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I’ll be referring almost exclusively to a free booklet written by the National Institute on Aging working with the National Institutes of Health called: Talking With Your Doctor. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH Publication No. 05-3452 August 2005 (Reprinted April 2010)

http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/talking-your-doctor-guide-older-people

Consult reference sources

“The Directory of Physicians in the United States and the Official American Board of Medical Specialties Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists are available at many libraries. These books don’t recommend individual doctors but they do provide a list of doctors you may want to consider. MedlinePlus, a website from the National Library of Medicine, has a comprehensive list of directories (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/directories.html) which may also be helpful. There are plenty of other Internet resources too—for example, you can find doctors through the American Medical Association’s website at www.ama-assn.org (click on “Doctor Finder”). For a list of doctors who participate in Medicare, visit www.medicare.gov (click on “Search Tools” then “Find a Doctor”). WebMD also provides a list of doctors at www.webmd.com (click on “Doctors”). Don’t forget to call your local or State medical society to check if complaints have been filed against any of the doctors you are considering.” Pg. 4

Learn more about the doctors you are considering

Set up an appointment to meet and talk with the doctor you are considering and ask the following questions (you may think of more that are important to you).

• Do you have many older patients?
• How do you feel about involving my family in care decisions?
• Can I call or email you or your staff when I have questions?
• Do you charge for telephone or email time?
• What are your thoughts about complementary or alternative treatments?

When making a decision about which doctor to choose, you might want to ask yourself questions like:

• Did the doctor give me a chance to ask questions?
• Was the doctor really listening to me?
• Could I understand what the doctor was saying? Was I comfortable asking him or her to say it again?

Make the choice

Once you choose your doctor remember to bring your medical records or make arrangements with your prior doctor to have them sent. You will need to sign a release of records form with them (make sure you bring your new doctor’s contact information).

Next: How should I prepare?

I will be referring almost exclusively to a free booklet written by the National Institute on Aging working with the National Institutes of Health called: Talking With Your Doctor. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH Publication No. 05-3452 August 2005 (Reprinted April 2010)

https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps66054/TWYD_Final.pdf

You can choose your doctor! Yes, that may sound obvious but I have clients who are unhappy with their current physician and didn’t realize they could switch. It is important that you find a doctor you can talk to without reservation. He or she will be the one who will eventually know you and what constitutes a “baseline” for your health. They can help you with medical decisions and can serve as the hub for all the other medical specialists and providers (kind of like a matriarch of the family or quarterback of a football team). The booklet states, “People sometimes hesitate to change doctors because they worry about hurting their doctor’s feelings. But doctors understand that different people have different needs. They know it is important for everyone to have a doctor with whom they are comfortable.” You should understand that this may take time but it is time well spent.

The following is straight from the booklet.

Decide what you are looking for in a doctor.

“Do you care if your doctor is a man or a woman? Is it important that your doctor has evening office hours, is associated with a specific hospital or medical center, or speaks your language? Do you prefer a doctor who has an individual practice or one who is part of a group so you can see one of your doctor’s partners if your doctor is not available? After you have made your list, go back over it and decide which qualities are most important and which are nice, but not essential.”

Identify several possible doctors

Once you have a general sense of what you are looking for, ask friends and relatives, medical specialists, and other health professionals for the names of doctors with whom they have had good experiences. Rather than just getting a name, ask about the person’s experiences. For example: say, “What do you like about Dr. Smith?” and “Does this doctor take time to answer questions?” A doctor whose name comes up often may be a strong possibility. If you belong to a managed care plan—a health maintenance organization (HMO) or preferred provider organization (PPO)—you may be required to choose a doctor in the plan or else you may have to pay extra to see a doctor outside the network. Most managed care plans will provide information on their doctors’ backgrounds and credentials. Some plans have websites with lists of participating doctors from which you can choose.

To be continued…

In the following weeks I’ll be referring almost exclusively to a free booklet written by the National Institute on Aging working with the National Institutes of Health called: Talking With Your Doctor. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH Publication No. 05-3452 August 2005 (Reprinted April 2010)

https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps66054/TWYD_Final.pdf

They emphasize the importance of talking with your doctor as you get older. Why? “Partly because you may have more health conditions and treatments to discuss. It’s also because your health has a big impact on other parts of your life, and that needs to be talked about too.”

Many times we go to the doctor knowing something but we don’t tell her/him. We expect them to find out/discover what “ails us” and from the doctor’s perspective, they figure you will tell them so all they will do is perform a normal checkup. Your relationship with your doctor should truly be more like a partnership.

In addition to your primary care doctor, you should also develop a partnership with your pharmacist. While your doctor prescribes medication for you it is your pharmacist that can tell you not only the side effects but also if there could be an interaction with other medication you are taking.

Next: Choosing a Doctor

I serve the counties of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba, as well as cities like Auburn, Lincoln, Rocklin, Roseville, Sacramento, Placerville, and Woodland.