the Patient (to dentist and self). Maybe you can jumpstart that discussion? Webby ;-) Webby and Ann, Great discussion. I think (am not sure) that many dental offices actually post patient's rights and responsbilities on their websites (if they have a website). In the U.S. I think that each office can make up some of their own rules (to a degree). -Sue PS I will look for some examples. I will use the dentists that are VIPs on Dentistry.com. Most of them have websites. I checked about 10 dental office websites. None of them posted anything on patient rights or responsibilities. Three of them did post payment responsibilites however (how payments can be handled). So I guess Joel may have hot the nail on the head..... -Sue |
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