In general, the better prepared you are for an appointment, the more likely you will be to effectively address your health concerns. This section will give you my suggestions about preparing for an appointment.

Preparation for an appointment can take place on several levels.

For starters, you can refer to About Your Office Visit

You can help us to help you at your appointment by defining your goals for the appointment and making sure your medical provider has an reasonable amount of information and time to help you get to your goals. How can you help in this process? One way is for you to read down the list of words (in bold numbers 1 through 5) below until you come to something that applies to you.

Are you a:

1. New member? (this applies if you have not been seen in the last 36 months at a Northern California Medicine Department), recently assigned to me that wants to get acquainted with me or get oriented to the Kaiser system? See Information for New Members.
2. Established member who feels healthy but who is mainly concerned about preventing future health problems through exams or tests? See Preventive Health Recommendations. Please feel free to make an appointment to discuss these recommendations or if you feel you are overdue for tests please contact me or my staff Contacting Us By Phone, Fax or Internet.
3. Member who wants to make improvements in health behaviors such exercise or diet. Or wants to reduce stress or anxiety. Or wants assistance in coping with difficult life situations such as chronic illness? Our Behavioral Medicine Consultant can help you develop a plan for success.
4. Member with a new health concern? These concerns might include upper respiratory infection, pain in the muscles or bones or allergies. Many of these problems will respond to treatments that you can do at home as described in our Health Encyclopedia. Further information on your symptoms is available on American Academy of Family Physician Self Help Flowcharts. .

To prepare for appointments for your new health concern, it is helpful to do a bit of reading on the topic and to briefly prepare information that may help in diagnosing and treating your problem. To help in this process, the following brief educationals and questionnaires have been developed. To access these, please click on the type of problem that you have, then print out any of the questionnaires that apply to you and bring them with you to your appointment (fill them out before you see your provider):

• Upper respiratory infection Cold & Flu Symptom Questionnaire; note: cold and flu symptoms are generally amenable to homecare, see colds and flu and Treatment of Nasal Congestion From Colds or Allergies Including Sinus Wash Instructions,
• Pain in the muscles or bones Pain in the Bones or Muscles,
• Allergies Allergies
• Do you think you might have high blood pressure? Hypertension, initial screening questionnaire
• Are you concerned about your weight? see Weight Management Resources
• Are you concerned that you may have diabetes? Pre-Diabetes
• Are you concerned that you may be at risk for heart disease? American Heart Association Risk Assessment Tool
• Do you have severe fatigue with no apparent cause? This is usually not a condition that we can immediately diagnose. Because there are many causes of fatigue, it will help to fill out the following questionnaire before you see me Comprehensive Symptom Review and bring it with you to your appointment.
• Do you have problems sleeping? Check out this Initial Management of Sleep Problems
• Do you want to have treatment for acne? Acne
• Have you been diagnosed with depression and need treatment? Depression flyer 3-2010

Please note, that not all problems are addressed with the above questionnaires and therefore there are some problems that you won't be able to prepare for in advance of your appointment.

5. Established member who has seen me before for (an) ongoing health concern(s)? These concerns may include asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, chronic pain, stress or depression. Do you want to make sure your medical problem(s) are being treated properly or want to learn more about what can be done to prevent worsening of your problem?

I suggest that in addition to your appointment you consider taking a class or group appointment to learn more about your condition and how other patients have found ways to manage this condition. Information on this can be found by clicking here Health Education Classes or by calling my Health Educator (Tracy) at 530-757-4235.

For some conditions, I have fairly standard recommendations:

• Diabetes What I recommend for your diabetes
• Asthma
• Chronic Pain requiring pain medication Pain Contract: Informed Consent for Pain Medication Usage

For all long-term conditions, my recommendations will have to be modified depending on your individual needs. In most cases, if you have had treatment for your medical or mental health-related problem, it will be useful to request your medical records from previous health care providers. To obtain the forms for this click here: Form To Transfer Outside Medical Records To Your Kaiser Clinic 7-2003.