Physicians enter their professions with the highest of hopes and ideals for compassionate and efficient patient care. Along the way, however, recurring problems arise in their interactions with some patients that lead physicians to label them as "difficult." Some studies indicate that physicians identify 15% or more of their patients as "difficult." The negative feelings that physicians have toward these patients may lead to frustration, cynicism. and burnout. Changing How We Think about Difficult Patients uses a multi-tiered approach to bring awareness to the difficult patient conundrum, then introduces simple, actionable tools that every physician, nurse, and caregiver can use to change their mindset about the patients who challenge them. Positive thoughts lead to more positive feelings and more effective treatments and results for patients. They also lead to more satisfaction and decreased feelings of burnout in healthcare professionals. How does this book give you an advantage? Caring for difficult patients poses a tremendous challenge for physicians, nurses, and clinical practitioners. It may contribute significantly to feelings of burnout, including feelings of exhaustion, cynicism, and lost sense of purpose. In response, Dr. Naidorf offers a pragmatic approach to accepting patients the way they are, then provides strategies for providers to find more happiness and satisfaction in their interactions with even the most challenging patients and families. Here are just some of the topics the author discusses in detail: What Makes a "Good" Patient? The Four Core Ethical Principals of the Clinician-Patient Relationship The Four Models of the Physician-Patient Relationship What Challenges Anybody with Illness or Injury? How "Good" Patients Handle the Challenges of Illness and Injury Six Common Reactions to Illness and Hospitalization On "Taking Care of the Hateful Patient" Standards for Education in Medical Ethics De-escalation Strategies Cultural, Structural, and Language Issues Types of Patients Who Tend to Challenge Us The Think, Feel, Act Cycle Recognizing Our Preconceived Thoughts Three Common Thought Distortions About Patients Asking Useful Questions Getting Out of the Victim Mentality Guiding our Thoughts Through a Common Scenario Show Compassion, Feel Compassion If you're a healthcare provider or caregiver, Changing How We Think about Difficult Patients will give you the benefit of understanding your most challenging patients, and a roadmap to positively changing your mindset and actions to better deliver care and compassion for all.

Improving the outcomes for patients in our changing healthcare system is not straightforward. This grounding publication on case management helps physicians better meet the unique needs of patients who present with poor health and high healthcare-related costs, i.e., health complexity. It details the many challenges and optimal practices needed to work effectively with various types of case managers to improve patient outcomes. Special attention is given to integrated case management (ICM), specifically designed for those with health complexity. The book provides a systematic method for identifying and addressing the needs of patients with biological, psychological, social, and health-system related clinical and non-clinical barriers to improvement. Through ICM, case managers are trained to conduct relationship-building multidisciplinary comprehensive assessments that allow development of prioritized care plans, to systematically assist patients to achieve and document health outcomes in real time, and then graduate stabilized patients so that others can enter the case management process. Patient-centered practitioner-case manager collaboration is the goal. This reference provides a lexicon and a roadmap for physicians in working with case managers as our health system explores innovative ways to improve outcomes and reduce health costs for patients with health complexity. An invaluable, gold-standard title, it adds to the literature by capturing the authors' personal experiences as clinicians, researchers, teachers, and consultants. The Physician's Guide: Understanding and Working With Integrated Case Managers summarizes how physicians and other healthcare leadership can successfully collaborate with case managers in delivering a full package of outcome changing and cost reducing assistance to patients with chronic, treatment resistant, and multimorbid conditions.

Education about death and dying has been almost ignored in medical schools. Recently, however, it has become increasingly obvious that the preferences of dying patients are being ignored, leaving many patients to die lonely, scared, and in pain. There is a growing realization that physicians can help dying patients achieve a more peaceful death and increased recognition that good end-of-life care is not just the province of specialized hospice physicians or nurses. Cooper, a physician and a clinical psychologist with many years of experience, offer insights to help medical students, residents, physicians, nurses, and others become more aware of the different stages in the dying process and learn how to communicate more effectively with patients and their families. They also discuss the ways physicians and other caregivers can learn to reduce their own stress levels and avoid the risk of burnout, allowing them to achieve balance in their lives and be more effective professionally. The authors use case examples and thought-provoking exercises to provide a personal learning experience. bibliography and a unique web resource section with contacts to many organizations working with patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

Written by physicians skilled at coaching colleagues in physician-patient communication, this pocket guide presents practical strategies for handling a wide variety of difficult patient interviews. Each chapter presents a hypothetical scenario, describes effective communication techniques for each phase of the interaction, and identifies pitfalls to avoid. The presentation includes examples of physician-patient dialogue, illustrations showing body language, and key references. This edition includes new chapters on caring for physician-patients, communicating with colleagues, disclosing unexpected outcomes and medical errors, shared decision making and informed consent, and teaching communication skills. Other new chapters describe clinical attitudes such as patience, curiosity, and hope.

This book is designed to provide the physician with a working knowledge of disease management. In today's health care market where pressure is on both providers and managed care organizations to deliver high quality care to defined populations efficiently, knowledge of disease management is crucial. It includes discussions of evidence-based medicine, clinical practice guidelines, and outcomes management.

Despite the advanced technologies at our disposal today, a complete health history and physical examination remain the most crucial diagnostic tools in any healthcare practitioner's arsenal. And no one teaches these all-important skills better than Mark H. Swartz, MD, FACP. For nearly two decades, Dr. Swartz's textbook has shown readers how to derive the maximum diagnostic information from interviewing and examining patients. Using a compassionate, humanistic approach, Dr. Swartz explores how cultural differences can influence communication, diet, family relationships, and health practices and beliefs, and demonstrates that your interpersonal awareness is just as essential in physical diagnosis as your level of technical skill. In this 6th Edition, a new chapter on the focused physical exam prepares you for the USMLE Step 2 CS and the OSCE. You can access the complete contents of the book online at www.studentconsult.com. Discussions of special considerations emphasize cultural differences that may affect your approach to patients ... guide you through assessment of nutritional status ... and inform you of things to look for and remember when examining children, pregnant women, older patients, and acutely ill patients. Pathophysiology explanations help you understand the causes of the symptoms you encounter. Abundant color photographs capture the real appearance of various diseases. Coverage of complementary and alternative medicine alerts you to the clinical implications of these increasingly popular modalities. An appendix on examination of the Spanish-speaking patient provides translations for commonly used medical phrases and questions is available on www.studentconsult.com Over 3 hours of video on DVD demonstrate the complete physical exam of an adult male patient, the breast and pelvic exam of an adult female patient, and the examination of pediatric and geriatric patients. Student Consult access lets you reference the complete contents of the book online, anywhere you go ... perform quick searches ... and add your own notes and bookmarks. A new chapter on the focused physical exam prepares you for the USMLE Step 2 CS and OSCEs.