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Always call at least 2 days before you visit. |
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Priority will given for patients with appointment. |
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Bring along all reports, X-Rays, other papers Etc. |
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A good quality X Ray of Chest, done recently is a must. |
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Do not bring more than ONE attendant. |
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Do not bring children (unless they are the patients). |
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If the Patient is very sick, please do not wait. Go to the emergency department. |
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If you need a wheel chair, ask for it (in the reception). |
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Keep your mobiles in ‘silent’ mode. |
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Avoid talking loudly. |
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Some consultations take more time, you may have to wait longer than you had planned. |
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For your convenience doctor will see the reports the same day, if ready. |
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Sickness & Discomfort is the same for everyone. Do not insist being seen on priority. |
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Any Emergency, don’t waste time on phone: rush to Casualty. |
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If you have to call the doctor on phone, keep his prescription and a pen ready. |
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| Important Information for you |
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All consultations with Dr.R.Vijai Kumar are by prior appointment. |
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Call 040-2761 0645 or 040-5510 0645 or 098498 09444 between 10 am and 9 pm to take an appointment at least 5 days before consulting the doctor (for your own convenience and comfort). |
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If you need any clarifications from the doctor, call between 6 pm and 9 pm in the clinic. It is a good idea to keep the prescription and a pen ready before you call the doctor. |
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For any emergency, please go to the nearest hospital or consult your family doctor. |
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When you come to the doctor please carry all the relevant papers with you (prescriptions,
x rays, all blood reports).Take out the reports from the envelopes and file them as per dates (it will save valuable time for everybody). |
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On a piece of paper write down the points that you want to discuss with the doctor ( your problems, drug allergies, operations you had, drugs being used currently and all your doubts etc). |
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One responsible adult may accompany the patient. More than one attendant disturbs and diverts the attention of the doctor. For the same reason avoid bringing children into the doctor’s room (unless of course they are patients). |
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Mobile phones are a nuisance during consultation, please switch them off or keep them in silent mode. |
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Most people who come to the doctor are quite sick and have traveled long distances, it is not fair for anyone to jump the queue and be seen on priority. Let us respect rules for everyone’s comfort. |
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No Consultation on Saturdays & Sundays. |
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Visit to the Doctor
How to get your money’s worth |
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Every day we keep reading articles in the newspapers, leisure magazines on topics like where to have the weekend family dinner or where to head for the summer vacation or which one of the recently released movies is good and so on. Unfortunately we do not have similar information on more important issues like which hospital to get into if you have Acute Asthma or which Doctor to approach if you have a lump in the neck or for that matter which Diagnostic lab is cost effective and does reliable blood tests.
For many obvious reasons, such an article can open the Pandora ’s box and there can be claims and counter claims and might indeed lead to greater chaos and confusion.
However after having practiced Medicine for the past 34 years in the government, corporate and private setup. I have painfully observed that a Patient who goes to a doctor for advice and help is unable to derive the optimal benefit from the consultation out of sheer ignorance.
The following tips are meant for anyone seeking medical advice from the Doctor. |
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Who is your family Doctor? Today’s world is full of specialists and super specialists for every conceivable part of the human body and for every disease mentioned in the textbook. But more than 90% of the ailments do not actually require the services of a specialist. But how do you actually decide the need to consult a specialist? Honestly it is your family doctor who decides. Your family Doctor would be familiar with your illness or several illnesses over a period of time and decides whether it is a routine non-serious illness requiring a simple approach or the beginning of a serious disease requiring immediate consultation with an appropriate specialist.
The specialists are definitely more knowledgeable and experienced in their own field and in the eagerness to rule out an early non obvious disease may advise sophisticated and sometime expensive tests to justify a thorough approach.
The family Doctor can also streamline the multiple drugs prescribed by various specialists for different ailments and infact help in reducing the number of drugs. So, if you do not already have a family Doctor, look for one immediately. |
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Where is your Health file? Surprised! It is good idea to start a health file for each member of the family separately. This file contains all the prescriptions, test reports etc., gathered over a period of time and arranged in a chronological (date wise) order. Remember to pull out the lab reports from their envelope before filing. The purpose is to reduce unnecessary wastage of time. You can also have a long notebook in which the doctor can record the data at every visit. Over years this book will be a perfect record of your health status.
Quite recently some Doctors have begun to store Patient ’s data on computer with the help of specialized software. In fact I have been doing that for almost 10 years now. |
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| Fix up an appointment before you visit the doctor either by phone or in person. It is comfortable for both, and avoids embarrasment. Doctors like everybody else get tired after working for 8 hours a day, infact some doctors even work for longer hours. It is not appropriate to surprise him when he is about to close the door and go home; unless it is an emergency. You will find the Doctor pleasant, amiable and fresh only when he is expecting you. Taking a prior appointment does exactly that. |
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Two is ideal, Three is a crowd Do not convert the visit to the Doctor into a family entertainment programme.
Visiting and consulting the doctor is a serious business. On an average the Doctor allocates about 15 minutes for each patient. The emphasis therefore should be to avoid wasting time and spending it usefully. Too many accompanying persons takes away the sanctity, creates confusion and disturbs the Doctor. Never take children along to the Doctor unless they are the patients. Children with their pranks can distract the attention of the Doctor away from the issue at hand. Switch off your cell phones before entering the Doctor ’s chamber for the same reason. |
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| Let the Sufferer speak Doctors always prefer to hear the story straight from the patient in his/her own words. The patient may not appear to be describing it perfectly but the doctor gets valuable information by the way the patient uses the words and narrates the sequence. The persons accompanying the patient would be eager to interrupt and add their own version, but should resist the urge. They may however add some points after the patient has finished telling his story. If it is a protracted illness involving many tests, it is advisable to write down the dates and sequence on a paper before seeing the doctor. |
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Carry all the reports As mentioned earlier carry all x-rays and all lab reports neatly filed as per the dates along with all the earlier prescriptions and place it before the Doctor. Nothing is more irritating to the Doctor than pulling out bunches of reports inside the envelopes and dumping on the Doctors table. Of course the Doctor would sort them out but cuts short the time on other aspects. Disclose about all your established illnesses like Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma etc.
It makes a big difference in evaluating the current illness. |
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| Is the Doctor accessible? Find out the Doctor’s contact phone numbers for purposes of taking an appointment, clarifying doubts and reaching in an emergency. Is he attached to any nursing home or a hospital? Who will take care of you in his absence? (Eg. Doctor out of station). |
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| Don’t interrupt the doctor Having listened to your complaints, history etc and after having looked at all the reports, x-rays and after examining you in detail finally the Doctor will start giving you his impression and advice. That is a crucial time. Do not interrupt him. Nothing is more counter productive than suddenly interrupting the Doctor’s advice by mentioning some more problems. Another important rule is never keep reminding about your symptoms after the Doctor has finished writing the prescription and you are heading for the door. |
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| Finally thank the Doctor if you are better, with his treatment. The Doctor is eagerly waiting to hear those words from you. It improves the relationship between the Doctor and the Patient. |
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