A sheet from the Boston reading path
Keep these questions within reach.
Take the unanswered questions into the visit. Begin with the health concern, then work through the medicine, the care and the bill.
Open with the concern
- What do you think explains what I have described?
- What other options would be reasonable to discuss?
- What more do you need to know before proposing treatment?
Then ask about the proposed medicine
- Please name the medicine in writing. Would I take it by mouth, have a shot or receive it some other way?
- What evidence applies to people with my concern?
- What outcome would we look for, and how would we review it?
- What remains uncertain for someone in my situation?
Keep the practical questions beside the treatment questions
- Who handles questions between visits?
- Which pharmacy would prepare the medicine or fill the prescription?
- What does the full bill include?
- Would any charge remain if the assessment ended without a prescription?
- How do changes, cancellation and ongoing charges work?
Choose the questions that are still open for you. Leave space under each for the answer, rather than trying to remember a long conversation afterward.
Ask the clinician to write down any term that interrupts your understanding. Take it to the word sheet, then return to the question it interrupted.
At the end, say back what you understood about the proposal, the next task and the bill. Ask the clinician to correct any part you have misunderstood.