Confidia is a new kind of primary care, but I would say that it’s really the way primary care should always be. New patients – we call them “Confidians” – are often amazed at the things we show them about their health. Patients will say, “My doctor never told me anything like this.”

So, if you’re wondering about the effectiveness of your primary care doctor, ask yourself these questions:

Is Your Doctor Showing You Potential Problems BEFORE They Arise?

Medicine today doesn’t allow the primary care provider enough time to see problems on the horizon. The patients feel sick, they come in, and they get treated; but that’s not what medicine is all about. Medicine is about finding a problem that’s brewing and then trying to fix it before it develops. Hence, I would rather be proactive than reactive. I will treat the problem when it arises, but my goal is to have found the conditions that might bring about a problem before it ever arises.

Is Your Doctor Telling You About New Advances in Science?

When I became a physician, it required me to become a constant student. What I learned twenty years ago in medical school may or may not apply to what is happening now in today’s scientific world. My goal is to stay on the cutting edge of medicine, as well as treatment.

In order to do that, I never stop learning. I go to continuing medical education classes to learn what the issues are, how to discover them, and how to treat them. This takes effort – time from my family, from my office, from my work – but it is essential to stay on top of advancements in medicine, and to treat each patient in the way they want to be treated.

Is Your Doctor Making Sure You Have Clear Information?

It’s important for me as a physician to ensure that my patients clearly understand the results that I’m telling them, and that they take this knowledge home with them. Often, patients are only absorbing a third of the information that their physician is trying to convey to them.

I have been accused of repeating myself – perhaps from my Italian background. I talk with my hands, and I tend to repeat important points, but it’s for a reason. It’s because I want my patients to clearly understand exactly what we are discussing, so they can clearly understand that we need to do something about it.

Is Your Doctor Showing You “Colors?”

One science-based analysis that I do is advanced cardiovascular and lipid testing. It’s great for the obvious information about your health, and because the results are color-coded: Green = normal, Yellow = not normal, and Red = bad. With this approach, I am proud to say that I work with some of the most educated patients because I take the time to explain:

• The tests we’re doing
• Why we’re doing them
• The results of the tests
• What we’re going to do about any issues

When I say “green is good,” and “yellow and red are bad,” that sets the bar with my patients and provides us with a target to attain: we are going to be proactive and change those colors to green. Any issue that initially tested in the yellow range will never go to red, and reds and yellows will eventually become green. This is being proactive instead of being reactive.

Is Your Doctor Explaining His/Her “Mission?”