Secret Shoppers for Doctors' Offices

 

According to an Associated Press article, undercover patients are now testing doctors.  Indianapolis-based Perception Strategies provides undercover patients in 25 states.

 

Dr. James Loden, an ophthalmologist, has had undercover patients evaluate him.  "Employees, including doctors, are paid to do specific tasks; if they choose to perform at a level that is less than acceptable, they need to improve or find other jobs."

 

This is good news for CFS patients.  Doctors who don't listen, or who substitute their assumptions for what the patient actually said, will be called to account by their supervisors when the secret-shopper reports come in. 

 

Meanwhile, there are things you can do yourself: request to see your file so you can find out before it's too late whether a doctor has made disparaging comments about you or your CFS diagnosis; if you feel your doctor doesn't listen to you, report to Administration of the medical group or medical center that he's not performing acceptably; if a serious error has been made, report it to the State Medical Board, with a copy of that report to the doctor and his supervisors.  You may even want to suggest to Admin that they have a secret shopper come in and test a bad doctor.  Or sign yourself up to work as a secret shopper to earn a little extra spending money.

 

Too many doctors perform unacceptably where CFS is concerned.  They don't understand it, but refuse to refer you to a specialist.  Or they mistakenly believe that it's just another name for depression and that the only treatment is anti-depressants.  Anti-depressants are useless against CFS, and there are plenty of medical journal articles available online that you can print out and show to your doctor if he persists in prescribing an endless variety of anti-depressants in hopes of finding one that will help you. 

 

The only things which have been proven to work on True CFS are anti-viral medications; however, since Ampligen is only available to patients who were previously enrolled in a clinical trial, and the one Dr. Montoya is testing runs over $1000 a month for a minimum of 6 months, you may want to first try sleeping pills.  They will not cure the virus, but they may improve your immune function to the point that your immune system can get the upper hand over the virus, and you'll feel better.  However, a doctor who doesn't listen to you will never understand that what you have is a virus and not depression.