Navigating the healthcare system involves dealing with a wide range of physicians and support personnel. Not all physician partnerships are successful.
Issues like difficulty reaching the doctor, hurried office visits, confusing medical jargon, limited explanations, and inefficient billing support can undermine an aging parent’s experience. The challenge is not to find the perfect doctor with the perfect support staff, rather to find a way to evaluate the experience, identify what’s working, set realistic expectations, and explore work arounds. This is why we created the Good Fit Mind Map.
The Good Fit Mind Map offers families a one-page diagram to rate their experience with a physician and his or her support staff. Once completed and annotated, this assessment helps families in four ways:
1. It reduces the burden and risks of not knowing the big picture. The Good Fit Mind Map provides families with up to date information about how aging parents are interacting with the healthcare team.
2. It reduces the burden of caregiving handoffs. The Good Fit Mind Map offers a quick reference guide for other family members who want to lend a hand with doctor visits, calls to providers, or other tasks. It is especially helpful for coordinating last minute change of plans.
3. It reduces the burden of integrating healthcare provider information. The Good Fit Mind Map serves as an information hub for sending updates to the entire team.
4. It reduces the burden of orchestrating a crisis. The Good Fit Mind Map becomes an invaluable resource for coordinating a response to significant changes in health.
Learn more about Caregiver Mind Maps: New Tools for Eldercare
