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Are You an Empowered Patient...or a Pain in the Neck?

By Mary Shomon, About.com

Updated: July 3, 2007

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

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Do You Bring in Pages of Printouts From the Internet?

It's great to do research, and many of us rely on the internet because of the many sources of medical and health information. But when you want to share something with your doctor, do you come to your appointment with stacks of papers you've printed off from various websites?

If so, you could be interfering with the effectiveness of your visit. One of two things may happen: Your doctor may spend most of your appointment time reading through your printouts, or your doctor may decide that he/she doesn't have time to even look at the printouts at all, and ignore them completely.

A BETTER APPROACH?: Carefully select a few pages that are of particular importance, and mail or fax them at least a week before your appointment, along with a brief cover note that says "I am hoping we can discuss this during my appointment on Day/Date/Time."

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