I've written this brief text more with the aim of guiding my patients on what is important to bring to their return appointments with me, but I believe it could be useful for all of you, patients and health professionals in general.
Usually, every patient who comes to see me has two evaluations included in the consultation fee: the first one, which lasts about an hour, and a return visit up to 60 days later, which lasts 30 to 60 minutes. Existing regulations define the “return visit” as the moment when the doctor, through the patient's report, evaluates the results of the measures recommended at the previous visit and indicates the necessary changes to the patient's treatment plan; the concept is simple, but I realize that many patients are still very confused by it and end up “forgetting” what is really fundamental for a productive return visit... So let's get to it.
What should I bring with me to a return appointment (preferably written down, so I don't forget important information)? Above all, as Socrates would say, “Know thyself”: every patient must observe themselves well in order not only to notice the changes that occur in them, but also to record them so that they can be reported later; after all, it is based on these that the doctor can evaluate their conduct with the patient who, if they don't pay attention even to themselves, who will say anything about the treatment? Therefore, in addition to any test results and general reports/statements obtained, every patient should bring, above all, quality answers (complete and truthful... Lying to the doctor sabotages their own treatment!) to these questions:
1️⃣ How are you?
This is possibly the most important question, as it summarizes your subjective perception, as a patient, of the overall results of the treatment in relation to your expectations. And always remember that not everything you expect from a treatment is possible to achieve with good health (or the cost would be too high for you).
2️⃣ Any new situations/occurrences?
Has anything new happened in your life since your last appointment that may have affected your health and the effectiveness/appropriateness of your treatment? If so, you need to be informed so that the doctor can assess the impact of this and take any necessary measures to adapt and even overcome the effects on you, whether it's an emergency room visit or emotional stress.
3️⃣ What did you do, what were you told to do?
Telling the doctor clearly what you did and didn't do, as instructed by the doctor at the previous appointment, is fundamental. After all, if you did everything you were told and didn't get good results, “that's one thing”, but if you didn't even follow the instructions properly, you really couldn't expect great results, could you?
4️⃣ What has improved? What got worse? What stayed “the same”?
Here, I suggest you make a table in which you list all the complaints you brought to the first appointment, placing them in one of the three categories mentioned above; after all, each sign/symptom can only have improved, worsened or remained unchanged after treatment, right? Knowing all this allows the professional to infer what should or shouldn't be changed, on what basis and even how to do it.
5️⃣ How are your lifestyle habits? What have you been able to optimize, maintain and what not?
Healthy lifestyle habits are fundamental to obtaining, maintaining or improving anything in health, achieving any positive goal in terms of quality of life and well-being. See more at: https://icaro.med.br/15habitos/
6️⃣ Have any new symptoms appeared? If so, which ones?
New symptoms can mean side-effects of the measures or substances prescribed, which means they are important!
7️⃣ Do you have test results, reports to present?
Introduce them! And an excellent idea is to record them and monitor their progress.
8️⃣ Questions?
Take them all away: there is nothing more damaging to a treatment and to the doctor-patient relationship than a poor understanding of procedures (or how to carry them out) or “misunderstandings”.
Finally, I would always like my patients to observe the above in all their visits; for the rest of you, I hope the material is useful!
Cheers.
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