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7 Questions from the Experts

Two top physicians reveal how to be treated just like your doctor's family

by Carol Krucoff

They come to their doctors’ offices carrying their health profiles and baggies holding every medication, vitamin, and herb they take regularly—in the original bottles. They bring friends or family members to help them talk to the doctors and understand, remember, and follow care instructions. They ask intelligent questions and politely challenge things they don’t understand.

They are smart patients, say physicians Mehmet Oz, MD, and Michael F. Roizen, MD, who recommend these and other insider strategies in their comprehensive guide to getting the best medical treatment, You: The Smart Patient.

“Smart patients are their doctors’ single most powerful allies,” says Dr. Oz, professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and vice chairman of cardiovascular services at Columbia University Medical Center. Unfortunately, he says, they account for less than 5 percent of the population.

“Very few people take the time or have the insights to get the best possible care,” he says. “Either they don’t know the questions to ask, or they are ignorant of how the health care system works.”

Medicine today is so complex that patients put their health at risk if they aren’t actively involved in their own care, the authors contend. For example, approximately 40,000 people die and 1.3 million have serious health consequences each year due to “medication mishaps”—getting the wrong prescription or dose, mixing meds that don’t mix, or a combination of the three. By following the strategies Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen recommend, you can get the same kind of treatment a doctor’s family gets.

“That’s the gold standard,” says Dr. Oz. In fact, he notes, he and his coauthor, chairman of the division of anesthesiology at the Cleveland Clinic, wrote their book thinking, “What would I tell my family?” Significantly, their partner in the project is an organization devoted to patient safety—the independent, nonprofit Joint Commission, which accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations in the United States.

“You can’t be passive,” stresses Dr. Oz, who says patients often give their doctors too little pertinent information. “Have a dialogue with your doctor.”

(Quiz from Article: 7 Secrets of Smart Patients)

What’s the most important thing to take with you to the doctor’s office?

1. A properly completed living will, to be kept on file
2. Your husband or wife
3. A crisp $50 bill in an envelope
4. An accurate and complete health profile
5. A photo of yourself at age 12

How often does getting a second opinion change treatment substantially?

1. In about one-third of all cases
2. In about 20 percent of cases
3. In about 60 percent of cases
4. Very rarely, surprisingly
5. What’s a second opinion?

When giving your doctor your family history, which tidbit below would be most critical to mention?

1. My uncle had asbestosis and needed oxygen when he was 70.
2. My mother is so healthy she beats up the neighbors.
3. My husband smokes.
4. My father is becoming forgetful now that he’s 88.
5. My brother weighs 440 pounds and has diabetes.

The most germ-ridden object in your hospital room is:

1. The flush handle on the throne
2. The food tray
3. The doorknob
4. The TV remote control
5. You

During which of the following periods should you avoid checking into the hospital, if you can?

1. The holiday season
2. Midsummer
3. Full moons
4. Oscar night
5. The days right after a good, hard rain

When is the best time to schedule a doctor’s appointment?

1. In the early afternoon on Friday
2. Weekends, since all the other patients are enjoying themselves
3. In the late morning, after your doctor has had his coffee
4. The first appointment of the day, whenever that is
5. Any time on Wednesday, which is traditionally a slow day for doctors

 

Excerpted from YOU: The Smart Patient by Michael F. Roizen, MD, and Mehmet C. Oz, MD. Free Press, 2006.

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