There comes a point in our lives when most of us will need to visit a new doctor. There are, however, those times when the experience can be stressful to say the least. There will be those times when on our way home we remember the question we really wanted answered. Here is some advice to help take away any regrets you may have on your first visit with the new doctor. You may want to use this advice to help others on their first visit.
Step One: The First Steps
There are several reasons why you may need to see a new doctor:
Maybe you are dissatisfied with your current doctor
Seeking a second opinion.
Changes in your insurance coverage.
Maybe your new doctor is a specialist and your symptoms are beyond your primary care doctors expertise. If this is the case then you will want to make sure you understand the reason for the specialist. Be sure to write down the specific reasons for seeing the specialist.
Be sure to request the specialists name and specialty in writing so you can prepare for the first visit. This way you will be able to do some research so you will feel confident that the specialist has the right training and credentials and that he or she will be a good fit for you.
Before seeing a specialist you should check with your insurance company to make sure you follow their rules for specialist referral. It will depend on the insurance company and the specialist you are seeing, but the insurance company may require your primary care doctor to submit a record of the referral to them. Your primary care doctor's office more than likely will have information on different insurance procedures for referral. It's been my experience that most health care providers do this on their own. But it is still good to have it sorted out before you get to the specialist's office. You must have the proper referral the doctor will not be able to see you.
Step Two: Preparing Your Medical Records
Once you have your appointment scheduled with your new doctor you should make sure that he or she is able to get a copy of your medical records. It's been my experience that you can get a copy of your medical records yourself, for around $15 and sometimes they will even give them to you for no charge. Without you medical records, including any test results, it is much harder for the new doctor to get to the root of your problems. You could find yourself repeating test you already have the results to and they are both time consuming and costly.
With the changes in information technology, providing your doctors are in the same health care system, your records can be brought up through the electronic medical record on the computer. If, however, your records are not on the electronic medical record system your new doctor will have to have the hand written charts from your primary care doctor. In order for your new doctor to get your records you will have to sign a "Release of Medical Records" request form that allows your primary care doctor to send your medical records to the new doctor. It could take up to a week or so for your new doctor to receive the records in his or her office, be sure to include all records dating back to the first time you started experiencing symptoms, including test results since that time.
Step Three: Preparing for Your Visit
Your medical records won't tell the whole story of your health. You will have to fill in the blanks, that's why you should prepare for your first visit by writing down a complete description of your past and current medical conditions and treatments. Microsoft Works has a template that you can use and using a journal to document your symptoms also helps with this process. A symptom journal is a daily record of the symptoms you are experience over a period of several weeks or months. You will start with a description of your symptoms followed by the time of day the symptoms occurred, the length of time they lasted, anything that may have relieved the symptoms, and any other factors associated with their onset. If you keep this diary for any length of time you will start to see patterns. These patterns will make it easier for you to either avoid whatever is the trigger or at least prepare yourself for them. I used this method when I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia and I kept it for over 10 years. I was able to determine my triggers for the fibromyalgia and now I can prepare for them and there are several I totally avoid. This method has helped me to manage my fibromyalgia.
If you put all this information together ahead of time it will reduce the likelihood that you will forget important information that will help your new doctor to make a diagnosis or prescribe effective treatments. This is a list of information you will want to collect:
your current health conditions.
any over-the-counter and prescriptions medicines you take, as well as any vitamins and supplements.
any allergies you may have.
your health history, including conditions you've had, medicines you have taken, procedures, surgeries and medical tests you're gotten.
your family's health history and this includes any conditions that your parents, grandparents, siblings, and children have or had.
the names and contact information of other doctors you have seen.
Having all this information on hand can help the doctor by informing him of any symptoms you have that are related to medications, he will be able to make the connection. If you take a lot of medications and supplements, it might not be a bad idea to bring all the bottles with you. Just put all your medications into a plastic bag and bring with you.
Your new doctor may send out the papers for you to fill out at home before your appointment instead of having you wait until you get to the office, or if it is possible you can fill out the information needed online.
Also, don't forget to bring a list of questions with you that you will want answered in your first visit. A list will prevent you from forgetting to ask something that is important to you. It also helps to eliminate that last minute "Oh by the way can you explain....." as you walk out the office door.
Here are examples of some questions you may want to ask your doctor.
What condition do I have?
What are the potential short-term and long-term effects of my condition?
Is there anything I can do to prevent further problems or complications from my condition?
What are my treatment options? How do they work and what are their potential benefits and drawbacks? Side effects? Cost?
What would be the consequences of "waiting it out" and not following through with treatment?
Where can I find reliable information about my condition?
Now it is the day of your appointment and here are a few things you will need to do for your first visit:
You will need to get directions if you are not familiar with the location and also parking information if you are arriving in a car. I usually take a dry run to the doctors office to determine where it is, and how long it will take me to get there.
Next you will want to plan to get there at least 15 minutes early. Every doctor's office has a different check-in procedure. The front best staff may want to verify or update your information, including the insurance information. There are always changes that will or can occur between appointments, and it is crucial that the staff be up-to-date.
Take your insurance card with you because the staff may want to make a photocopy of it and it will give the co-pay and contact information for requesting prior authorization for medical tests or drugs.
Make sure you get answers to all the questions on the list you made up and any that may have come up during the doctors consultation. At least make sure that you understand everything the doctor is saying to you. Don't hesitate to ask the doctor to spell difficult terms, or write down information that is hard to understand. It is also a good idea to bring someone with you. I always had a hard time trying to relay what the doctor had to say, back to my husband because I was usually in a fibro-fog when I went to see the doctor. I started caring a tape recorder with me on my office visits so I could play it back for my husband and myself.
Toward the end of the this initial visit you should have a clear understanding of how and when you will be following up with your doctor. If test results are involved, you should know how you should know how you will get these results once they come in. Before you leave, ask for the name and phone number of the person to contact should you have questions later.
I'm sure that you are thinking that this seems like an awful lot of work, but in the long run your first doctors visit will go much smoother if you prepare for it and you'll walk out of the office with a better understanding of just what is wrong with you.
Angela Carter is owner of Coastal Health Information Services in Savannah, GA. Visit her website at http://www.coastalhealthinfoservicedotcom.wordpress.com
You should read as much as you can about your condition.
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
No comments:
Post a Comment