The doctor can see you now
Making the most of first medical appointment is important
Now that coronavirus pandemic restrictions are easing up, people are madly scheduling in-office doctor’s appointments that they had put on hold for a year or longer. That puts great pressure on you and your doctor to catch up on your health status, which may have changed while you were doing your best to live through an unprecedented challenge. Given that the average doctor’s appointment is only about 20 minutes, you’ll want to make every moment of your allotted time count.
Here are eight tips to help you get the most out of your in-person doctor’s appointment:
1 ASK FOR A LONGER APPOINTMENT
If you have a lengthy list of symptoms and concerns to address, tell the receptionist that you have a lot to talk about, and that you’d like an extended appointment. “I think that’s very appropriate, especially coming out of the pandemic,” said Michael Hanak, an associate professor of family medicine at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Another option, Hanak said, is to ask if you can schedule a virtual visit first — “almost like a planning visit so you can make sure there’s time for the most important issues during the in-person visit.”
2 TAKE CARE OF WHAT YOU CAN AHEAD OF TIME
Find out if there are any blood or imaging tests you can have performed before the appointment so that you can discuss the results during the visit, Hanak said. You may have several screening tests — breast, skin, or colon cancer, for example — to catch up on.
If you can’t get all your screening tests done before the appointment, don’t sweat it; you can follow up on the results later, if necessary.
3 RECORD YOUR LATEST HEALTH INFO
Use the patient portal to update the list of medications you’re taking — including prescription and over-the-counter drugs as well as vitamins and nutritional and herbal supplements — so that you won’t need to spend valuable time during the appointment doing this.
If you take medication for hypertension or have diabetes, measure your blood pressure or blood sugar regularly in the days and weeks leading up to the visit and track the numbers in a log that you can take with you, advised Hiten Patel of Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. This way, your doctor will get a sense of how these conditions are trending over time, rather than simply getting a status snapshot during the visit.
4 PRIORITIZE YOUR ISSUES
Before you go to the appointment, create an agenda and identify the top three to five concerns you’d like to address with your doctor, then start the conversation with those items, advised family physician Lou Edje, associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
If a problem — like incontinence, vaginal dryness or erectile dysfunction — is embarrassing to you, write it down and hand the paper to your doctor, who will lead the conversation from there. If you don’t get to all of your concerns during the visit, ask the doctor whether you should schedule a follow-up or if you can discuss the issues through email or the patient portal.
5 BE SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE EXPERIENCING
When describing a particular symptom, be sure to tell your doctor how it feels, when it started, what makes it better or worse and how it’s affecting or interfering with your life, said Donna Zulman, an assistant professor of primary care and population health at the Stanford University
School of Medicine. Don’t limit your report to physical symptoms: In recent months, “many people have experienced mental health symptoms such as depression and anxiety and some are reluctant to bring those up,” Zulman noted. Your physician wants to help you so it’s best to engage in full disclosure, especially because “these are issues that affect other aspects of your health,” she said.
6 BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR LIFESTYLE HABITS
In particular, describe how your diet, your use of alcohol and caffeine and your exercise regimen have changed since the pandemic began. It’s important for your physician to be aware of how these practices may have evolved over the past year because they can influence your health risks and conditions in many different ways, Hanak said.
Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve been eating more or exercising less; you’ll be in good company on this front. Research has found that especially early in the pandemic, people’s intake of high-calorie or salty foods, screen time and use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis increased considerably. Meanwhile, one study released this year found that the pandemic stay-at-home orders led to a decline in physical activity.
7 MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’RE BEING TOLD
Bring a pad and paper to the appointment so that you can take notes — or ask a family member or friend to accompany you and perform this task.
If you don’t understand something your doctor says, ask clarifying questions until you get the picture.
In particular, make sure you understand the diagnosis, including your doctor’s recommendations for treating it and why they’re important, Edje said.
Review your doctor’s advice about medications, additional testing and lifestyle changes. Then “repeat back what you’ve heard to make sure you’re on the same page,” Zulman said.
8 FORMULATE A FOLLOW-UP PLAN
Before you leave the doctor’s office, discuss how you’ll implement any recommended changes, what you can do to prevent a chronic condition from worsening, and whether you need any follow-up lab tests, imaging procedures or visits to a specialist or therapist.
“Every visit should end with some piece of anticipatory guidance such as when you should touch base again or what red flags to watch for,” Hanak added.
Following up with your doctor should be easier than in the past, he said, with the options of virtual visits or phone-based visits. “One of the silver linings of the pandemic has been opening up other areas of access for health care.”