Communication is a two-way street. It’s important to tell your doctor what’s going on. Talk openly and honestly to your doctor about your health concerns and needs so your doctor can best help you. Don’t know what to say? Prepare in advance. Bring lists of questions and medications you take. When you’re in the exam room, take notes and speak up if you’re confused. When you ask questions, make sure you get the answers you need. Get the most from your visit. Talk to your doctor.
Your doctor knows medicine. You bring something important to the doctor-patient relationship, too. You know yourself. It’s ongoing communication that will make that doctor-patient relationship strong and successful, helping you stay as healthy as you can.
Communicating with your doctor, and your whole health care team, means:
- Talk clearly and directly about your health issues. For example, your doctor uses the appropriate test or procedure.
- Listen to your doctor and repeat back what you hear in your own words. In a doctor’s visit, there can be a lot of information for you to absorb. Also, medical terms can be challenging. Make sure you understand so you can get the full benefits of your doctor’s knowledge and experience.
- Ask questions until you get the answers you need. For example, you could ask about treatment options, what to expect from a medicine or what a medical test is for. Visit Questions Are the Answer for tips and tools. It’s your body and your health. You deserve answers to your questions.
- Get clarification if you’re confused. That means speaking up during an appointment if something is unclear. If you don’t ask for clarification, more than once if necessary, your doctor will assume you understand. You can also contact your doctor’s office after your appointment if you realize later you missed something.
How can writing and reading help you communicate with your doctor?
- Prepare a list of questions to bring to a doctor’s appointment. You can make your own from scratch or use a Question Builder.
- Take notes during your visit so you can refer to them later and make sure you understand.
- Create a family health history with tools your doctor’s office provides or with My Family Health Portrait and bring it to your doctor. Your health history could play in role in tests your doctor recommends.
- Research a condition you’re facing so you are better able to talk to your doctor about it.
- Read brochures or other written information your doctor provides and talk with your doctor about them.
Your doctor’s office should make information and materials available to you in your preferred language(s). Also, here is an important resource that applies to some of us: “Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Tips for Working With Your Doctor.”
If you’re facing a stressful health issue, communication can be a big challenge. It can help to make an audio recording of a visit to make sure you have a record of everything that was said. You could also bring a friend or family member with you as support.
How can better communication help you?
The benefits of improving communication with your doctor can be immediate. You’ll feel heard and your doctor can meet your needs better.
Even if you don’t normally share how you feel, the doctor’s office is a place where you should make an exception. Take a risk and share.
By speaking up and listening, you can get the detailed information you need when you need it. In-depth conversations you have with your doctor may reveal new ideas on getting or staying healthy.