AARP Hearing Center
What is it like being a patient? That’s something I thought I would never need to ask myself. After all, to become a primary care pediatrician, I went through 11 years of schooling, plus a lifetime of continuing education — both the formal, required type and the learning that comes by doing, the stuff they don’t tell you in school.
Even with all that training and three decades in medical practice, I felt woefully unprepared when I began to visit the doctor’s office more often. I realized how difficult it is to be the one seeking care rather than the one giving it. In other words, being a patient is hard.
As someone who has had multiple physician visits over the years, writer and patient advocate Jackie Duda stresses the importance of a good interaction with your provider: “We, as patients, bear the onus of being able to communicate very clearly with our doctors,” she says.
5 Things to Bring to Your Appointment
- All insurance information
- A list of questions
- A list of your medications, vitamins and supplements
- A summary of your visits with other health care providers
- A friend, relative or other advocate
A good doctor-patient encounter is not just a feel-good moment; it can prevent mistakes. A busy physician often relies on learned rules of thumb or experiences with past patients to make a diagnosis; communicating your situation effectively can keep the doctor from relying too heavily on these and, therefore, prevent errors.
A report by the Institute of Medicine found that explaining findings correctly, promptly and in a way that’s easily understood by patients is also important in avoiding mishaps. That’s a compelling reason to make the most of our office visits. And knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do. With that in mind, here are some behaviors to avoid:
1. Overestimating technical abilities
Though I have never considered myself a rock star when it comes to all things cyber, I was particularly dismayed at the difficulty I had the first time I tried to sign up for a patient portal. Patient portals are increasingly common — a recent national poll found that 3 in 4 adults ages 50 to 80 have used one — but that doesn’t mean they are easy for all of us to use. Similarly, an insurance website or even that check-in tablet can pose problems for those of us who did not grow up with the technology. “Older people [may have] trouble with technology. Get someone to help you,” Duda says.
2. Timing routine visits wrong
If you’re ill, you usually need to seek medical attention promptly. But if it’s likely a routine problem, timing may be everything. My Medicare representative pointed this out to me when I booked my physical. My scheduled appointment was after Medicare’s open enrollment period closed. So if I needed new medications that my Medicare Part D prescription plan didn’t cover, I couldn’t change plans for another year. Based on her advice, I moved up my physical. Timing of routine examinations also comes into play when you’re dealing with a health insurance deductible for your visits. You may be better off booking at the end of a calendar year, after you’ve met your deductible.
3. Coming in unprepared
It’s essential to do your prep before the office visit. Jonathan Appelbaum, an internist and professor of clinical sciences at Florida State University College of Medicine, notes: “We wish that they would come in prepared as much as I come in prepared to see them.” One suggestion offered by Michael Gloth, a geriatrician and faculty member at Johns Hopkins University and Florida State University: Relay your symptoms first, rather than presenting the diagnosis you think you might have. It’s likely that presenting what’s actually happening will be more helpful for your provider to make an accurate diagnosis than telling your doctor what you think the problem is. Coming in with a written list of symptoms is a great start. “Having it all written down ahead of time so that everybody’s on the same page is helpful,” Gloth says.
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