5 ways to help your doctor help you

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5 ways to help your doctor help you

Bring a complete list of medications and dosages to your doctor

appointments

If you're seeing multiple doctors, don't assume they're talking to

one another

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/04/03/ep.doctor.visits/index.html?

eref=rss_health

By Cohen

Dr. Adam Dimitrov doesn't play favorites with patients. But he does

have a few favorite patients -- ones who make it easy for him to do

his job well.

Bring details about treatment you're getting from other health

professionals to every appointment.

Take one of his patients who had a liver transplant. Dimitrov is her

internist, and she arrives at every visit with a folder. Inside is a

list of the medications she's taking, copies of letters from her

other doctors and results of her latest imaging studies and lab tests.

This way, Dimitrov isn't searching through her chart for papers that

might -- or very well might not -- be there.

" She makes sure that nothing falls through the cracks, " he said. This

way, he can use their time together to take better care of her.

Now, wait a minute. Shouldn't a doctor have everything -- reports

from other physicians, lab test results -- right there? Why is it the

patient's responsibility to bring them in?

It's true: In an ideal world, a doctor would have your health

history, the medications you're taking and lab results right in front

of him. But we live in reality, and the reality is that these things

are often lost in a mound of paperwork. So here are five things you

can do to help your doctor help you.

1. Bring in a list of medications

Don't waste your precious moments with the doctor saying, " Ummm, I

think I take a yellow pill in the morning -- or is it pink? And maybe

I take it twice a day? " She's a doctor, not a mind reader. Write a

list with the name of the drug, the dosage and how often you take

it. " It's surprising and unfortunate how much time is wasted when

that list isn't together, " said Dimitrov, a family doctor in

Baltimore, land.

2. Come armed with your personal health history

You had your appendix out when? Grandma had Huntington's disease --

or was it Hodgkin's disease? You had a stent for your clogged artery

back in '93 ... or was it a balloon? Your doctor wants to know, and

you shouldn't rely on your memory (this is particularly important if

you have a complicated medical past).

3. Bring in your recent test results and doctors' notes

If Dr. the orthopedist ordered an MRI of your bum knee, you

should assume that Dr. the rheumatologist has not seen it. You

should also assume the two docs haven't spoken to each other. So

before your appointment with to nail down the source of your

knee pain, get a copy of 's notes from your latest visit and a

copy of those MRI results.

4. Make a list of your concerns

Dr. Dana , an internist at s Hopkins, tells his patients to

come in with a written-out list of their top three concerns for each

visit. He says it makes the appointment more focused and useful for

the patient.

This may sound silly -- after all, you made the appointment, and you

know why you're there -- but remember that fuzzy thinking is pretty

common when you get to the exam room. said, " What I really want

is for patients to be prepared like the Boy Scouts. "

Also, if you feel like the doctor is rushing you, ask him to slow

down. " There is nothing wrong with saying, 'I feel you are rushing

me. I am getting nervous; I can't tell you what I need to tell

you,' " said.

5. Don't ask your doctor insurance questions

Don't bother, because he's clueless. " We never know the answer to

what is or isn't covered by your insurer, " said Dr. Jim Braude, an

internist in Atlanta. " Questions about insurance just take away time

in the exam room that should be about your health. " Insurance

questions are, of course, important; a member of your doctor's office

staff should know the answer.