A sidebar in a Wall Street Journal article, Oct 31, 2007, Personal Journal, page D1,”Making the Most of Doctor Visits”:
Pinched for Time
Some tips for getting the most of your doctor’s visit:
- Write down questions/issues for the doctor beforehand, in order of priority
- If it’s a diagnostic visit, prepare a detailed description of the symptoms
- Bring a list of content medications and dosages
- Ask for decision-support aids, and print or reliable web-based infromation about conditions and treatments
- Make sure before the visit that the doctor has received test results/reports from other labs or doctors
- If you’re unsure whether you can effectively interact with the doctor, bring a family member or friend
- Take notes and/or ask the doctor if you can record the session for later review (note from snoety: with all the litigation around I’d be surprised if NY doctors would allow the last, but I could be wrong)
