Can improving your health be an investment that pays dividends?
Yes! Probably better than any other investment you’ll make. In order to evangelize this concept, I’m always on the lookout for fresh perspectives about time and money spent on health.
Lissa Rankin, MD from Owning Pink wrote an inspiring post about managed care. Like me, she doesn’t practice managed care medicine, but has great tips for patients who want to get the best care within that system. Her list is thoughtful, heartfelt, and spot on.
Getting the best results from your healthcare.
It starts with great communication with your doctor, and Dr. Rankin’s post is a lovely model for that. Saving time and money requires planning ahead, honesty, and taking responsibility.
Here are tips I loved most:
- Tell me the truth- always. I promise I won’t judge you, as long as you don’t lie to me or withhold the information I need to treat you the best way I can. If you’re gay, tell me. If you drink a bottle of tequila every night, I need to know. If you’re having an affair and not using condoms, let me know.
- Question me. If the treatment plan I suggest doesn’t resonate with the intuitive wisdom of your Inner Healer, please tell me, instead of ignoring what I suggest. I know many of you are programmed not to question your doctor, but we’re here to help and we can’t read your mind, so you need to communicate if you don’t agree with a plan we suggest. If you’re not going to get that mammogram, admit it to me. If you’re not going to take that antidepressant, tell me you won’t. If you’re willing to question my authority, we can marry my suggestions with your intuition and collectively agree on a plan you will actually follow.
- Comply. If you’ve questioned me and we’ve agreed to a treatment plan, please follow through and do what you’ve agreed to do. And if you don’t, please tell me so I don’t mistakenly assume the treatment failed. I won’t jump all over you. I just need to know.
- Accept personal responsibility. If you don’t comply, and something goes wrong, please don’t blame me. And if you sign up to incur a possible risk and you’ve been warned of this risk (pregnancy is a great example), don’t sue me if a known risk happens to you. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and it’s not my fault.
Bring any supplements you take in a bag with you. I may not know the name of what you’re taking, but if I can look at the ingredients, then I can determine whether your supplements might be causing issues or interactions.- If you’re experiencing symptoms, keep a journal and a calendar before you come to see me. Write down when you experience the symptom, what makes it better, what makes it worse, how long you’ve had it, describe it in detail, explain whether you’ve had it before, and be as specific as you can so I can help you.
- Bring your records. If you have other medical records that will help me care for you, bring a physical copy with you. Faxes go haywire, and we can wind up wasting hours trying to track down records, so be an empowered patient and keep a complete copy of your medical records so you can bring them with you.
Have any tips of your own? Share them in the comments.
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