Irreverent Providers: Acronyms, Insults and Your Medical Records
Thanks to my brother-in-law, Ken, we now have explanations for those strange acronyms that show up on medical records, or may be overheard when two providers are talking to each other. Ken sent me a link to this article which made me laugh out loud, then made me take pause to consider how it would affect us patients.
See if any of these look or sound familiar:
- CBT or CFT
- COPS
- FLK
- ATS
- supratentorial
- TUBE
(The definitions for each are listed at the end of this post.)
If you haven't already guessed, they are all descriptions and insults used by the medical profession to describe patients in less than respectful terms. There is nothing medical about them, they won't show up on your bill, they may be used in conversation...and while I hate that many of them exist, I understand why they do.
Why is this important to we empowered patients? Two reasons:
First, if we establish good, partnering, working relationships with our providers, then it's probably less likely we'll find any of them on our own records. I would really hate to think my doctor would use any of them for me!
Second, it's one more reason you might want to get a hold of your medical records. You'll want to know if strange acronyms or terms are showing up on your records. It will give you a sense of how your provider regards his or her relationship with you. That may be vitally important someday when you are very sick and need to put your trust in your provider.
Why do these insults exist? We patients can only imagine the stress and pressure providers are under every day, especially in the emergency room. Making life and death decisions, and dealing patients who have unrealistic expectations, day in and day out, would almost necessarily create a need for humor, just to break the tension.
While there's no doubt these terms are used in a sort of "underground" fashion, a shared underground lexicon can also lead to a camaraderie among those who use it. And yes, it's good to know these providers are at least communicating among themselves, even when they don't do a very good job of communicating with us. Of course, that doesn't mean we want to find this kind of information in our records.
I found a master list of these terms, or you can find them on the original link Ken sent me. In the meantime, here are the explanations for those you find above:
- CBT = Chronic Biscuit Therapy (The patient is very fat.) Also known as CFT = Chronic Food Toxicity
- COPS = Chronic Old Person's Disease
- FLK = Funny Looking Kid (parents - have you gotten copies of your own child's records? You might want to check for FLK.)
- ATS = Acute Thespian Syndrome (A drama queen, someone who is faking an illness, also known as MGM syndrome)
- supratentorial = means "above the tentoriam" which is a membrane at the base of the brain. The term supratentorial, then, means, "It's all in her head."
- TUBE = totally unnecessary breast exam, as in "I need to tube you just to rule out breast cancer" (suggesting that patient may not really need that breast exam.)
Are you aware of anymore of these acronyms and descriptions? Please share them in our Patient Empowerment forum.
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Photo © vladacanon/iStockphoto.com
Update to this post - Sometimes an Upset Leads to Good Information
Comments
It’s a little disconcerting, but not too surprising to me (being a Scrubs TV show watcher!).
The one that I am curious about though, is the “funny looking kid” acronym. I’ve heard pediatricians use it - and from what I can tell, it’s not a physical put-down, but rather a note that something seems a bit off, but nothing so definite that further testing makes sense.
For docs who see that child later, it may actually be helpful to know that “something” seemed off even when that child was very young. (as the Autism guide, I know it can make a difference!)
Lisa
Frankly, I as a health care provider and one who has been around doctors and nurses for many years have NEVER heard these terms used so had no clue what they meant, just like the average lay person. Just as an FYI, sometimes doctors and nurses use humor to try and get thru the day and there have been times that we may have laughed at inappropriate moments, when most people would be serious. This is not because we don’t care, it is how we survive. I was an ICU nurse for many years and if I cried over every tragedy, I would have been crying constantly. When it counts, we do care. When it counts, we hold your hand. When it counts, nurses are there comforting patients who are dying and whose families have abandoned them. Now I am off on a tangent. Just needed to put my two cents in. There are a lot of things wrong with the healthcare system. Most nurses, are not one of them. I say most as there are some bad seeds out there too, but for the most part, we are a compassionate bunch.
Wow! I have to say that I agree wth Deborah on this one. In 21 years of nursing I have NEVER heard any of this stuff (except for FLK, which I will get to in a minute). I also looked at both articles referenced in this post, and have never heard any of those things either. If I had, you can rest assured I would not have tolerated such disrespect toward patients.
I am actually somewhat offended by most of them, especially the decription of a “Slow Code” that appears in both of the referenced articles. Slow code is a term that some hospitals use to describe a “mini-code” when patients OPT to have certain treatments withheld through advanced directives. No health-care professional worth his or her license would EVER take their sweet time coding a patient that wanted to live. This is a violation of medical ethics, not to mention illegal.
Now, as far as FLK goes, the previous commenter Lisa is right. We do use that term, or at least we used to. It’s not as common as it used to be, but you’ll still hear it tossed around sometimes, especially among older providers. It is not an insult. It is a way of saying that something doesn’t look quite right with a kid, but you just can’t put your finger on it. Many genetic syndromes will cause unusual facial features, which is why appearance is significant.
As a health care professional I can only say that the use of these terms is NOT common practice. I truly hope these terms aren’t being used anywhere, and am extremely thankful that I have never worked in an environment hateful enough to allow this behavior to take place.
I have worked as a nurse for 24 years and have not come across these terms either. I can’t imagine that it would be legal to even put those in a record.