Checking Up on Your Doctor
The American Medical Association says the average doctor spends about 20 minutes on a routine exam. In that short time, it's crucial for your physician to cover all the medical bases. The October issue of Ladies Home Journal offers a guide to getting the most out of your check up. Joining The Saturday Early Show to answer your questions is editor Sarah Mahoney.
Choosing a doctor
What is the best thing we can do to insure we get the most out of our check up?
Make sure they are right for you, by doing your homework. Check out your doctor before you go to him/her and make sure you know as much about him/her and it will be a good match. Things you might consider are whether they are the right sex that you're comfortable with or affiliated with the right hospital There are a few different ways you kind find out that kind of information on the Internet.
Find-a-Physician allows you to search a national database of over 500,000 physicians for the purpose of finding a doctor who meets your needs. Compiled by Health Pages, a consumer health resource, the information comes from a variety of sources including state departments of health and insurance, federal and state health data organizations, and professional licensing boards. Health Pages also incorporates provider directories from over 300 managed care plans nationwide, enabling you to determine a physician's health plan affiliation. Additional data is received from surveys of physicians, hospitals and health plans.
What is a Physician Report Card?
It provides a list of physicians by specialty based on several criteria that you select, including board certification, hospital affiliation, number of years in practice, gender, and Medicare or state medical board sanctions. It also includes primary and secondary specialty areas, health plan affiliations, medical school attended, address, telephone number, and maps and driving directions. The data comes from a variety of public and private data sources. Cross matching and verifying physician data from a wide variety of sources makes the HealthGrades.com physician data robust and comprehensive. Information related to medical sanctions and actions taken against physicians comes from medical boards from every state in the US.
These are the best ways to evaluate your doctor, before you even get in the office.
At the doctor's office
How can you know if your doctor is doing a thorough job?
There are some critical things that should be discussed or done to absolutely everyone.
The following is a guideline that depends on your sex, age and medical & family history. These things should be done in conjunction with the above list.
If your doctor does not do these things, you should be concerned.
If your doctor fails the test
How should we handle it if we feel our doctor isn't doing a good job? ©MMII CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Failing to follow the above guidelines would be careless and could be a sign that the doctor is rushed, but that does not mean you should get a new doctor. Just be sure to express that you're feeling rushed. Ask why he or she has not screened for a certain thing or done a certain procedure, and tell your doctor that you would like to have a more in-depth checkup. If they don't do a specific test, they should have an explanation why they feel it's not necessary. If you still feel concerned, get a second opinion.
A lot of people get in the doctor's office and feel intimidated, what is the best way to not be rushed through the exam?
You hear this all the time, but write down every question you have, every point you want to make and take it with you. If you get intimidated just look at the paper and start asking the question. Just say, "I'm feeling rushed!"
If they dismiss your concerns, fire him/her. Write a note telling him why you are not coming back, request a copy of your file or forward your file to your new doctor.
Is this about second guessing the doctor?
It's their job, but the reality here is that with the amount of time they have and the amount of patients they see, they're rushed. So we have make sure that they check us completely.