Why nobody remembers the appointment

How we work

Write it down, then stop

Patients recall a fraction of what is said in a consultation, and much of what they do recall is wrong. Add worry, a diagnosis and a language that is not their first, and the written summary afterwards becomes more important than anything else that happened that day.

The second failure is between providers. A specialist changes a medication, the primary care physician never hears, the pharmacy flags nothing because it sees only part of the picture. Chasing results and confirming they arrived is unglamorous and prevents a surprising amount of harm.

The discipline is knowing where to stop. It is tempting, sitting with a worried family, to offer an opinion on the treatment or the insurance plan. Both are licensed territory, and the honest service is to write down exactly what the clinician said, make sure the question got asked, and point to the right professional for the rest.