Cardiologists say heart patients are often their own worst enemy
According to many cardiologists, the No. 1 challenge they face on a day-to-day basis is competing with the damaging lifestyles of many of their patients.
Patients who smoke or abuse alcohol, for instance, can often be difficult to treat, especially if they are unwilling to make significant lifestyle adjustments for their own benefit.
That’s all according to a new survey of more than 400 U.S. cardiologists performed by KS&R, a New York-based market research firm. Each respondent was asked about the biggest challenges they face when treating and managing patients. The most common answer (62%) was patient lifestyle, followed by patient compliance (43%), high insurance costs (41%) and the high costs of practicing medicine (36%).
“Physicians can provide educational materials or suggest lifestyle changes, but if the patient is not able or willing to comply then their condition is only going to get worse,” according to the report.
The KS&R report also asked respondents about what could potentially make their jobs easier. The most common answers included lower costs for patients (32%), less time spent dealing with insurance providers (28%), fewer practice inefficiencies (25%) and improved patient education (22%).
“Interestingly, those who have been in practice a long time focus more on costs and insurance,” according to the report.
Cardiologists interviewed for this survey averaged 18 years on the job. While 56% of respondents came from a practice with 11 or more physicians on staff, 18% came from a medium-sized practice with six to 10 physicians and 26% came from a small practice with up to five physicians.
“This report provides critical insight into what cardiologists are facing as they treat patients and points towards ways in which companies that serve cardiologists can address them,” David Ouellette, KS&R’s healthcare director, said in a statement.
The full report is available here as a PDF.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.