The good, bad and ugly of medical consumerism.(patient responses)

Australian Doctor,  December, 2006  by Fogarty, Jon

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Australian Doctor guest editorial by Dr Jon Fogarty.

A PATIENT of mine recently underwent shoulder arthro-scopy at a private hospital. She was discharged uneventfully later that day.

The next day her surgeon phoned her at home. Was she well, he enquired. Was the pain relief adequate? He repeated the operative findings to her, because he said he felt she might have been a little groggy from the anaesthesia when he explained them to her in the post-operative ward. Finally, he asked if she had his contact number in the event of any problems.

Three days later the hospital phoned ...

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