Vim & Vigor - Spring 2012 - North Mississippi - (Page 22)

SITUATION : I’M NOT SURE I LIKE MY NEW DOCTOR. SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Put together a list of “must-haves.” What do you need the doctor and his or her ofﬁce to provide for you to be happy? Does the doctor listen to you? How long are the typical wait times? Is the ofﬁce easily accessible? Does the staff treat you with respect? Use your list, and don’t be willing to sacriﬁce something you know is essential for a good relationship with your doctor. After all, if you don’t go to doctor, having one doesn’t really matter. SITUATION : I CAN’T REMEMBER ALL MY MEDICATIONS WHEN I’M AT THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE. SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Make a list of your meds. One of the most common mistakes people make when visiting a doctor: forgetting to mention all their prescriptions. Or worse, they get the information or dosage wrong. To make it easier, grab a notepad and jot down the names and dosages from the labels of your prescriptions. If you have just one or two, you can also put the prescription bottles in a brown bag (for privacy) and bring them with you when you visit the doctor. SITUATION : I CAN’T GET AN APPOINTMENT WHEN I NEED IT. SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Communicate clearly with the ofﬁce staff and be ﬂexible. If your doctor has a lot of patients, you probably won’t get a routine appointment the week you call. When the scheduling assistant gives you a date four weeks out and it’s not an emergency, go ahead and pencil it in. But if you need an appointment sooner and the scheduler didn’t respond to your needs, consider calling back and talking to the nurse or manager of the practice, explaining your symptoms clearly and conveying an urgency that may require a new (read: sooner) appointment time. Make sure you’re really communicating. Don’t try to ﬁnagle a better appointment just to suit your schedule, but if you are in need, try these additional tips: • Call daily in the morning to see whether someone has canceled an appointment. • Check with a hospital’s physician referral service to see whether any practices have openings sooner. • Don’t be picky about times. If you really need an appointment, it’s worth a less-than-convenient hour. Many people want one ﬁrst thing in the morning, at lunchtime or immediately after work. If a 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. slot is offered, take it. SITUATION : MY HEALTH HISTORY IS SCATTERED IN DIFFERENT PLACES. SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Create a personal health record. One way to take charge of your own healthcare is to develop a personal health record, which brings all your medical history into one document for easy retrieval. And you don’t need to keep an extensive ﬁle folder full of papers to maintain the record. Look into using one of a growing number of secured online sites. Check out Microsoft HealthVault at microsoft.com/en-us/healthvault or WebMD’s service at webmd.com/phr to start using a personal health record online. I’M NOT SURE I UNDERSTOOD MY DOCTOR’S INSTRUCTIONS. SITUATION : SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Repeat and clarify. Before your physician leaves the exam room, repeat back to him or her the instructions you’ve been given during your conversation. And ask the doctor if your recollection is correct. That can go miles toward ensuring you understand what you need to do in assisting your own recovery or treatment. 22 Vim & Vigor · SP R I N G 2 012 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/healthvault http://www.webmd.com/phr

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Spring 2012 - North Mississippi

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2012 - North Mississippi
Opening Thoughts
Building Healthier Hearts
Young at Heart
Caring for the Little Ones
Get Real
How Far We’ve Come
Patient Survival Guide
Perfect Attendance
Jennifer Hudson, Grammy-winning recording artist
Lean on Me
Intimidated by the Gym?
What Is Your Volunteer Style?
A Prescription for Relief
Virtual Health
SPECIAL You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
Get Heart Healthy!
Growing Stronger
The Doctor Will See You Now
Catch the Spirit

Vim & Vigor - Spring 2012 - North Mississippi