Step One: Learn Your Options
Step Two: Get Good Referrals
Step Three: Screening the Candidate
Step Four: Interviewing the Provider
Step Five: Forming a Partnership
Step One: Learn Your Options
Add to your M.D.'s recommendations by researching the latest resources to get all your treatment options.
Knowledge is power. Whether you are looking for information to enhance
your health or searching for the answer to reverse a terminal illness,
you'll want all the credible information you can find about your condition.
And you can do just that when you learn all your options.
In order to do that, you'll need "The Seven Key Sources To Good Health Care
Information." They are:
1. Your doctor and other health care providers
2. Other patients and their friends
3. Libraries
4. The Internet
5. Medical and Health Information Service Organizations
6. Advocacy Organizations and Support Groups
7. Professional Organizations and Trade Associations
Further, when gathering health care information, it important to use "The Three Question Test For Complete And Dependable Health Care Information."
1. What are the best treatments available in the world today
for my health care condition/diagnosis?
2. Are those treatment proven effective?
3. How do I know if the information is reliable?
By using this test and the other strategies outlined in Chapter 1 of Five Steps To Selecting the Best Alternative Medicine, you can gain access to
all the accurate and dependable health care information you need to make informed choice about your treatment options.
By getting informed you become a savvy health care consumer no longer bound to one doctor's opinion or one medical system's answers to meet yours and your family's health care needs. Remember, by learning all of your options, you increase your chances of getting the health care results you want.
Step Two: Get Good Referrals
Find referrals through various sources and verify that these referrals have the capability to really help you.
An effective selection process is the key to locating a good health care professional. Getting high quality referrals of good candidates is the best way to start that process. Step Two provides you with the information and
know how to get those high quality referrals and to begin a selection
strategy which can be used in hiring almost any alternative health care
provider. Remember -they work for you!
Relying just on family and friends may not give you the selection choice
you may need to find the alternative health professional that is right for
you. You may need to rely on more than one referral source.
Here are the seven key sources for getting good referrals:
1. Family, friends and colleagues
2. Local alternative practitioners
3. Local health-food stores
4. Support groups
5. Professional associations
6. Alternative health care schools and colleges
7. Referrals services and advertisements
When getting a referral, you'll want to get as much information from your
source as possible. Many times, with just a little extra information,
you'll know immediately whether this referral has possibility for you or
not. For this reason it is important to know the right questions to ask.
In Chapter 2 of Five Steps To Selecting The Best Alternative Medicine you
can discover what these questions are as well as specific details on how to
use "The Seven Key Sources For Getting Good Referrals" to your best
advantage.
With a list of good referrals, you can feel confident that you have tipped
the scales in your favor and you are now just a few steps away from finding
a health care provider who you'll want to work with.
Step Three: Screening the Candidate
Make use of an alternative practitioner's staff to get reliable information about the provider and how they work.
The alternative health care provider's office staff is an invaluable
information source to you. Without spending a penny in fees, you can get a
more in-depth picture about a provider's personality, his or her expertise,
his or her educational training, and which associations or professional
organizations he or she belongs to. From this information, as well as
additional information you will garner from asking some very specific,
well-targeted questions, you will gain greater certainty as to whether this
candidate could be your health care provider.
In order to do that, you need to know what those questions are as well some
other important information that can assist you in getting the answers you
need to make an informed and educated health care decision about the
practitioner.
Here are some examples:
Can you provide me with literature about the health care provider's
educational background and philosophy of treatment?
What success has this alternative doctor had in treating patients with
physical problems similar to mine?
How long has this practioner/doctor been in practice?
What is the practitioner's fee structure and your policy with insurance?
How much can I expect to pay on my first visit, including tests,
supplements, and prescriptions?
By using the information and the questions outlined in Chapter 3 of Five
Steps To Selecting The Best Alternative Medicine, you can narrow your list
of practitioner candidates to a select few whom you would like to meet
personally. By doing this, you are only one step away from the alternative
health care practitioner with whom you will want to develop a health care
partnership.
Step Four: Interviewing the Provider
Ask the provider all the pertinent questions to know
if you can confidently work with this professional.
To successfully interview a health care provider, you must ask the right
questions and use your own gut instincts to get a feel of who this person
is and if they are right for you. A well conducted interview will provide
you with the valuable data to determine if this is the health care
professional you will want to work with.
In order to do, it is best to first ask yourself, "What kind of personality
do I need in a health care provider?"
Superbly trained health care providers come in a wide range of
personalties. Some have nurturing bedside manners and are compassionate and
sensitive with their patient/clients. Some are cold rationalist who don't
really care about the thoughts and feelings of their patients. Others are
somewhere in the middle.
You need to determine which type of personality is best for you and your
current health care needs. Knowing this will assist you during your
interview process in determining if a particular health care provider is
right for you.
Also, you need to know the key strategies to make the most of your meeting.
Here are some examples:
Be courteous, comfortable and frank during your meeting
Describe clearly what you know about your condition
Share what you have learned about treatment options
Respond honestly yet courteously to the provider's recommendations,
especially if you disagree.
Pace the interview and remember to listen.
Keep the details straight. Taking notes or bringing a tape recorder can
help.
Use your intuition as well as you mind when sizing up this
professional.
This step requires that you make the effort and take the time to visit a
health care provider. Sometimes you will also have to pay a small fee for
the provider's time. You'll find, however, that the effort, time and money
in a productive interview is a good investment in your health.
Step Five: Forming a Partnership
Maximize your healing potential by developing an active alliance with your alternative health care provider.
A health care professional as a "partner" may be a new concept for you. As
a result, you may feel like your are making up the rules as you go along.
For the most part you will be.
In order to have the best results from such a partnership, it is important
to bring "The Four Cornerstones To All Good Health Care Relationships."
into this special relationship. These cornerstones will help you form a
relationship that will benefit both you and your health care provider. They
are:
1. Mutual respect and caring
2. Honest communication
3. A shared commitment to healing
4. A treatment contract
To ensure that your health care partnership produces the results you want,
use "The Four Action Steps for Forming A Successful Health Care
Partnership." They are:
1. Be responsible for agreeing to, monitoring, and evaluating
the treatments you receive
2. Negotiate a "health care contract" with your provider
3. Support your healing physically, emotionally, mentally,
and spiritually
4. Practice balancing flexibility with inflexibility
For more details on "The Four Cornerstones" and "The Four Action Steps" and
other valuable health care partnership information refer to Chapter 5 of
Five Steps To Selecting The Best Alternative Medicine.
By forming a health care partnership you join an ever growing number of
health care consumers who have empowered themselves by taking control of
their health care destiny. Keep in mind that your goal is to have a
beneficial alliance with a health care professional so you can get healthy.
Remember to keep the concept of getting health as your main objective.