Bring your question, not a chosen injection.

Put your own concern into words

Write a short note about what brought you here. What are you hoping will change? What would make treatment worth the trouble or expense to you?

Bring information you already have

Make a note of your medicines and any past reactions you want to discuss. Bring health records you would like the clinician (a doctor or other health professional) to consider. Say when you do not know an answer.

Expect room for a conversation

According to the Federation of State Medical Boards, diagnosis or prescribing requires more than a fixed online questionnaire. Its guidance calls for the ability to ask further questions.

These rules are suggestions for the state boards overseeing doctors; states decide their own requirements. A form that leads to more questions differs from a form that ends the assessment.

Ask what a test would answer

If a clinician proposes a test, ask what it would look for and what difference its result would make to the plan. Ask for the test’s cost before agreeing to it.

The boards’ guidance says clinicians need to arrange necessary tests or refer a patient for the needed assessment.

Leave with an explanation

Ask the clinician to explain the treatment name, the reason for it, and the next conversation. You can ask them to repeat an answer in ordinary words.