Be a Great Patient

The key to great health care is you.

When it comes to your health care, you want the best there is. Sure, it helps to have an excellent physician and superb specialists, but they are not the key to your health care—you are.

Here's how to get the care you need:

1. Find Dr. Right.
Choose a primary care physician whom you're comfortable with and have confidence in. Before committing, ask him or her questions such as what the office hours are, what the doctor's treatment philosophy is and who will care for you when your doctor is unavailable.

"Ask yourself if this is someone you'd want caring for you if you were critically ill," says Ellen Pitcher, R.N., vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. "You have to have someone you trust."

2. Go prepared.
Even the best doctors are not mind readers. So tell them everything about your health.

When asked about your personal and family medical history, be honest and disclose as much information as possible.

If you are experiencing symptoms, tell your doctor what they are, how severe they are and when you experience them. Report even small changes in your health; they may indicate an underlying problem.

3. Ask questions, lots of questions.
When your doctor tells you something you don't understand—whether it's about heart disease or a hangnail—ask questions.

"Quality health care is dependent on good physicians, but also knowing what questions to ask," says Chris Garrison, M.D., a doctor of physical medicine and rehabilitation on the medical staff at Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie.

Start by repeating back in your own words what your doctor tells you. This will ensure that you understand what he said and will open up a dialogue if you didn't, Dr. Garrison says.

4. Seek a second opinion.
If you are uncomfortable with a diagnosis or treatment plan your doctor gives you, get a second opinion. And don't worry about offending your doctor. "A good physician will want you to be comfortable with your diagnosis," Pitcher says. "If he's offended, then he's not the doctor for you."

By Shelley Flannery

Find your Dr. Right by calling 1-800-4BAYLOR for a referral to a physician on the medical staff at a Baylor location near you or use our on-line physician directory.