Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
    Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • About MCN
  • Careers
  • MCNTalk
  • Contact Us

MCN | Medical Consultants Network

The Power of a Second Look

  • Services
    • Independent Medical Examinations
    • Medical Peer Reviews
    • Bill Review Services
    • Utilization Reviews
  • Expertise
    • Short and Long-Term Disability
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • Auto/PIP/Casualty/Liability
    • Independent Review Organization Services
  • For Clients
  • For Providers
  • Your Exam
    • About Your Exam
    • About Your External Review
    • Contact & Scheduling
  • Schedule Now
  • About MCN
  • MCNTalk
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

MCNTalk
News, Insights & Opinions

Home / MCNTalk / Discovering the new normal: It's not just "small talk" when ...

January 25, 2011

Discovering the new normal: It’s not just “small talk” when it comes to assessing life quality

Per this New York Times article, when physicians fail to ask probing questions about quality of life, addressing only the physical aspects of a chronic illness, they are likely to miss serious problems that can be remedied — among them depression, sleep disruption, loss of sexual desire and difficulty with everyday or pleasurable activities.

Of course, everyone knows that a doctor’s time these days is limited. But for medical care to be delivered efficiently and economically, assessing health-related quality of life is an essential element that can help doctors identify therapy that is counterproductive or ineffective or needs to be modified.

As Dr. Gordon H. Guyatt of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, put it in an article in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings,  “If the primary goal of therapy is to improve the way patients feel,” assessing quality of life when making clinical decisions is essential. And it is the patient, not the physician, who obviously defines “quality of life” for themselves.

Identifying a disease’s effects on patients’ quality of life can result in treatments and self-management techniques that may enable them to reclaim their former lives. Arthritis patients, for example, might try to be more physically active and better control their weight. Or, as Dr. Rainer, author of Arthritis Self-Management put it, “Quality of life depends on how well you can integrate new circumstances into your life.”

 

47.608945-122.332015

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Print

Tagged: Cost Containment, The Practice of Medicine Leave a Comment

Previous Post
Next Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • The Quality Divide: What Makes a Quality IME Physician?
  • The Quality Divide: Is Your Vendor Driving IME Excellence?
  • The Quality Divide: When and How to Request an IME?
  • April Clinic Calendars Are Available
  • MCN’s Client Portal Login Page is Changing

Archives

Footer


  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Quick Links

  • Services
  • Expertise
  • About MCN
  • Careers

Division Headquarters

MCN
1200 5th Ave., Ste. 650
Seattle, WA 98101

See all offices

Email Us

General Inquiries: info@mcn.com
Sales & Marketing: marketing@mcn.com

Call Us

206.343.6100
800.248.6269

© Copyright 2023 Mitchell International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap