What should the CDP wrap-up discussion cover, and when should the doctor avoid going into clinical findings?
The wrap-up covers business-card-level emergency contact information, expectation setting for the upcoming case presentation, confirmation of who should attend the case presentation, and a clean invitation for questions. The doctor generally does not need to walk the patient through clinical findings during the CDP wrap-up. The findings will be presented properly at the case presentation a week or more later, when the treatment plan is complete and the conversation has time to unfold. Trying to present findings at the wrap-up shortchanges both visits and risks the patient locking in on incomplete information. The exception is when the doctor senses a meaningful gap between the patient’s understanding of the seriousness of their situation and the actual clinical reality. If the patient seems to think nothing significant is wrong when serious problems exist, the doctor needs to surface that mismatch during the wrap-up so the patient arrives at the case presentation prepared to engage with real findings. Otherwise, save the detail for the dedicated presentation visit.
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