Welcome to Comprehensive Natural Medicine! We look forward to providing you with the best blend of Western knowledge and valuable Eastern health cultivation techniques. Please read through the information below to ensure a successful first appointment. The more prepared you are for your appointment, the more satisfied you’ll be with your treatment. For an overview of how to prepare for your first visit, see the section titled “Doctor/Patient Relationships” below.
What to bring to your first appointment:
- your insurance card
- physician referral forms (if required by insurance)
- prescriptions or over-the-counter medications you currently take
- pertinent information about your medical and surgical history
- any recent x-rays or relevant medical records you may have
For an appointment, please call us at 206-618-6549.
PLEASE NOTE: At your first appointment, please bring with you the name, address, and phone number of the pharmacy that you wish to use. If your prescriptions are filled by a mail order pharmacy, please let us know the name, phone number, and fax number of this service. This will facilitate our being able to write and refill your prescriptions in a prompt manner.
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Important Information for New Patients To help protect you from becoming a victim of Identity Theft, our practice will verify the identity of all new and returning patients of the practice.
Additionally, federal law requires all health care practices to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each new patient.
What this means for you: when you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth and other information that will allow us to identify you. We take a photograph of all patients to put in our charts. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents.
Doctor/Patient Relationships
- The best healthcare outcomes are based on mutual trust between patient and physician.
- Patient Expectations:
- To set my own priorities
- To say no without feeling guilty
- To ask for what I want
- To get one’s money’s worth
- To ask for information
- To make mistakes
- To choose not to assert myself
- To change one’s mind
- Patient Responsibilities:
- To keep scheduled appointments
- To be honest with the doctors & other health care workers
- To give information about experience & condition as clearly & briefly as possible
- To understand that no one has all the answers to MS
- To follow the treatment plan agreed upon
- Bring a list of the names and addresses of your other health care providers
- Please bring to your appointments the medications (actual bottles) that you are currently taking
- Know what medications have been used unsuccessfully on you in the past
- Know what allergies you have
- Understand the requirements of your own health insurance (It is virtually impossible for us to keep all of the health plans straight, but we sure try!)
- How does your pharmacy plan work? Is your prescription plan mail-away or local purchase? Do you want 3 month or 1 month prescriptions?
- Being an advocate means…
- Educating yourself
- Getting good advice
- Finding allies
- Figuring out how to make the system work for you
- Prepare for your office visit by:
- Organizing your thoughts to make the most of your limited time
- Make lists or write down what you don’t want to forget
- Keep a diary
- Bring a friend or family member along, particularly if you get tongue-tied in a doctor’s office
- During your office visit:
- Ask the doctor, “What is my diagnosis?”
- Do you understand your diagnosis well enough to explain it to a family member? If not, have the doctor explain it to you again.
- Ask, “What can be done to improve my situation?”
- Ask the doctor if he/she is going to be ordering any labs or diagnostic tests.
- Ask the doctor, “What are you looking for?”
- Ask the doctor, “How do I arrange and prepare for the tests?”
- Ask the doctor if he/she will call you with the results or if should you should call the office.
- Ask if there are any medicines being prescribed.
- Ask if there are any expected side effects to the prescribed medications. Note: Not all patients experience mentioned side effects.
- Please turn off or silence your cell phones while in the exam room with the physician.
Key Tips
- By being prepared, you are able to maximize your time with the physician.
- By learning everything you can about your health benefits, your visits will be more efficient.
- Your time is just as valuable as your health care provider’s time. Following these simple guidelines and being prepared for your visits will not only make them more enjoyable, but also will undoubtedly increase your level of care.
