Searching for medical questions

Finding important medical information is getting easier, but the simplest way is still to ask - if you can remember.

By Wall Street Journal
Published December 18, 2007

When her sister was battling breast cancer, Erin Dugery went along to doctors' appointments to help make sense of the treatment options. But the medical jargon was often hard to understand, and she often felt she had forgotten important questions her sister needed answered.

"On the drive to the appointment, you think of a million things you want to ask, but when you finally have the attention of the doctor, it's almost like getting stage fright," says the Philadelphia mother of four.

Kelly Rooney died 15 months ago at age 43, but Dugery says she learned valuable lessons during her sister's illness - such as writing down important questions beforehand and not being afraid to ask the doctor to explain things.

Much of this advice came from an unusual source: Doctor, Doctor, Lend Me Your Ear, a one-woman skit the sisters saw performed by Rooney's radiation oncologist, Dr. Marisa Weiss.

Weiss uses humorous examples from her experience to explain how to talk to - and listen to - your doctor.

Weiss, who has turned the lessons from the skit into a book, is one of a growing number of medical professionals and health care groups offering advice through books, Web sites, DVDs and even personal consultations to help patients navigate the modern doctor's appointment.

The right stuff

Though medical information has never been more accessible to consumers, many patients still don't have the skills to talk to their doctors or to cram all their questions into a brief visit. Patients often ignore what they don't understand, or leave delicate but important issues to the end - then run out of time.

So to help patients get answers, health care officials are offering discussion aids, providing sample questions and offering advice ranging from starting with the biggest questions first, to checking that a doctor has your test results before going to an appointment.

Given the growing concern about patient safety and malpractice liability, doctors, too, are under pressure to help patients ask the right questions in the limited time they have.

The Joint Commission, a nonprofit group that accredits health care organizations, has begun requiring hospitals to show that they are encouraging patients to participate in care.

A growing number of health literacy programs urge physicians to speak more slowly, use plain language and show models or actual medical devices.

The Boston-based nonprofit Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making is working with physicians to test videos and print items, in a program named Shared Decision Making.

"The doctors don't have time to explain everything you ought to know, and they may not even be the best people to provide basic information and frame it for the patients," says Floyd J. Fowler Jr., foundation president.

The Shared Decision Making materials, organized by illness, procedure and condition, present information to help patients decide pros and cons of treatment options and to know survival statistics.

Patients can review the information in the doctor's office before an appointment and take materials home to review. Unlike an Internet search, Fowler notes, these aids synthesize the most important information for a patient's specific decisions. 

Search the Web

Consumers without access to such aids can still find help in preparing for doctor visits on Web sites sponsored by advocacy groups, hospitals and the federal government.

The American Heart Association (americanheart.org), for example, offers questions on high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The Joslin Diabetes Center Web site (joslin.org) offers typical questions to ask doctors, with explanations of why each question is important.

It's also critical when making doctor's appointments to be clear on whether it is simply for a checkup, you have a specific complaint or problems with a chronic issue. Doctors schedule their time differently for all three and should be prepared for each.

THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Tips for office visits

Dr. Marisa Weiss has written Seven Minutes: How to Get the Most from Your Doctor Visit; it's available for $10 through her nonprofit Web site, breastcancer.org. Her advice for patients:

-Prepare a full report of any symptoms or concerns prior to the office.

-Bring a list of medications.

-Bring a relative or trusted friend - not only for moral support, but to act as another set of eyes and ears, to help organize questions.

[Last modified December 18, 2007, 15:27:43]