In these days of managed care, choosing a doctor seems like a lot of trouble — but it’s worth every minute of your time. Your relationship with the doctor who treats your asthma is critical to controlling symptoms and improving your quality of life. In fact, developing a genuine partnership between patient and doctor is one of the key recommendations of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP, a project of the National Institutes of Health).

Make a list of candidates

Asking friends with similar health concerns for a referral is a good starting point. You may also ask for a referral from a trusted health care professional with whom you already have a close relationship. If you participate in a health plan, your choice of health care providers may be limited. Usually, you will be asked to choose a primary care physician from a list of doctors who work with your health plan. Check your plan’s list of doctors against any personal or professional referrals. Even when a health care provider is highly recommended, it’s a good idea to interview a few of the doctors covered by your plan.

Schedule a telephone interview or appointment

Health plan coverage won’t tell you anything about how well a doctor listens to you and communicates with you. Both are crucial to asthma management. Remember, you are choosing a partner — possibly a lifetime partner. You may have to pay for an interview appointment out of pocket, depending on your health coverage. Or, try the telephone (keeping in mind that you’re asking for a free consultation). If a health care provider is unwilling to speak with you, even after you explain what you’re doing, chances are you should look elsewhere.

Before the interview, write down a few questions to ask the doctor based on your own health concerns. The goal is to get a feel for the physician’s communication skills, what used to be called bedside manner. Save questions about office hours, location, hospital affiliation, after-hours care, and so on, for the office staff. While answers to these questions play a big role in your decision, talking to your potential doctor about them isn’t the best use of his or her time. For the doctor, choose questions about treatment philosophy or other general medical subjects. Try to avoid simple yes or no questions in favor of open-ended questions. Jot down your impressions during the interview to help jog your memory later.

Evaluate the candidate

After each interview, ask yourself the following questions (excerpted from Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care, a publication of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research).

Did the doctor…

1. Give me a chance to ask questions?
2. Really listen to my questions?
3. Answer in terms I understood?
4. Show respect for me?
5. Ask me questions?
6. Make me feel comfortable?
7. Address the health problems I came with?
8. Ask about my treatment preferences?
9. Spend enough time with me?

Trust your intuition. It’s fair to say that any relationship needs more than one ten-minute meeting to develop. Still, you should come away with a sense of trust and confidence. Your partnership with the doctor who treats your asthma may be one of the most important relationships in your life. Being satisfied with your asthma care is one of the six goals for asthma management outlined by the NAEPP.

You should expect nothing less.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Adult Asthma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.