A second opinion is an opinion on a matter disputed by two or more parties.
Law
In legal cases, a second opinion which contradicts the opinion of a
jointly retained expert may be disregarded as not being impartial.
Consumer rights
In cases such as
car repairs, a second opinion should be obtained in writing, and the original garage given an opportunity to rectify matters.
In the case of clients' disputes with domestic
building contractors, the builder may seek a second opinion to confirm their view.
Medicine
A second opinion can be a visit to a
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
other than the one a
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...
has previously been seeing in order to get more information or to hear a differing point of view.
Some reasons for which a patient may seek out a second opinion include:
*Physician recommends
surgery
Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
.
*Physician diagnoses patient with serious illness (such as
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
).
[ ]
*Physician recommends a treatment for the patient other than what the patient believes is necessary.
*When physician recommends
elective surgery
Elective surgery or elective procedure is surgery that is scheduled in advance because it does not involve a medical emergency. Semi-elective surgery is a surgery that must be done to preserve the patient's life, but does not need to be performe ...
, it may be required by the
insurance plan. In other cases, insurance will not pay for a second opinion.
*Patient believes they have a condition that the physician diagnosed
incorrectly or failed to
diagnose.
*The physician themself recommends a second opinion.
Different payment procedures apply to different second opinions. For example, some health plans pay for second opinions for members; many employers offer free second opinion benefits through companies like
Grand Rounds
Grand rounds are a methodology of medical education and inpatient care, consisting of presenting the medical problems and treatment of a particular patient to an audience consisting of doctors, pharmacists, residents, and medical students. It w ...
or similar companies; and some states have public programs for cancer second opinions.
Workplace disputes
Second opinions may also be obtained by employers.
Professional mediation
Professional mediators may be asked for second opinions regarding whether to proceed to
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
or seek a
settlement instead.
References
Practice of medicine
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