The Commonest IVF Patients’ Complaints About Their Doctors

There is no patient who cannot recount horror stories about doctors. If you ever reveal yourself to be a doctor at a random party, be prepared to be regaled with endless complaints as to how terribly insensitive and uncaring doctors are these days. Apparently, their legendary family doctor was far superior  and everyone fondly remembers the caring doctor of yore, who made house calls and was a friend, philosopher and guide along with being a doctor !

That doctors do not share information with them is by far one of the most common complaints. This is a rightful complaint as doctors, being busy, do not share information with their patients unless they feel that the patient needs it. If the patient’s health is improving they feel that it is useless to burden them with information about their pathophysiology and differential diagnosis. But if the patient doesn’t get better, they will most likely have complaints against the doctor for not sharing all information with them. Assuming that he deliberately withheld information they imagine that the doctor is simply out to cheat them. But the fact is, he may simply have been too busy to reveal information to them.

It is a waste to make complaints that your doctor does not share information with you. You only become sulky, enraged, sad and bitter with your doctor being none the wiser about your resentment. Your doctor most probably thinks he has told you whatever you need to know.

Learning productive strategies to work as active partners instead of being passive recipients of treatment can be a wiser approach for patients. It is best to turn confrontational with the doctor only if the output is bad. Patients need to learn to be more assertive instead of being inert.

If you want more light shed on what information you need to maximize your chances of IVF success, please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !

Why are IVF Patients scared of Complaining About Doctors

A doctor couple who had had failed IVF treatment at another clinic came to Malpani Clinic. The ophthalmologist husband and the dermatologist wife had undergone two IVF cycles in a leading Mumbai hospital. When I asked him for notes and photos of the embryos from their previous IVF treatment, they confessed to having none. This was a setback for me because I could create a treatment plan more easily if I had known what the other doctor had done. The documentation would have served as a template which I could wisely modify according to the patient’s individual response,  to facilitate her to grow eggs of better quality and to improve her chances of pregnancy. With such valuable information unavailable, I was forced to start all over again with just my speculation to aid me.

Despite being a doctor himself, the patient became defensive when I asked them for these details. They said that this hospital didn’t have the norm of providing documentation. I explained to them that a discharge summary, operative note and relevant photographs are always provided to the patient every time a medical procedure is done. I expressed surprise at the fact that despite both of them being doctors, they didn’t even insist on getting the basic paperwork for their IVF treatment. Discomfiture visible on their faces, they revealed that they had assumed that this was the way it worked in Mumbai! I got to know that they had been told to pay in cash by their doctor and hospital and had not received any receipts for the same as well ! Presuming this to be the usual norm, they hadn’t bothered to ask any questions. 

Is your IVF doctor hiding information from you ? If you need more light, please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !

Is It Right for IVF Patients to Make Complaints Against Their Doctor when their cycle fails ?

All doctors wish to see their patients get better. Rightly so, because helping and healing others is one of main motivations for someone to become a doctor in the first place. Doctors have chosen a profession which is the pinnacle of service provision. Doctors have a direct personal relationship with their patients. The best doctors invest plenty of time and energy for their patients’ happiness.

Even business-wise this is the right thing to do. Satisfied patients offer good reviews about the doctor, which become attractants for new patients.  Doctors are well aware of this strategy which is the best form of marketing for the medical profession. Therefore, if the patients are happy , so are their doctors.

Sadly, not all patients respond well to IVF treatment. Sometimes medication may not work or the body may not respond properly to treatment. In IVF treatment, a major chunk of the outcome is beyond the doctor’s control. Even the best doctor can only make the embryos in the IVF lab and then transfer them into the uterus. What happens thereafter is out of the doctor’s hands. Unfortunately, a major portion of embryos do not become babies. It implies that the chances for the success of a single IVF cycle are less than the chances for failure.

This harsh truth is irrefutable. So we put in our best efforts at educating our patients at Malpani Clinic and preparing them for all eventualities.  We are frank with our patients and show patients photographs of their embryos even when the odds are not in their favor. We encourage patients to get as well informed as possible , so that they may expect realistic results out of our efforts.

Patients are visibly depressed when an IVF cycle fails, and even though they may appreciate our sincere endeavor. . When an IVF cycle fails, rather than complain, a smart patient must analyze the failed cycle with their doctor. 

Need help in analysing your failed IVF cycle ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !

Dr. Malpani Addresses Patients’ Complaints

Malpani Clinic puts in its best efforts to provide high quality medical care to all patients. However, there are still several unhappy patients who have many complaints about us. We strive to address these complaints the best way we can. There are mostly three kinds of complaints about Malpani Clinic.

Firstly, patients feel that the services offered by Malpani Clinic are way too costly. Expensiveness, as a parameter is hard to measure. Compared to other IVF clinics in India, Malpani Clinic is indeed costlier. However, reviews of the costs of the IVF clinics in the UK and the USA make it clear that the rates offered at Malpani Clinic are significantly more affordable. This rate is justified by our higher rates of success with IVF and a more personalized care when pitted against other IVF clinics. Patients usually shirk from spending a lot on medical care. Thus, when they go for IVF treatment, the prices come to them as a shock. But Malpani Clinic has published all the rates in the website and we are quite straightforward about our costs. Patients who have this information before approaching us have no reasons for surprise and therefore no reasons for complaints.

Secondly, patients are disgruntled that I am too frank and honest with them which hurts their feelings. This is true again as I don’t believe that I should cheat patients with pleasant sounding words when the truth is that they have a bad prognosis. I explain things to them as honestly as I can. Telling patients what they want to hear instead of what is the truth serves no practical purpose. It only fosters false hopes in the patient’s mind. Learning about the truth as soon as possible, helps them find a solution for their problems in time. 

Read more about the third complaint about Dr. Malpani at http://blog.drmalpani.com/2012/10/patient-complaints-about-dr-malpani.html

The Cost Factor in IVF Treatment

There are many infertile patients who with proper IVF treatment could get pregnant. Sadly, their financial status does not permit them to afford an IVF treatment which is quite expensive. Thus, they are left childless. The degree of emotional trauma for these patients is unimaginable. Knowing full well that they can conceive with IVF treatment but are unable to afford it is a very heartbreaking and frustrating reality for them.

Not just patients, IVF specialists too feel upset about this. IVF specialists know that they can medically solve this patient’s problem but just because the patient cannot pay for it, they are anguished that they cannot offer them this treatment. This is a phenomenon that is prevalent not only in India but across the world. It is therefore, of utmost priority that we find ways and means to make IVF treatment more affordable.

If the government took pains to help infertile couples achieve their desired family size , instead of only helping couples with too many children to limit it, this would make a huge difference to infertile couples. This could be implemented in the form of inexpensive and cost effective IVF programs in medical colleges and government hospitals. Considering the huge turnover of M. D. gynecologists churned out by medical colleges in India, it is surprising that they have never had any exposure to IVF treatment. It is sad that these gynecologists are under qualified and that we haven’t  implemented any changes in this scenario yet. Running IVF treatment schemes in government hospitals would not only allow gynecologists to obtain adequate hands-on experience in IVF treatment, it would also ensure quality medical services for infertile couples who cannot afford expensive private IVF clinics. 

Want to explore less expensive alternatives to IVF ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/malpaniform.htm so that I can guide you better !