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During your last appointment with your T1D health care provider, how many minutes would you estimate you spent with your provider?
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I answered more than one hour because it is a group visit and we spend much time looking and commenting each other data. Then there is also room for private questions.
Gustavo, where do you go to receive treatment, if you don’t mind saying? I would love a similar type of visit.
I live in Naples, Italy. I go to the University Polyclinic in the Diabetology unit, a big structure that cares about 5000, mostly T2, patients. A section is dedicated to T1 patients using advanced technology, and here I chose to take part in group visits. All care in Italy is free and managed by our National Health System.
Maybe I should move to Portugal (from the U.S.), I’d get similar care there. We’ve been discussing it more and more lately. Thank you for replying!
Govt health insurance sets the time that medical professionals are allowed to spend with patients. Basically unqualified people interfering with your healthcare.
I answered 10-19 minutes but If I had additional questions/concerns I am confident my health care provider would have offered more time.
My friend and I who both have T1D have gone to the doctor (endo) together since the 1980s. We have been going to this University of Washington endo since 1993. He spends an hour or more with us each visit. He also has T1D. Feels like family.
Coincidentally, I saw her Yesterday. Every six months, one hour or more. She suggested I nurse exercise mode on my Dexcom from 10 to six, to avoid lows. TI R was 88%. 2% low, which she didn’t like.. …..
I’ve been seeing my current Endo for a little over two years now. We meet every three months and go over my lab results and the data from my CGM and pump. She’s a fantastic listener and communicates very well as she answers all my questions (I usually come with a small list). She also understands insurance issues and she finds ways to make sure I get the most for my costs. Our meetings generally last more than an hour. On a scale of 1 to 10, she’s a 15!
My (soon to be wife) also attends and she likes her, too.
It was via telavisit so….
My teleconf visit yesterday was about 15 minutes. Since we both recognized I had no issues it did not need to last longer. If there were issues she would have spent all the time needed.
I said 10-19 minutes and always close to 19. Meet every 3 months (Medicare) so we stay current on needs or concern. His relaxed personality and knowledge keep things on point.
Usually I am not rushed I feel worth the trip to go.
I stated 30-39 minutes, but it MAY have been marginally longer. A new, to the hospital clinic I was attending, Diabetes Specialist Nurse was involved in my ‘review’ and was ‘learning the ropes’ as to how things were done at this particular clinic. We got involved in a discussion about how diabetes care used to be …. in the days of urine testing, and how we used to have to boil the glass syringe prior to each injection. (I doubt, from her appearance, that she’d have been old enough to remember those days. 😉 )
I’ve noticed since the start of Covid, Endos spend less and less time with their patients and appointments are father apart then they should be. I used to see my Endo every four months before Covid. Then it dropped to once every 9 mos and now more than a year. When she asked why I thought my HgA1c was climbing dramatically I told her it’s because my diabetes is not being managed as well by my health care provider, which is true. No changes in my pump settings were kept up with since her CDE, who I was in touch with every 2-3 mos, retired.
11 min. And he wants to pawn me off on someone else for the T1D because seeing him for two things (really just looking at bloodwork and making zero changes) takes too long 🤬
This question has been asked before. Be original!
My labs are good, my medication and doses rarely change so it’s in and out with Rx refills and that’s it.