Questions to Ask you Doctor

March 13th, 2008

Emergency or Traumatic situations:

At the hospital or emergency care clinic ASK:

  • take someone with you and authorize them to speak about your situation medically and financially.
  • ask if there are any charitable programs available, if so, ask for paperwork to submit application
  • ask if payment plans are available
  • speak to the billing office or office manager

At the time of emergency these are difficult issues to deal with.
TWO IMPORTANT things to remember.

1) Put someone on your HIPPA forms. This provides that person authorization to speak on your behalf.

2) All billing, invoicing and payments can be dealt with after the emergency has been treated.

  • After the fact you can get further information and contact the foundation yourself to determine if help is available on the bill (s) you have received.
  • Work with the billing office to set up monthly payments
  • Show your willingness to pay by sending in a monthly payment of what you can afford

Some Questions to Ask your Doctors
Print these out and take them with you.

Non Emergency needs:

Call and compare prices of the medical service professionals.
TELL the medical professionals you need help financially.

HAVE YOU BEEN PRESCRIBED A NEW MEDICATION OR TREATMENT?
ASK:

  • What is the name of the medicine?
  • How do you spell the name?
  • Can I take a generic version of this medicine?
  • What is the medicine for?
  • How am I supposed to take it?
  • When should I take my medicine?
  • How much medicine should I take?
  • How long do I need to take the medicine?
  • When will the medicine start working?
  • Can I stop taking my medicine if I feel better?
  • Can I get a refill?
  • Are there any side effects?
  • When should I tell someone about a side effect?
  • Do I need to avoid any food, drinks, or activities?
  • Does this new prescription mean I should stop taking any other medicines I’m taking now?
  • Can I take vitamins with my prescription?
  • What should I do if I forget to take my medicine?
  • What should I do if I accidentally take more than the recommended dose?
  • Is there any written information I can take home with me?
  • Are there any tests I need to take while I’m on this medicine?

Pharmaceutical companies offer programs for assistance for their medications. Normally, you can find out about the programs on the website and make application. You generally do have to print out the application and get your doctor to sign it. You can always go to your local library to use the computer and internet (generally at no charge) and print documents there as well (there may be a small fee for printing).

ARE YOU SCHEDULED TO HAVE MEDICAL TESTS?
ASK

  • What is the test for?
  • How is the test done?
  • Will the test hurt?
  • How accurate is the test?
  • Is this test the only way to find out that information?
  • What are the benefits and risks of having this test?
  • What do I need to do to prepare for the test?
  • How many times have your performed the test?
  • When will I get the results?
  • What will the results tell me?
  • What’s the next step after the test?

DID YOU RECENTLY RECEIVE A DIAGNOSIS?
ASK

  • What is my diagnosis?
  • What is the technical name of my disease or condition, and what does it mean in plan English?
  • What is my prognosis (outlook for the future)?
  • What changes will I need to make?
  • Is there a chance that someone else in my family might get the same condition?
  • Will I need special help at home for my condition?
  • Is there any treatment?
  • What are my treatment options?
  • How soon do I need to make a decision about treatment?
  • What are the benefits and risks associated with my treatment options?
  • Is there a clinical trial (research study) that is right for me?
  • Will I need any additional tests?
  • What organizations and resources do you recommend for support and information?

ARE YOU CONSIDERING TREATMENT FOR AN ILLNESS OR CONDITION?
ASK

  • What are my treatment options?
  • What do you recommend?
  • Is the treatment painful?
  • How can the pain be controlled?
  • What are the benefits and risks of this treatment?
  • How much does this treatment cost?
  • Will my health insurance cover the treatment?
  • If not, are you aware of any programs I may be qualified for?
  • What are the expected results?
  • When will I see results from the treatment?
  • What are the chances the treatment will work?
  • Are there any side effects?
  • What can be done about them?
  • How soon do I need to make a decision about treatment?
  • What happens if I choose to have no treatment at all?

DID YOUR CLINICIAN RECENTLY RECOMMEND SURGERY?
ASK

  • Why do I need surgery?
  • What kind of surgery do I need?
  • What will you be doing?
  • What are the benefits and risks of having this surgery?
  • Have you done this surgery before?
  • How successful is this surgery?
  • Which hospital is best for this surgery?
  • Will the surgery hurt?
  • Will I need anesthesia?
  • How long will the surgery take?
  • How long will it take me to recover?
  • How long will I be in the hospital?
  • What will happen after the surgery?
  • How much will the surgery cost?
  • Will my health insurance cover the surgery?
  • If I am not covered, are you aware of any programs available to help with this financially?
  • Is there some other way to treat my condition?
  • What will happen if I wait or don’t have this surgery?
  • Where can I get a second opinion?

ARE YOU CHOOSING A HEALTH PLAN?
ASK

  • What are my options?
  • Does this health plan provide the benefits and services I need?
  • Does this health plan offer the clinicians and hospitals I want?
  • Can I afford this health plan?
  • Can I afford not to have this health plan?

ARE YOU CHOOSING A CLINICIAN?
ASK

  • Is this clinician part of my health plan?
  • Does this clinician have the background and training I need?
  • Where did this clinician go to school?
  • Is this clinician able to work at the hospital I like?
  • Can I talk to this clinician and ask questions easily?
  • Does this clinician listen to me?
  • Does this clinician wash his or her hands between examining each patient?

ARE YOU CHOOSING A HOSPITAL?
ASK

  • Which hospital has the best care for my condition?
  • Is this hospital covered by my health insurance?
  • If not, do they have a program available that will help me with the costs?
  • Do they offer discounts and payment plans for self pay?
  • Does the hospital meet national quality standards?
  • How does the hospital compare with others in my area?
  • Has the hospital had success with my condition?
  • Does my clinician have privileges (is allowed to work) at this hospital?
  • How well does the hospital check and improve on its own quality of care?

SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DENTIST

Dentists ASK:

  • do the same comparison shopping for discounts and payment plans
  • call the nearest dental college to find out the programs they offer. many times you can get your dental work done at a college by dental students for a much reduced cost.

Preventative maintenance in this area of your health is critical to ensure longterm healthy lives

Posted in ASK | 4 Comments »

Lesson’s Learned

February 9th, 2008

Welcome to this new blog.  You can find out about us at www.thegivingneighbors.org.  The Giving Neighbors has been active now for about 15 months and it has been great to be a part of this endeavor.  Providing the gift of a medical need met, WOW, that is awesome for me. 

I know some who have received health care via The Giving Neighbors assistance who are now healthy, functioning, self supportive individuals who now have health care insurance moving forward.  This is because the momentary need was met and they were able to move forward in their lives.

But.. (isn’t there always one of those)… I’ve wanted to begin to chat about experience’s - those I can share but especially those you can share when it comes to your personal health care experiences.  We want to learn and grow and develop this organizations arms and knowledge in hopes to become better at serving not only the Neighbors in Need but those of us who want to become more aware of how to manage our health, our monies and ensure we are getting the level of service and quality our health insurance dollars or personal dollars can get. 

Here is our  “lesson’s learned” catagory where we can discuss how, as individuals, we can tap into all that is available out there.  Going thru our cumbersome health care system today we each collect valuable information we can share with others.  I want a place we can capture that information and make it public so we can ease another’s path thru the cumbersome, uncaring, red taped process.  In this area, I will share some of my experience’s and pass on some of my “lessons learned”. 

We look forward to hearing about your “lessons learned” so please share.

One thing I have learned and that is to ASK.  The more we ask, the more we learn, the more we begin to get breakthroughs.   See the list of questions to ASK under the catagory ASK. These questions are good for any of use whether we have health insurance or not.

Posted in Lessons Learned | 1 Comment »

Welcome to TGN Let’s Talk!

January 15th, 2008

A few of us believe we can make a difference so we began this not for profit organization with it’s focus on helping some through this maze of medical care services nightmare for the uninsured who need a moments help.  Wanna talk about our beginning here at tGN. Let’s talk!! Then let’s Care a little. Give a little. Do a little. So a lot will get done.

Posted in Let's Talk | 2 Comments »