Life with Chronic Conditions in the Time of Covid: How to be a better patient

I continue to learn from my youngest son who not only has a chronic condition, but is currently recovering from foot surgery due to an accident. Since he doesn’t live near me, I’ve been giving him tips on being a better patient to improve the care he’s receiving.

 

My biggest issues with him as patient are true for lots of people:

• Spends too much time on-line looking up information. Yes you need to be an informed patient but you don’t need to challenge everything.

• Asks lots of questions, just not to the medical team responsible for his care. In fact, in the average patient visit, which lasts less than 15 minutes, only two or fewer questions are asked.

• Omits important pieces of information. He didn’t think it was important to tell his care team that he had Covid in March.

 

Other issues that patients have

•  Don’t know what medications they are on, dosages and why they are taking them. Since many do not keep a health notebook, they know they are allergic to certain drugs but don’t necessarily remember the names or can describe them.

• View the physician as the higher authority and doesn’t want to question as that would be disrespectful. Don't seek out a second opinion though they have lots of concerns about their primary provider.

 

I’ve written a lot about various aspects on this topic so to summarize:

 

• Keep a health notebook or use an app (Use your Smart Phone for Better Health ) that organizes your health information and take it to appointments

• Check your virtual medical record regularly to insure that information it contains is accurate and up to date. Most providers have virtual record keeping where you can look up lab results etc. You can even renew prescriptions that way.

• Either write down all your meds, including supplements, you are taking or bring the actual bottles with you to office visits. If you are bringing a written note with you, be sure to include dosage as well as how and when you take them.

• Write questions down. If your provider is okay with it, e-mail the questions before you come as well as bring a copy that you can leave with your provider. Prioritize your list, with the most concerning questions asked first. Sometimes a good response to question one is all you need. Other times the visit doesn’t allow you to ask all your question. Your provider can look at the questions and answer by e-mail later.

• Bring someone with you. Use a patient advocate.

• Virtual appointments and medical visits during the Covid Pandemic: Lots of good tips to have a good visit via a telemedicine appointment.  

• Decision Tools for the time of Covid 

• Use sites that provide accurate and up to date information.

• Use Please and Thank You (another post also inspired by my kids)

• Use your Smart Phone for Better Health