What gaps between the clinicians expectations and the patients expectations can increase the risk of an allegation of a failure to diagnose colorectal cancer?
Non-alignment of expectations between provider and patient can complicate the care process and be a trigger for complaints following a poor outcome. To avoid this, clinicians should be careful to: • Clarify for the patient what the role of the primary care provider (PCP) entails in order to calibrate patient expectations. • Use probing style questions to elicit relevant patient information. • Consider other mechanisms to elicit patient information in preparation for the office visit by providing self-administered questionnaires via mail or in the office while waiting to be seen. Review responses directly with the patient at beginning of the visit and clarify information as needed. • Use diagrams and illustrations to highlight a patient’s complaint or abnormal finding discovered by the PCP as part of the physical examination. • Establish mechanisms (personal tickler system or office-wide systems) to track patients through the diagnostic process. • Communicate all test results directly t
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