Asking your doctor key questions could prevent unnecessary stress, health issues and financial woes.
Most doctors the average person visits on a regular basis are overworked and overloaded with patients. The end result is they don’t take the time to listen to you and you feel rushed in getting in the questions you need answers to. This can be a serious problem especially in these days when you may see a different doctor every time you go. You must prepare for every visit like it is your first and your last.
You wait in a waiting room at your PPO or HMO and you fill out forms on your medical history. When you are finally called into the office you are escorted into a room where you are greeted before long by a nurse or a nurse practitioner. She takes your blood pressure, your temperature and asks a few simple questions. If you ask her a question she can’t answer. She’s not a doctor and cannot offer any medical opinions. If she does? Lawsuit!
Soon the doctor comes in, greets you and maybe some idle chit chat. He looks in your throat, uses a stethoscope to listen to your heart and asks a couple questions. He seems somewhat rushed so you feel somewhat rushed and he offers you a diagnosis, or sends you for some tests if there is something more serious.
“Anything else?” He asks.
You see he’s rushed and you forget what you wanted to ask feeling it may not be that important. He says goodbye, offers a prescription and off he goes leaving you to get dressed and out to the counter to either set another appointment or head home.
What is wrong with this scenario and what can you do to improve the situation? Preparation is the answer.
First of all why are you going to the doctor? If it is for a current ailment such as a cold or flu you have one scenario. If it’s something else, stomach pains, a mark on your arm which doesn’t seem to want to go away or perhaps some chest pains? Either way you must prepare for your visit.
Before you leave home sit down and with a piece of paper write down every symptom you’ve had regarding this illness. Everything no matter how little or how much you think it is not related you write it down. Then think for a moment about other ailments or instances you have where you don’t think your body is acting or reacting properly. Leave nothing to chance. Write them down.
When you get there and the nurse takes your blood pressure make her take it a second time. Studies have shown in the vast majority of cases a second blood pressure test will be different than the first. There are many reasons for this but it seems the studies show the second test is much more accurate. Maybe it has something to do with your stress level or being nervous but insist she take the same test again and write down both results. Be nice about it but insist and tell her why. Tell her studies show there is usually a difference when it’s taken a second time.
When the doctor comes in don’t feel intimidated. In fact chat him up as if he’s your friend. Ask him about his day. Make him feel comfortable with you.
Remember too he is your doctor and your personal physician. You pay him, or the insurance company does, and he works for you. You pull out your list and you take it one by one. Make sure he is listening to your concerns. If he doesn’t answer your question to your satisfaction, ask the same question in a different way. Get your point across. If you need a test to find out more, tell him you will take the test.
Above all cover all the points on your list and don’t hold back. Doctors typically have too many patients and want to work a normal work day. You can’t blame them for that because it’s what we all want and why not? However, because they are slammed from one patient to the next does not mean their medical care should suffer and neither should you.
If all your questions are answered to your satisfaction ask him what you should do in each case. If the answer is low dose aspirin for your heart ask the simple question.
“Baby aspirin or ‘low dose’ aspirin which comes in an adult bottle?”
If he says you need to walk a mile every day ask the simple question.
“Walk fast like I’m really motoring, or walk slowly like I’m walking my dog?”
You need answers and those answers are specific. If you don’t get them then you seriously need to find a doctor who tends to your needs not his golf game.
Kevin Dillon is a professional blogger that enjoys discussing the law. He writes for Obradovich Law, a leading personal injury lawyer in Toronto.
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