Your feeling sick, maybe you are aching all over, tired or even exhausted, coughing, have a fever, some part of your body is not working correctly, what do you do? Maybe you feel that you should see your doctor or maybe you do not have a doctor and you believe you should go to an Urgent Care or even the Emergency Room. If you do, how can you help your doctors not only find out what is wrong with you but also fix what ever your problem rapidly and with the utmost safety to you?

It could be someone you love or really care about is sick, your husband or wife, your partner, a child, your mother or father, a brother or sister and you  would like to help them as much as you can to assure that they get the very best care possible and the right diagnoses is made and the right treatment is given.

Certainly you will  want to know why you or your loved one is sick. You most likely will also want to know this as soon as possible. Yet, in the past it has not always been easy to get information nor to find a doctor who could make the exact right diagnosis, especially when symptoms are vague or common. Unfortunately, it is possible that in the past doctors have not made the right diagnosis and your health problems have been misdiagnosed.

Studies estimate that the medical error rate for making the exact right diagnosis is between 10% to 15%. One recent study looking at medical malpractice claims performed at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Silver Spring, MD found that the top five conditions most commonly misdiagnosed are heart attacks, breast cancer, appendicitis, lung cancer, and colon cancer. For most people this is quite scary.

At this point you are likely thinking or asking yourself that since you cannot always prevent becoming ill, what is it that you can do to help make sure that your doctor make the right diagnosis and that you ultimately get the best care possible.  

Here are eight things you can do to help your doctors make sure that you get the very best care possible. Eight things you can do to help your doctor find the exact right diagnosis, so that he or she can help you to get the very best result possible and the exact right care for your needs:

1. Write Down Your Symptom and What You Are Experiencing

We doctors are too often surprised at how frequently patients come to see us and are not at all sure of what is happening to them. Often the patients may be totally unaware of what their symptoms are, what they are feeling or what is happening to them. It is also not unusual for patients to give you what I call the “short list” that is a few of the more prominent symptoms and not much more. Often patients will call back and later that day or the next day to present a new list of symptoms they “forgot about” when they were in your office. As one patient put it during a phone call the day after his visit, “ Sorry Doc, I forgot to tell you something important ..." Only then did he give me a piece of information that allowed me to make a more correct diagnosis. Unfortunately for him he ended up being sick one more day, purchasing the wrong medication and spending a sleepless night worried why he was not getting better.

Help yourself, spend some time with pen and paper and write down what you are experiencing. Write down how and when your symptoms started and in what order they started and occurred. Write down what you want to talk to your doctor about and what you feel you need to tell him, so that you won’t forget when you are with him. You may have to spend some time and sit down and write several times before you create the most accurate picture of what is happening to you.

One more important thing about making this list; you need to bring it and a pen with you to you doctors appointment. This list will not be helpful if you leave it at home and you do not have it with you when you see your doctor.

It is also helpful to bring along your pen and a note book or a least a blank piece of paper to take notes. It is likely that you probably won't remember most of what your doctor tells you, so it can help greatly to write as much down as you can to help you remember what your doctor wants you to do to get well again.

If your doctor uses electronic medical records, you can even ask for a copy of his notes on your way out of the office.

2. Be As Accurate and Specific About Your Symptoms As Possible

Be as precise as you can about what you're experiencing. Exactly where is the pain? Does it move from one place to another or simply stay in the same place al of the time? Is it a sharp pain, a shooting pain, or a dull aching pain? Does it come and/or go after eating? How long does it last? Does it last for seconds, minutes, hours or days? How long have you had it? A week? A month? A year? Does anything you do make it go away or cause it to come on. Does anything you do increase or decrease the pain? If there is no pain what is it you are experiencing, as exactly as you can describe it.

Make sure that you present objective rather than subjective information. If you feel feverish take your temperature for and  record it. If you feel your blood pressure is up take your blood pressure and record everything you monitor, write down all pertinent information.

Having this information available to you when you see your doctor you can say, "I've had six headaches in the past month, they were all over my left eye. They weren't relieved by Tylenol or Motrin. They lasted four hours, and I experienced moderate nausea with them." This said you can then give your doctor time to ask questions to help him hone in on what is happening to you.

If you would like a preprinted Blood Pressure Record Form, click here.
If you would like a preprinted Body Temperature Recording Form, click here.

3. Know Your Medical History

Long before your next appointment with your doctor spend some time writing out your medical history. List everything you know about yourself childhood illnesses, illnesses , surgeries, treatments, hospitalizations, medications so that you have a complete list of your past medical history. Also, go through your family tree and look at what diseases and conditions run in your family. If you don't know, ask your relatives. Conditions like cancer, heart disease, even depression and anxiety have a genetic component and may be important to your overall diagnosis and treatment. To the best of your ability make sure that all of the information is accurate, that you have accurate dates and dosages of medications. Be sure that you list all allergies to foods, environmental exposures and most important, medications.

It is important that in writing down your medical history that you describe and tell about your symptoms, but that you do not make suppositions, guesses or create false directions. I recently saw a patient who presented at an Urgent Care with a headache. The first thing he told the Urgent Care doctor was, “I must have a brain tumor my head just hurts too to be a simple headache.” This lead to dozens of unnecessary x-rays, an MRI, a CT scan and an EEG. The problem was a sinus infection which was easily treated, BUT because the patients had brought up the possibility of a brain tumor the Urgent Care doctor felt that for medical legal reasons all of these other tests would have to be done. Instead of simply being prescribed an antibiotic and hot compresses and sent home, my patient was kept without food or  water, placed on IV’s, and held in the Urgent Care for 16 hours to allow all of the tests the Urgent Care doctor felt he had to perform to absolutely rule out a brain tumor.

If you would like a comprehensive preprinted Medical History Form, click here.
If you would like a preprinted Vitamins and Supplements Form, click here.

4. Bring in Your Medications

Here is another situation were people create problems for themselves. They show up to a new doctors visit, the Urgent Care or Emergency Room, with no knowledge of what medications they are taking, the dosages and why they are taking these medications. This undermines the doctors ability to know exactly how to treat you, whether you might have side effects, and whether the medication he is going to prescribe for you will cause adverse reactions or any negative interactions with your current medications. You also will want to make sure that you are currently taking the correct medicine and in the correct dose. The labels on your medicine bottles can provide valuable information for your doctor to help him better diagnose and treat you.

5. Ask Your Doctor What You Should Expect and What You Should Not Expect

When your doctor makes his or her diagnosis, ask what he expects form you. Ask if there are any red flags or warning signs you should continue to look for and what he wants you to report to him, Ask what symptoms or finding you should consider urgent and what can wait until the next visit. For example, if you have an acute viral respiratory infection you should be better in seven days. If you suddenly develop a high fever or develop headache or neck pain, this is an indication that something isn't right. You should make sure that your doctor tells you what you should be looking for to make sure that you do not get sicker. Also, make sure that you have your doctors office and emergency number so that if you have a problem you will know where and who to call.

6. Ask Question, Expect Informational Answers

Don't be afraid to ask your doctor what additional information or tests he or she will need to make the right diagnosis. You can be direct: “What more do you need to know to get to the bottom of this problem?” “What is your differential diagnosis?” The differential diagnosis is the list of possible diagnoses that he or she is looking at. “Will I need to see a specialist, have additional procedures or tests, in order to help you make the right diagnosis?” “When do you want me to see me again and what information can I bring with me to help you make the right diagnosis?” What more do you need from me?”

Once you have a diagnosis, don't be afraid to ask your doctor all of the questions you need answers to. “Are you sure this is what I have?” “What makes you chose this diagnosis over all others?” It always helps to ask all of your questions as if you are seeking information and not judging his or her decisions. When patients ask in a condescending way or questioning the skill or veracity of the doctor they are likely to get less then helpful answers, this is merely human nature. Maximize your information by asking real meaningful and honest questions to obtain real and helpful information.

You do not have to be afraid to ask for a second opinion. Doctors are not perfect and sometimes if they are unsure asking for another opinion is the exact right thing to do. Good doctors are not threatened by requests for second opinions. If a second opinion is not necessary your doctor should be able to intelligently tell you why and set goals and parameters that can help you be clear that he or she is correct and has made the right diagnosis and now only time is needed for healing.

7.  Plan Your Appointment With The Specialists

If your doctor feels that you need to see a specialist then it is smart to prepare for the visit with the specialist. Since it is likely that the specialist you are going to see will not know you nor why you have been sent, ask your doctor to send a copy of your medical records, diagnostic testing and lab via fax or email to the specialist. Therefore when you see him he will already have a copy of your pertinent records in his possession. If your doctor cannot do this, or it is you that is choosing the specialist, ask your doctor to give you copies of all of your pertinent medical records so you can take them with you. Have your doctor make copies for you before you leave your last visit or stop at your doctors office, lab, radiology or other doctors and get copies so that you can bring them with you when you see the specialist. It is a smart idea to make two sets of copies of all medical records, one copy for you personally and one copy to give to or leave with the specialist.

Make sure that you have copies of all record, diagnostic testing and lab tests that have already been done related to your current problem: X-rays, MRIs, blood work, etc. By law you're entitled to copies of all of your medical records. To obtain copies of your medical records all you should have to do is call or go into all of the health care providers you have already seen and ask them to send to or give you their authorization form, a Release of Medical Records form. Since the laws relating to release of medical records often differ from state to state check with your primary doctor what will be necessary to get records from all of your providers. Please remember most facilities are allowed to charge a reasonable fee for copying and sending records. Remember to bring these records with you to the specialist, if you leave them at home they will not be of value at the time you see the specialist.

For a preprinted Request for Medical Records Form, click here.

8. Follow Through

Now that you have seen your doctor, possibly even a specialist or two, it is important for you to remember that medical care is only as good as your ability and desire to follow through and make appointments, take medication and have diagnostic testing which has been requested. If you simply have an exam and do little or nothing more, your condition may get better on its own, but is it is also possible that it will get worse and your life or well-being may be threatened. Do the work needed to heal yourself and you will be back to normal sooner than latter.