You know you are in
trouble:
When a new patient demands
an appointment at a specific time on a specific day.
When a prospective patient
requests your curriculum vitae and your malpractice profile.
When the patient asks how
long your secretary has been with you.
When the patient is
overbearing with your secretary and meek with you.
When the patient says he or
she has already consulted three or more plastic surgeons.
When the patient extols you
and lambasts all other doctors.
When the patient says that
he or she doesn't expect much and claims to be realistic.
When the patient says she
will refer all her friends to you if the procedure turns out well.
When the patient asks to
record the initial consultation or brings a friend who happens to be a court
stenographer.
When the patient inquires
whether you are too old to know the latest techniques or too young to have
the necessary experience.
When the patient is a
malpractice attorney who advertises for clients.
When the patient, elegantly
dressed and bejewelled, pays with check that bounces.
When the patient requests
more than two preoperative visits because she still has "a lot of questions"
despite the fact that you have already spent hours together.
When you inquire after the
operation how he or she is doing and the reply is "You tell me."
When the patient asks
whether you or the resident did the procedure.
When the patient wants to
know whether you were too tired or upset when you performed the operation.
When a patient, 5 days
after a face lift, deplores her swelling and ecchymosis and states angrily
that her friend had "the same operation" and "looked perfect right away."
When the dissatisfied
patient and her husband come into the office and look like Grant Wood's
"American Gothic."
When a patient does not
return a few weeks after the operation.
When a patient asks you to
give back the fee.
When a patient, after a
breast operation, says that "he doesn't come near me because of the scars."
When a patient who is not
moving requests his or her records.
When a letter arrives and
the envelope has more than a name in the upper left corner.
When an unhappy patient
spends her time in the waiting room talking to new patients.
You know you are in trouble
when you think you are not!
Reprint
from: “Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery”
Robert M. Goldwyn, MD
1101 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446,USA
Tel: ++1 617 731 8473
Robert M. Goldwyn, MD
