It’s Time for Your Appointment

Today is your appointment with your healthcare provider. What should you expect? How should you prepare? The following is my perspective on how a patient should see the experience from start to finish.

1. Please arrive on time. And by on time, I mean a few minutes early. This gives the front desk time to ask you about your current contact information, give you forms to update the privacy policy, and scan your insurance card into the system. Yes, you may still sit for 30 minutes before being called back. However, if you’re on time and ready, the rest of the day can go that much more smoothly for the provider. Chances are, if the provider is behind, the day has been complicated or stressful (see my second post published, “Hey Patients, Thank You for Your Patience” for some insight on why we get behind). 
2. Please be prepared. Likely a nurse or a medical assistant will gather you from the waiting room and begin the vitals process. Weight, height, blood pressure, temperature, pulse, respirations, etc. They’ll lead you to the examination room and take some notes on why you’ve come to the office. Maybe it’s a 6-month checkup for blood work and medication refills. Maybe you have a terrible cold. Maybe your depression is crippling and you need help, NOW. But please, please, please be up front and fully open with the nurse about why you’re at the appointment. It is entirely too common when I see “no concerns” on the rooming note, and I enter into the room with several new and significant concerns presented, much to my surprise, as I thought you had no complaints. It’s also crucial for you to tell us about your medications– what you take and what you need refilled. Be honest about your recreational substance use (drugs, tobacco, and alcohol). We aren’t judging you, we just need to know to keep you safe and to understand your current state of health. Knowing these bits of info sometimes guides our medical decision making in numerous ways.
3. Bring paper and pencil. While on the topic of complaints, list them and any questions you have on a piece of paper. Lots of instructions and changes are given to you at the appointment, so it’s nice to write them down so you can reference them later. Medication changes, dietary instructions, referral information, etc. are much easier to remember when you write them down. Please also understand that if each complaint or question is complex, we may only be able to address a few. Usually we don’t have time for 10, but 3 or 4 can be discussed in the time we have. And if you know me, I like to ensure the patient is fully on board with each complaint’s solution or each question’s answer prior to leaving that day. Nothing is worse to a patient than uncertainty and misunderstanding surrounding their health. So let’s address a few issues WELL rather than 10 issues superficially. 
4. Stash the phone. Oh, and put your phone away. It is frustrating when patients stare at their phones the ENTIRE appointment, and we get no eye contact whatsoever. Please fully utilize the time we have together by stashing the phone for that short while. The only exception would be if you have written your list on the “notes” app, or if you have photos of a swollen joint or a mysterious rash you’ve developed that week. We can definitely benefit from photos that detail your illness, and for that, providers are grateful. 
5. Pardon the interruption. Listen, I hate to be interrupted in our appointment just as much as you do. We’re on a roll, talking about good health tips and getting into the thick of diagnosing your illness when a knock comes at the door. It may be the ER physician on the phone updating me on a patient I sent via squad. It may be a home health nurse calling with strong concerns for her elderly client who just fell in his bedroom. Please be patient with us on the interruptions. Know that it won’t subtract from the total time you spend with me, though I know it’s a longer amount of time for you at the actual office. I appreciate you understanding when we get interrupted. 
6. Expect blood work. We have reasons to take blood from your arm. The medications you’re on are likely metabolized by the kidney and/or liver. The statuses of these organs are important to monitor. Also, several other medications like iron supplements, B12, thyroid, vitamin D, and testosterone require us to know your levels so as to properly tweak your dosage. You should expect blood draws at each visit. Most providers like you to fast because a sugar level and a lipid panel are included (cholesterol and triglycerides). Fasting state gives us the most accurate information and can mean a difference in normal versus falsely abnormal labs. 
7. Call with questions. We don’t mind phone calls. In fact, if your question is simple and saves you from making an appointment, that’s great! But there’s some fine print. Given that we are seeing about 20-30 patients daily, please give us time to call you back. I like to say 48-72 hours for non-emergent questions. I start at 7:45 AM and often don’t quit until at LEAST 5 PM. Sometimes 10 minutes to scarf the lunch a nice drug rep brought in. Oh, and then 1-2 hours at my desk of addressing phone calls and prescription requests and the blood work results I ordered last week…so that’s about 7 PM. Then I may log on from home, too, after putting the kids to bed and, again, scarfing dinner. So, 10 PM. But, I digress. Now, my coworkers who record your phoned-in questions and send them to me are aware of the more emergent and time-dependent situations (this may be an interruption as I referenced earlier). If your call mentions chest pain or stroke-like symptoms we are obviously going to suggest emergent evaluation. However, if it’s non-emergent, please know we see you, you matter, and we will call you back as soon as we can. 
8. Do your part. I tell my patients that we are a team. If you’re needing advice on how to improve your health, I’m your girl. If I can’t answer your questions, I’ll find someone who will. Mark my words on that. BUT if you do not follow through on advice given to you by me or your other medical specialists, I get frustrated. I see such great potential in all of my patients. Your actions outside of the appointment matter most. My words are just a guide. YOU are the solution. You are the most powerful influencer of your health in all ways. Please believe that you can make positive changes toward being the best version of yourself. I’m just here to listen, educate, and watch you be well. 

I hope my suggestions and my perspective help you to understand how to be prepared when attending your medical appointments. We in the health care industry truly do love helping our patients and love seeing your health be in tip-top shape. The patient and the provider are a very important team that can make significant strides together in defining wellness. As the patient, do your best to speak up about concerns and do your part day to day with the advice we give. Your provider (and you) will be glad you did.