GET READY FOR AN APPOINTMENT

Why get ready for an appointment

When you have health problems, it is sometimes difficult to get the most out of an appointment with your doctor or other health professional. The number of topics to discuss in relation to the time available can sometimes complicate the discussion.

When you prepare for you medical appointments, you'll get the most out of your time with you health care provider. Whether to get answers to questions or keep track of a health problem or treatment, being prepared helps you better communicate an collaborate with your health care provider, and this will improve your care experience. Below are more benefits to getting ready for your appointments.

Get care that is tailored and safe

You and your health care provider work as a team, as your health professional is an expert in care, while you have personal experience with your illness and you symptoms.

At your appointment, your health care provider will always try to identify the cause of your problems or symptoms. They will ask questions to get specific information. Thinking of the answers to these questions in advance will help your health Professional is saying so that you can safety follow any care or treatmen you are prescribed.

Maximize your time

When seeing a new health care provider, you usually have to give information about your current and past health problems. You’ll also have to tell them about any hospitalizations or surgeries you've had. You’ll have to describe your lifestyle and list any allergies, prescriptions, and over-the-counter medications, including vitamins, minerals and natural products. Make sure you think about all of these things before your appointment. You’ll be able to answer the questions right away, which means that your appointment will be that much more productive.

Reviewing this information before your appointment with another doctor or health care provider you know can also be helpful. Even if another health care provider knows you, they’ll probably need to consult your medical records to confirm information about your health problem. When you have this information ready, you can provide it quickly. This means you will get that much more out of your appointment.

Don't let stress make you forget

You may feel worried or stressed about your medical appointment. This could be because you’re afraid about a test result or you don’t know what the consultation involves. Or, you may fear you won’t have enough time, forget to ask questions, or forget to ask for information or documents (e.g., to fill out a form or renew a prescription).

Decrease this stress by getting everything ready for your appointment beforehand. Make sure you have all documents with you, such as the information requested by your health care provider (e.g., results from your blood pressure or blood glucose tests), your complete and updated list of medications, and any questions you want to ask your doctor or health care provider.

Increase your satisfaction with your care

Coming prepared to your appointments makes it easier for you to follow up on your test results (blood tests, urinalysis), any recent changes to your treatment, changes in your symptoms, or even continue a discussion about a medical treatment that you started or need to stop in order to make an informed decision.

If you are accompanying a loved one to a medical appointment, encourage them to prepare and write down any questions they want to ask. You can then remind them to ask questions or express their concerns during the consultation and take notes.

What to do before your appointment

Here are a few tips to get ready for an appointment with your doctor or other health care professional.

1. Write down the following information:

Your symptoms, along with how often, when, and in what circumstances they appear.
Your medical history, such as diseases, injuries, hospitalizations or surgeries with dates or the age that you had these surgeries.
Any vaccines you’ve had and the vaccination date or your age at the time of these vaccinations. If you have an immunization record, bring it with you.
Any conditions you have (allergies, disabilities, etc.) or whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
The results of any tests (blood, urine) and recent X-rays, if you have them.

2. Bring a completed and updated list of your medications.

Ask your pharmacist to provide you with this list. You must add any over-the-counter medications, vitamins, dietary supplements and natural products that you are taking.

3. Prepare a list of questions you want to ask.

4. On the day of your appointment:

Arrive on time and bring a notepad and pencil to take notes.
If you can't make the appointment, notify the clinic as soon as possible so that your time can be given to someone else.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions and note down the answers.
You can also ask a family member or friend to come with you.

The Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) has created a quick reference list called I'm taking care of my health to make your clinic, pharmacy and hospital visits easier.

What should I ask my doctor?

Preventive care is different depending on your age, sex, and personal and family risk factors.

To find out about the right preventive care to ask your doctor about, answer a few questions on the next page.

Discutons santé.ca

Paper or e-document?

To get ready for an appointment, you need to prepare quite a bit of information, such as détails about your health problems and symptoms, a list of your médications, and questions you want to ask. You can write these down in a notebook or keep track of them electronically. Discutons Santé is a Web platform with a number of tools to help you prepare for your appointments.

Tips to better communicate about your health and keep track of you treatment.
A summary of your notes that you can print or use electronically and bring to your appointment.
Secure and unlimited access to your past and future appointments so that you can consult and modify them.
A health record to track information about y our current and past health problems, habits, and list of prescribed and overt-the-counter médications.

Discutons Santé gives you secure access to all of this information when you want, where you want. Use this essential tool to get ready for you medical appointments!

Thanks to the financial support of the Fondation Cité de la Santé, Discutons Santé is now available in Laval medical clinics.

/typo3conf/l10n/fr/rtehtmlarea/Resources/Private/Language/fr.locallang_accessibilityicons.xlf:external_link_new_window_altText DiscutonsSante.ca gives you tools to get the most out of your appointments.