Today, we look to a variety of health care providers for our health and medical information. And there are so many of them—there’s one doctor for this, one for that, and one for something we’ve never even heard of. The practice of medicine has become more complicated, with cardiac catheterizations, chemotherapies, and corneal transplants becoming commonplace. There’s much more to know and many more health care professionals to consult. We long for a single Norman Rockwell small-town doctor to tell us everything we need to know about our health care. But the classic, small-town Marcus Welby, M.D., general practitioner who took care of patients from birth to death no longer exists.

Where do you begin? The place to start is by learning the best and most efficient method to manage your health care system, including your providers. Next, you need to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each provider. No provider can know everything, so you need to identify who can do what when. In this chapter, we focus on the many parts of your health care system and how they work together to provide you with the best possible care.

So what can you do to create your personal health care team? Begin by remembering who you see and for what. Quick—list the names and specialties of all your health care providers. If you can, you’re lucky, either because you don’t have many health issues or get regular evaluations and treatments by a limited few. Next, because your providers aren’t always on call, try to name all their partners. It isn’t easy, is it? That’s why you need to create a record of your health care providers.

With so many providers, trying to remember every one is a challenge. That’s why we’ve broken down your health care system into the following categories. Follow our list to help you recall the caregivers you rely on to take care of you from head to toe. It’s the quickest way to create your personal health care system:

This list gives examples but is not comprehensive. If we tried to list every type of provider, this book would be as long as War and Peace. However, all of your health care providers can be placed into one of the preceding eight categories. What’s important is including every caregiver. Not sure if someone qualifies as a provider? Include that person anyway.

Creating your own health care system helps you account for all of your providers and accurately and efficiently share this information with each member of your health care team. Having information categorized is beneficial to your good health and your treatment, especially during health care crises. Your list should include the name of every health care provider, along with his or her group name, addresses, specialties, and phone and fax numbers. This list may become critical if you’re incapacitated and unable to provide this information for any reason. Once you’ve completed your list, give copies to your health care providers for their records and recommendations. Update your list regularly.

You may be thinking, “Why does my surgeon need the contact information for my dentist?” We can give you specific examples of conscientious nail care experts who alerted a client’s doctor to a possible life-threatening infection, a local cosmetologist performing a facial who noticed a suspicious mole and reported the information to a client’s dermatologist, and a massage therapist who was concerned about a lump on the bottom of a client’s foot that turned out to be a tumor. Sure, these examples may be unusual. But they’re important examples of the intricacies of today’s health care system. Imagine how much more important it is for your internist to know that you’re seeing a rheumatologist or cardiologist. We can give you sad examples of open-heart surgery patients who forgot to tell their dentist they’d been hospitalized and ended up with a fatal infection that could have been prevented with a dose of antibiotics before the dental visit. While your provider will likely tell you of a problem first and let you contact your other providers, if there’s an emergency, you want them to know who to call. You need and want everyone to work together.

Contrary to what you may believe, health care providers, including physicians, don’t call each other all the time to compare notes about all their mutual patients. Of course, sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day. In some cases, they might find it helpful, but they don’t know who to call. And even if you did mention Doctor B’s name in passing, you can’t guarantee that Doctor A will remember or wrote it down legibly. (Have you seen most doctors’ handwriting?) Sharing your personal health care system is critical.

If there’s one thing we’re hoping you take away from this chapter, it’s that being a patient doesn’t mean just lying back, sticking out your tongue, and saying “Ahhhhhh.” Your health care providers and your doctors are intelligent, diligent, and dedicated, but they’re not omniscient or omnipresent. You depend on them, but they depend on you as well. Bottom line: You can be a better patient—and get better treatment—if you communicate with your caregivers and constantly update your personal health care system. This will give you more time during appointments to challenge your providers with thoughtful, well-informed questions and concerns. Your health is your most important asset. You need to safeguard it and invest in it. If you don’t have the energy to take on this role, shift the responsibility to your health care representative. (See Chapter 9, “Medical-Legal Wills: Directives, Definitions, and Discussions.”) Ask questions, be aware, and provide information. We have, in many ways, the best medical system in the world. Take advantage of it.