But doctors are not lawyers, and being human, they sometimes are reluctant to bring up certain questions that may embarrass the patient or worse, the doctor. Thus, vital medical information that could affect the diagnosis and its potential treatment is often unstated, resulting in a needless delay in arriving at a solution.
Why aren’t the questions asked? Sometimes the question is too intimate because it relates to sexual habits or drug history. The doctor may suspect something but isn’t quite sure how to broach the subject. It’s also, at times, a human communication problem – the patient doesn’t want to admit something like non-compliance with taking medicine, and the doctor doesn’t force the issue.
It’s an issue that needs more public attention. Most information on this topic centers on what patients won’t ask doctors. What doctors don’t ask patients is left for the medical journals.
Sometimes the lack of candor on the part of doctors and patients is a matter of trust. A Gallup survey from 2010 on health care reported that 70 percent of Americans are confident in their doctor’s advice. That was an increase from 2002, when 64 percent of Americans felt that way. The report also noted that the older you are, the more trust you have in your doctor. Eighty-five percent of those 65 and older felt confident enough in what the doctor told them that they would not seek a second opinion.
However high that percentage appears, it still indicates a gap between doctors and at least some of their patients. In fact, the same survey showed that Americans trust nurses more than doctors.