[tdeck]

Here's a fun thing about our system in the US. If you're taken to the emergency room, they'll ask your medical history. And not just once - they'll ask it in the ambulance, radio it ahead to the hospital, then make you wait while they ask you the same questions again and enter them into their system at the hospitsl. Then the next 3 doctors or nurses who come into your room do the same thing, asking you questions you've already answered. Doesn't seem to matter if it's obvious that speaking is painful for some reason (in a case I'm describing a family member had broken ribs).

[arkades]

We do this for a reason. Not only do different people ask specific questions that try to elicit different things, but patients stories evolve with each repetition. People don’t realize how much, but by the third time you’re getting that history, the picture is usually quite different from what the first history depicted.

And since history is 90% of diagnosis, this isn’t some little quirk. It plays a huge role in helping patients. Huge.

[cperciva]

As a patient, I've been guilty of doing this deliberately. At ER triage, my priority is "get into a bed". Once I've been admitted, my priority is "get well". (And once I'm feeling better, my priority is "get out of here"...)

As a type 1 diabetic, if I have high blood glucose and nausea, I'm going to say the letters "DKA" to the triage nurse. I'll never bring it up again -- because the first blood chemistry test answers that question one way or the other.

[bookofjoe]

Reminds me of what an attorney once said to me (I'm a retired neurosurgical anesthesiologist with 38 years experience; I occasionally served as an expert witness): "The client's story never sounds better than the first time you hear it."

[assblaster]

I don't 100% trust what another person reports to me regarding another subject, I'd rather look into it myself and figure out the truth as I see it.

Regarding medical practice, why would a physician rely on what a high school graduate EMT obtains from a patient on the way to the hospital. Sure, it provides a starting point, but in no way would I find that comprehensive.

Similarly, an ER doc has a different perspective than a trauma surgeon, than a cardiologist. They all view things differently and ask different questions relative to their specialty.

[Spooky23]

Then the ass in the insurance cart has to do their thing. My wife almost bled out on the table when one of these idiots was literally blocking the medical people. I physically removed him from the area and almost got arrested.