Listen up, doc! Your forms are ugly

#1

An open letter to my endo clinic:

I work really hard on my diabetes management. I am delighted when those efforts result in an on-target A1C result (because we all know that sometimes those same efforts don’t have the exact same pay-off).

So why can’t you deliver my A1C test results on an attractive form? Instead, I get an ugly, photocopied-umpteen-times, tan half sheet of paper with the number scrawled in a blank.

That just doesn’t cut it!

In fact, next time, I want the entire medical office staff to conga through my appointment room.

And, I would also like you to post a graph of the number of patients in your practice who hit A1C guidelines. No need to reveal personal info, I just want aggregate numbers. 'Cause if you truly support diabetes management as a team approach, then our numbers are your markers of success, too.

Just sayin’.

#2

I would go one step further. Doctors should be paid for good results, not for how many tests they order.

#3

Isn’t that how it works in the UK?

#4

oh wouldn’t that be nice. my doctor rarely does tests. when he does it’s usually the standard A1c.

#5

I would love to see them do the conga, lol. My doctor has a poster with a graph of the monthly average of all her patients. It goes back a few years. It’s usually between 7 and 8. I do my best to keep it lower, but it seems I’m outnumbered.

#6

Go, Kat! Keep doin’ what you’re doin’ to keep that average low!!