We pre-plan our life, our financial goals and our funeral. Is it time to pre-plan our visits to the doctor?
Back in 2006, the College of Family Physicians of Canada conducted a survey that revealed 17 percent of Canadians do not have a family physician – nearly five million people! But even more concerning was that two million were looking for a doctor and couldn’t find one. With our aging population, we’ll see the number of Canadians seeking family doctors steadily increase. There is a looming crisis in primary care as more and more family doctors are feeling pressure to see more patients, as well as the frustrations of trying to access care for their patients.
How can we, as patients, help with this crisis? Can being prepared and pre-planning for a visit to the doctor benefit us?
Recently, one of my myNurse™ health management program clients expressed how stressful it was when she needed to take her mother-in-law to the doctor. Not only were there the challenges in arranging transportation, as her mother-in-law was wheelchair-dependent, she also needed to remember to gather her medications, bring documents she needed to show the doctor and reschedule her mother-in-law’s care with the Community Care Access Centre. She should have left home with a plan for the visit in her mind, but instead hurriedly departed thinking “Did I remember to bring everything?” When she returned from a day of adventure, she was so stressed and overwhelmed that she forgot everything the doctor told her. Could she have taken some simple steps to prevent this common occurrence?
In my opinion, if you come prepared you will have a more successful visit, which will benefit both you and your doctor. Family doctors on average have 10 minutes to spend with each patient, including asking medical questions, performing a physical examination, determining a diagnosis, prescribing a treatment plan and documenting the visit in your medical record.
Here are some tips they might help with your next visit:
1. Buy a notebook and title it My Health Management Journal.
2. PLAN AHEAD – write down your complaint or what ails you; what has changed with your health; how it has affected you.
3. GET IN EARLY– try to book your doctor’s first appointment of the day or right after lunch. Don’t forget to bring your health card.
4. PREPARE A LIST of your current medications or ask your pharmacist for a printout.
5. DRESS FOR RESULTS – wear clothes that can be easily and quickly removed for examination (remember time is precious).
6. FOCUS on the main problem with your doctor. You might have a host of things that are bothering you and various questions, but your doctor can only process so much in one visit.
7. PROVIDE PERTINENT INFORMATION – tell your doctor the details about your ailment, which you recorded in your journal. Let your doctor know if you’ve received any treatment, seen any other health professionals or taken any medication.
8. LISTEN and WRITE down what the doctor is saying (tell him what you are doing and that this is the best way for you to remember).
9. REPEAT the treatment plan or advice your doctor gives you, so you are clear about the next steps.
10. ASK QUESTIONS – don’t be afraid to ask your doctor to clarify anything you don’t understand. Never be afraid to call back; explain you were just in to see the doctor and there is something you didn’t understand; ask to speak with someone on the team.
11. FOLLOW THROUGH on the next steps, which could include following your doctor’s advice, getting a prescription filled or booking an appointment with another health professional.
12. COMMUNICATE with your spouse or family whether you will need them to support you. Health care sometimes requires a team approach.
So the next time you need to go visit your doctor, follow these 12 steps and just, maybe, the visit that was over in a flash won’t leave you wondering exactly what the doctor wanted you to do. Pre-planning your doctor visits is part of pre-planning your life. Being in the driver’s sit of your own health is where you need to be, in order to get the most from each visit to your doctor.
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