ASK THE DOCTOR: Bring a list of questions to an appointment
By DR. JIM MITTERANDO
The Patriot Ledger

Q. How do doctors feel when patients pull out a list of questions? During a recent visit I told my doctor that I had several questions and I was quite put off when my doctor snapped, "I suppose you have a list."

I don't think I was unusually chatty; in fact, it seems as though most of the news and magazine articles I've read over the years advise patients to organize their thoughts beforehand and make out a list of questions, but if doctors are time-pressured, does it just drive them crazy? What's the best approach? Should I change doctors?

A. I see both sides to this issue: A person visits his or her doctor and wants advice about several physical ailments, or to know more about a recent diagnosis or about a health-related topic in the news.

The doctor, on the other hand, has time constraints. These are usually because of paperwork, lower reimbursements from the insurance companies and increasing overhead that require more patients to be seen to pay the bills.

Conflicts can happen when the patient wants multiple issues addressed during a visit and the doctor may have only 10 to 20 minutes scheduled for that visit.

I think it's great when patients present me with a list of their concerns, because I know questions are easy to forget and may otherwise go unaddressed. The more knowledge and questions you bring to the appointment, the more you will gain from the experience.

Most doctors are thrilled when people take an active interest in their health and attempt to make dietary, activity or lifestyle changes to improve their well-being.

But if you find you have a healthcare provider who is threatened by your interest and questions, then you may want to find another provider who's more in line with your philosophy.

To be fair, there are time constraints we all need to operate under.

Often I will tell a patient who has a list of questions, "Let's address the top three concerns today, and let's make another appointment to address the others."

If you or the doctor see that you'll be needing a longer discussion, you can schedule a longer visit the next time to delve further into a topic.

Dr. Jim Mitterando is a family doctor at Health Care South/Cohasset Family Practice and a staff member at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth.

Readers should send questions to: Ask the Doctor, The Patriot Ledger, P.O. Box 699159, Quincy, MA 02269-9159, or by E-mail to his attention at features@ledger.com.

The information in this column is not intended to diagnose individual conditions. Readers should see their own doctors about specific problems.

Editor's note: This is the first column by Dr. Mitterando, who is taking over "Ask the Doctor."

Copyright 2000 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted December 12, 2000