How to find a doctor interested in providing care for aging patients?

Posted by codered032 @codered032, Feb 14 5:32am

I am new to this group so I will try to keep this short. I am 74yo, have been relatively stable health. I have arthritis and have had joint replacement surgery which has been successful. I was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease in 2019 and treated with a nephrologist. I have been in remission for over two years. Medical treatment has become so specialized. The doctor will only address his area of treatment. Nobody looks at the patient as a whole person. Office visits are limited to 15 minutes and I am lucky if I speak with the doctor for five of those 15 minutes. I am currently on no prescription medication for chronic illness. Last year I attempted to establish a relationship with a gerontologist who never examined me. She reviewed my health history, that was obtained by the nursing assistant, asked a few questions, ordered routine labs, and never scheduled a follow up visit. Recently I called to ask for pain management because I was having an arthritis crisis and her only suggestion was Tylenol. I attend warm water therapy 3-4 X week and Tylenol was of little benefit. She showed no concern for my current condition. I have never asked for pain medication nor have I ever complained about my arthritis. I got the impression that she thinks that at 74 I am going to have pain and that I have to adjust to it. I know that at this stage of my life I need a trusting primary physician who is willing to listen and be interested in my overall health. Any suggestions for finding a doctor who is interested in providing care for aging patients?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Aging Well Support Group.

Do you live near a teaching hospital? They will have a Geriatrics Internal Medicine clinic. I go there and see specially trained Nurse Practitioners who check in with the attending M.D.s. I think it is the best setup for senior health.

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Profile picture for gravity3 @gravity3

Went to my PCP last week. New sign in his exam room about patients keeping their issues to two during a visit!

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Was that at Mayo?

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When my husband with Parkinson's was treated horribly by his neurologist, I went directly to the insurance company advocate and complained about him. He was then referred to a specialist who was excellent. When It came my turn to need a neurologist I contacted the advocate and said that I would see anyone except the creepy neurologist my husband originally had, they gave me a good one.

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We have a similar problem finding good care.My husband had a TBI with alot of hemmorage and he was kicked out of ICU after 3 days!Over the last 10 plus years it's been the same.Uncaring professionals giving biased care.

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A long standing joke in the town I live in is: the docs don't want to know what is wrong with you, they want to figure out why you are living so long past your best before date. lol.
A sign in our town's medical clinic " the doctors only have time to deal with one complaint."
One would think the medical schools are graduating docs on roller skates.

Action plan to deal with docs with limited attention spans and fear of stepping out of their comfort/expertise zone: do your homework,do your homework, do lots of homework!!!!
Write down all your symptoms, when they occur, what possibly sets them off, analyze your diet; do any foods exacerbate symptoms. Are the prescribed medications working,list side effects. List all supplements, etc.
Basically do a thorough health history for yourself. Research as much as possible about your illness.
Go into the above wanting to know more about your illness and its treatment than your doc , more than anyone else knows. Become an expert!
Then once you have done hours and hours of research, come up with
1. Well defined chief complaint
2.A brief but concise History of your chief complaint
3. What are the treatment options?
In my experience, forewarned is forearmed, the more you know and the smarter you say it, will likely get a docs attention.
I am not saying this applies here , but whiners, complainers and people not taking responsibility for their
health are likely going to be given short shrift.
If you have done your homework and can ask the above three things confidently you will, in my opinion likely have your doctor's ear and respect.
If you state the three things in a whiny voice your doc may just stop listening are start thinking about his golf game on the weekend.
An old quote :
People will not remember what you say
People will not remember what you do
People will remember how you make them feel.
When the doctor comes into the examining room ask them how they are doing and how is their day going.
You will make the doc feel like you appreciate them and that will pay enormous dividends.
Docs are last I checked also human.

Good luck
Cheers

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Have you noticed that "women of a certain age" become invisible to people and the world around us?! It's very frustrating and it just makes you want to yell, "HEY - I'm here! Talk to me as a person!" My primary care physician recently retired and just assumed his patients would stay with the practice and continue on with the doctors who are left. While the few I have met in passing seem nice, I don't feel that I've made a connection with any of them. It is so irritating to be ignored and not listened to.

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Amen to that! I am short, old & a woman, so I have to work on being
paid attention to. Have a list when you go in. Also look up the doctor's
education & background so you can find ways to connect to him
or her. Find a female if you think that would help. Good luck
& someone famous once said, " good luck is a matter of preparation"
Amen to that. K

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Profile picture for BeBold @bebold

Same for parents. The nursing home literally killed him. Literally. And agism is real. I turned 70 last week. And having been disabled since I was 24, im totally afraid of SSA getting D/C'd. But I won't be the only elderly person living on the street. And the doctors who mostly practice replacing joints on the elderly will also no longer be employed. Such shortsightedness. Without medicare and the ACA, I wonder if even Mayo would remain standing. Fear on top of all of it is unfair and also top down ageism and ableism. Sorry but at some point we need to be able to talk about this defining moment.

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I am 64. Afraid like you we will lose social security medicare. I am on SSDI. Will be 65 in October. I switched to origional medicare on Jan.1 medicare advantage a nightmare. That is understating it. I filed so many complaints about them with medicare. They sabotaged themselves I prefer female providers too..

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