Following up from doctor visits

[sunrunner68]

As a retired nurse my biggest suggestion is to take charge of your doctor visits. Often your doctor may order lab tests and referrals to other services. Please follow up for results.  I can't tell you how often in recent times I have had friends told to "call if you haven't heard in a week".  They don't follow up and chaos follows. Anytime you take your care away from just you and your primary, you have the opportunity for someone to make a mistake, a breakdown in the computer system and so forth. The more people, the more potential problems. Have pen and paper on hand for the calls. Ask for the name of the person you are talking with. Write down questions and the answers. 

[YoureFantabulous]

Absolutely! Great tip, @sunrunner68. I know someone whose doctor said, "I can't treat this situation til you see this particular specialist" even tho it was a pressing need. When my friend called the specialist, she couldn't get in for months, which meant the original need would be deadly by that time. I told her that if the original doc would call the specialist, he could make sure she was seen immediately. There was obviously a lack of communication between the doctors. My friend, unbelievably, chose to wait for the specialist's appt.