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Why Seniors Need a Medical Team

The Importance of Health Professionals Working Together for You

Mar 4, 2009 Wendy J Meyeroff

Most adults age 65-plus are coping with at least three chronic health problems and juggling several medications at once. How can eight minutes with a doctor help?

Experts today estimate the average doctor spends about eight minutes (15 if they’re lucky) with each patient. Considering the data above, it’s easy to see why most older adults are not getting the kind of comprehensive health attention they need.

So it’s critical for today’s seniors to have a true medical team, a group that really works together to provide complete healthcare. Everyone should ask themselves if all the following people are currently part of their health care arsenal and if they’re being utilized for maximum benefit.

Have You Evaluated Your Doctor?

The person central to anyone’s health care team is the primary care doctor. Even adults who’ve been with their physician for years should start asking whether that doctor is still qualified to deal with more complex geriatric care issues.

Also ask how long the doctor takes during consults. That includes being willing to read and discuss an article like this one. That may also mean being willing to call the patient or schedule a follow-up discussion time.

When a doctor isn’t willing to spend this time, it may be necessary to be honest and ask whether this is still really the right physician to handle increasingly complex needs.

Remember Hearing and Diet Experts

Someone with heart or circulatory problems generally needs a cardiologist. A gastroenterologist fights chronic heartburn or other gastrointestinal problems. Most seniors need either an optometrist or an ophthalmologist as visual problems develop or worsen.

Two experts almost no one mentions: a hearing specialist and a dietitian. Most seniors deny hearing problems even after they’ve made life miserable for everyone around them. Instead, make sure hearing is checked regularly—and then find an expert (an audiologist) for hearing aids.

Almost no one out there is eating properly—and frankly many primary care doctors aren’t trained in nutritional issues. Anyone who already has problems like high cholesterol can definitely benefit from a dietitian’s guidance, but so can others. Someone who has had a dietitian analyze his lifestyle and design an eating program that takes that and his tastes into consideration is more likely to stick to the plan—and thus be more likely to avoid heart disease, diabetes, and other diet-related health problems.

The Pharmacist is Your Friend

Today pharmacists play a more important role in consumer health care than ever, since they’re often the only health professional who knows all the medications someone is taking. Regularly ask the pharmacist for an updated list of all medications, doses, etc. Keep one set and give one to the primary care doctor.

Don’t be afraid to get advice from the pharmacist, including more information on a new drug. Too often, today’s hard-pressed physicians provide a prescription and some quick advice: “Take this twice a day with food.” The pharmacist has a special section of the counter to go over specifics on a medicine; don’t hesitate to ask.

Be the Team Leader

Unfortunately most of your experts are still not connected, not by email and not even by phone. So it’s up to the patient to be the team leader. That’s especially true since the Privacy Act (HIPAA), which doesn’t allow doctors to exchange information without the patient’s permission. That means seniors need to say something to their doctor like, “Please make sure Dr. XXX gets a copy of these records.”

Try to make sure all the prescriptions go to the same pharmacy. With the economy being so tough it’s hard not to go to several different places seeking the best prescription prices. But if some of your medicines come from a chain store and some from online, it will be hard for a doctor or pharmacist to counsel you.

Consider the Medic Alert Foundation, an organization that keeps people’s medical history in a centralized location and provides ID to carry. There are a number of copycats, but the original is based in California and found at the website linked to here.

Finally, don’t forget there are other people who can enhance this team health care approach including fitness trainers, housekeepers and meal preparers. The local Department of Aging can often provide directions to such help that’s available at little or no cost.

The copyright of the article Why Seniors Need a Medical Team in General Medicine is owned by Wendy J Meyeroff. Permission to republish Why Seniors Need a Medical Team in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.