I have never been to a doctor who I’ve had a problem with. I can’t think of a single time. If you have experienced a bad physician visit or a physician you did not click with, the reality may be that you were a bad patient. Or perhaps you were an ill-prepared patient. An empowered patient tries to get the most out of their physician visits.
Over the years I have written a lot about empowering patients. I’ve written about using the Internet to educate yourself to better manage your health. I’ve written about strategies to shop for drugs and self-care with OTC drugs. At least initially, most care is self-care with over-the-counter drugs. After a physician visit, it’s your responsibility to follow your doctor’s orders. One topic I don’t think I’ve written about is how to be good a patient, or at least not a difficult patient. It’s all about improving the doctor patient encounter.
I suspect that most people do not prepare for physician visits like they prepare for a visit with their tax accountant. Before visiting my accountant, I spend days (sometimes weeks) pulling records together and preparing income statements, listing office expenses, miles driven for business and deductions against my income. I know my accountant can’t read my mind – especially long after I’ve left her office. Patients should follow the example when seeing their doctors.
Healthline ran an article with tips on how to get the most out of your next physician visit. It has some good ideas. The first tip:
Doctors are not superheroes.
They can’t help you if you don’t tell them about your problem in an organized way. They can’t read your mind. Neither can they wave a magic wand and cure you. You have to be part of the solution.
Bring a summary of your medical history with questions.
Too many people go to their physician empty-handed. Patients sometimes arrive with only a vague description of their health concerns. Or they expect their doctor to have spent 30 minutes going over their medical records of past visits. Physicians may have 3,000 patients and can’t spend more than a minute or two reviewing your files prior to the exam. Having a short list of questions helps you remember what to ask. If you see multiple doctors and take multiple medications, bring a list of all the medications you take.
“Just because they have a medical record in front of them doesn’t mean they have all your history because not all the systems speak to each other. The one at the hospital where you had a procedure may not be the same system at your doctor’s office,” she said.
Limit the small talk.
Years ago I had a great doctor who spent close to 15 minutes asking about my job in health economics. I’ve had others talk about it too. Only later did I realize small talk about my job was not using my doctor’s expertise. In these two examples I was in for a checkup but if I had an actual problem needing diagnosis, I would not be getting my money’s worth.
Report your symptoms, not a suspected diagnosis.
I don’t fully agree with this tip. Describe your symptoms as accurately as possible. If I’ve done extensive research on my symptoms, I would mention that Mayo’s website mentioned XYZ but let the doctor do the work. You want to avoid your doctor wasting time explaining why you don’t have brain cancer just because you have headaches.
Allow yourself to be examined.
This seems strange to me, but a physician interviewed for the article said many people come in with a specific complaint and refuse to allow their doctor to examine them beyond that specific complaint. When I went to see a dermatologist about a lump on my back I was elated when he examined me for other skin problems and wrote me a prescription for a steroid eczema cream.
Avoid confrontation and threatening behavior.
The most efficient way to derail a physician visit it is probably being belligerent, confrontational, or exhibiting threatening behavior. A physician visit is designed to convey information about your health from patient to doctor and back to patient. Interfering with that line of communication is not likely to improve the outcome.
Comply with treatment.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to pay to see a doctor only to disregard his or her advice. Medication nonadherence is believed to be 40% to 50% of patients. A visit does nothing if a patient makes no attempt to follow the treatment. Finally:
Advocate for yourself respectfully.
If you are concerned or confused about a diagnosis or treatment, asking your provider to explain why they are choosing this path is acceptable.
“Perhaps you can say, ‘We have a strong family history of heart disease, so I’m really concerned that this discomfort I’m having in my chest is related to some sort of serious heart disease,’” Naidorf said.
There are numerous ways to make your physician visits go smoother with the maximum amount of information exchanged. At its core, a physician visit is an information exchange. Patients and diagnostic testing provides the input while physicians generates output. Although most care is ultimately provided by patients themselves, such as taking medications, diet and exercise, physicians’ expertise is required. Anything patients can do to make that exchange more efficient improves the outcome.