10 ways you can help your doctor do her job

Mistakes happen. Unfortunately, they also happen to doctors. You can do your part in helping to ensure that doctors have every advantage in helping you and minimizing your risk.

• An estimated 9,000 to 24,000 Canadians die in hospitals each year, not from the medical conditions they checked in with but from preventable medical errors.
• While the health care system as a whole is working on ways to reduce those dreadful figures, there are also things you, as a patient, can do.

Here are the top 10 recommendations from the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:

Don't just blindly nod when your doctor hands you a prescription or says you need surgery.

• Question everything, ask for studies, find out about your doctor's experience in a particular procedure.
• Research shows that patients who are more involved with their care tend to get better results.

• That includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines, and dietary supplements such as vitamins and herbs. But it also includes illegal drugs.
• Don't worry — your doctor is bound by confidentiality rules not to disclose the information to anyone. So once a year, toss all your meds into a paper bag and take them to your annual checkup.

If you can read it, chances are good the pharmacist can too. And that will help reduce medication errors.

You should ask for info when your medicines are prescribed and when you receive them. Studies find that doctors are terrible at explaining to patients how to take medications, what their side effects are, and how long they should be taken.

Ask the following questions:

• What is the medicine for?
• How am I supposed to take it, and for how long?
• What side effects are likely? What do I do if they occur?
• Is this medicine safe to take with other medicines or dietary supplements I am taking?
• What food, drink or activities should I avoid while taking this medicine?

•  For instance, does "four doses daily" mean a dose every six hours or just during regular waking hours?

Get this information beforehand, so you're not guessing and potentially overdosing or underdosing yourself.

Ask about the results. Phone, email or go into your medical office and ask to go over the results with your doctor.

This includes learning about your medicines and finding out when you can get back to your regular activities.

Research shows that at discharge time, doctors think their patients understand more than they really do about what they should or shouldn't do when they return home.

In fact, ask your doctor to sign his or her initials on the site of the surgery — for instance, the left knee — then double-check that it's the correct site.

That's what the Canadian Institute for Health information suggests.

This is especially important if you have many health problems or are in a hospital. You need someone trusted who knows your medical history to be involved.

They can be your advocate (someone who can help get things done and speak up for you if you can't). Even if you think you don't need help now, you might need it later.