Questions that patients should be asked

In a previous post I talked about some important questions I ask myself in my attempt to avoid missing the correct diagnosis.

There is also a set of questions I like to ask the patient, usually at the conclusion of the visit while I am typing our collaborative assessment and plan into the EHR, to ensure that the patient and I are literally on the same page. 

• Do you have any questions?
• Do our assessment and plan make sense to you?
• Do you anticipate any problems with the plan? 
• Are there any things we didn’t cover today that you would like addressed?

As a bonus: if the visit was for something potentially scary such as a procedure: “Many patients find visits like this one stressful. Was there anything we could have done or I could have done to make it easier for you?”