[What is behind the hidden agenda?]

The physicians often forget to ask their patients if they would like to discuss other complaints or topics. It is sometimes quite difficult to explore the patient's complaints; while the physicians tend to focus on the immediate problem, the patients may have not only one, but several hidden agendas during a visit. In a caring relation there is a clear advantage to clarify the implicit. The search for the hidden agenda is to improve the care of i) biomedical problems ii) the social quest presented to the physicians. The sentence "Oh, by the way, doctor..." should not be only understood as an information but also as a relational expression and a reaction to the imminent separation from the physician.