Be Prepared for Your Medical Visit

12/28/2009

GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR MEDICAL APPOINTMENT

Open and accurate communication is so important to good quality patient care. You may not remember important details about doctor's visit or response to treatment initiated between visits especially if you have hearing problems, multiple medical problems, are overwhelmed, grieving, frightened or have memory difficulties. In addition, patients with neurological disease may have difficulty expressing themselves or be hesitant to ask questions. The following steps are provided to help optimize your time and enhance communication with your doctor or health care team.

Remember you, the patient, and your family are essential team members. You can work together to improve care with your health care provider. Worksheets to help you stay organized will be available to in My Medical Chart in the My Wellness Section of this website. You may find it helpful to print this worksheet for your reference.

You may also find the accompanying article, Be Prepared for your Hospital Visit, helpful.

Step 1: Plan ahead for your doctor's visit

Write down your questions before your visit – sometimes you may forget to ask important questions during your doctor's appointment. Writing them down in a notebook helps remind you to ask when talking with your doctor. Remember to prioritize your questions as you may not have the time to address all in one visit. Allowing space to write answers will enable you to look back at a later time to refresh your memory after the appointment. Caregiver questions are also important and should be included. You can also keep a record of any changes your doctor makes to your treatment for quick reference.

Set goals for your visit - This helps you set priorities for your visit and take charge of your goals so that you get your needs met. You may find the Medical Visit Goal Summary Worksheet a helpful tool to organize your thoughts and goals.

Important items to bring to your first appointment include:

Keep a dedicated notebook for your doctor visits
List of current medications and side effects if any
Copies of previous brain MRIs or CT Scans
Medical notes and addresses of previous doctors

Step 2: Arrive Early, Ask Questions, Optimize your Time

Arrive at least 30 minutes earlier than your appointment to complete patient questionnaire forms. These forms have questions that your doctor feels are important for your visit, especially questions about your medications. Copy this form for your use if your doctor does not use one. Medication is the main treatment for many neurological disorders. Medication accuracy can greatly affect how well your doctor can manage or control your symptoms. Always bring a list of your current medications to each appointment.

Completing patient questionnaire forms will:

provide accurate information for your doctor.
provides for added communication between you and your doctor.
provide information that is part of your permanent medical record.
allow your doctor more time to spend talking instead of writing.
reduce errors (see Reduce Your Medical Errors for more helpful tips) that may occur from one visit to the next.

Ask questions and learn about your condition. Important questions to ask include:

How does my diagnosis impact my independence or quality of life?
Do I need medication and if so, how long will I need to take it?
What are the side effects of the medication?
What symptoms or side effects should be reported immediately?
How often should I make appointments?
Where can I find more information about my diagnosis?

Optimize time with your doctor = equals more time to listen and answer your concerns and questions. Planning ahead, arriving early and completing forms accurately will save time for you and your doctor. Begin by asking your doctor what information is needed of you for each visit to help take care of your symptoms. Ask questions that are important early during your appointment; don’t wait until the end. Finally, consider taking the patient questionnaire forms home to fill out just prior to your next visit.

Step 3: After your doctors visit, keep a record of changes or events that are related to your medical condition.

How often do you leave your doctor’s office trying to remember what just happened? Treatment of neurological disorders can be complicated at times. Bringing along a family member or caregiver to keep track of instructions may help so you can focus on discussing concerns with your doctor. The doctor can only help with issues and concerns that you provide. Try to be an active member of your care. Caregivers can also learn more about your condition if present during medical visits.

Use this checklist to help you with your visits. Remember these steps take work. However, these steps do help you gain the most you can out of your medical visits.

1. Fill out questionnaire if required in advance of appointment. Be complete. Do not use statements like, “no changes”, “same as last visit”, or “the doctor knows what I am on”. Take a blank copy before you leave your appointment.

2. Keep you own list of Medications: to include name, strength, timing, generic or trade. Also include prior medicines that were tried and not effective or caused side effects so that they are not used again.

3. Keep a list of all your treating doctors to include name, address and FAX #.

4. Keep a list of any changes that result from calls to your doctor between appointments.

5. Keep track of medication refill needs before you run out.

6. Keep a list of new medical problems, medicines, or new living arrangements.

7. Finally, ask your doctor what information is important for you to bring to each visit

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