A: Yes! Your Friendly Family MD, a Nerdy Girl collaborator, weighs in with the following recommendations:
Find a private place (far away from where your roomie likes to roam half-naked); Call your insurer prior to the visit (no one likes surprise bills!); Pre-check your tech (Zoom gremlins are **real**); Come ready with your concerns (writing a list often helps).
The Nerdy Girls are delighted to host a series of posts from Your Friendly Family MD during the month of September. A physician educator and proud member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), Your Friendly Family MD is here to tackle tough clinical questions. We’ll let her take it from here…..
In addition to the tips above, I also advise my patients to:
Ask questions!
There is nothing I love more than someone who is engaged in their healthcare. The more questions, the better! Make sure you understand the Big 3: what the diagnosis is, what this means for you, and what you can do about it.
Make a plan for next steps.
When should you have another visit, either in person or telemedicine? Do you need lab tests or x-rays? If so, how do you get those done? When should you be worried something isn’t working and what should you do in that circumstance?
Don’t worry.
Healthcare professionals are getting good at telemedicine. Public health agencies and medical society guidelines demonstrate that telemedicine is particularly effective for these conditions: chronic medical issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma; mental health conditions like anxiety and depression; wellness visits that don’t require vaccines; problems that tend to get better without a lot of help, like colds, rashes, and yes, even Covid19. (See references below for the underlying evidence).
And remember: Please touch base with your primary care provider for specific advice related to your personal medical care seeking. They’ve got your back!
References:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: “Telehealth for acute and chronic consultations.”
American Academy of Family Medicine’s Familydoctor.org “Telemedicine”
