86 percent of all patients say that they would be too intimidated to speak up if the disagreed with their doctor. Whether they believe that they have a different illness, want a test that the doctor refused, or don’t want to take the medicine that their doctor wants to prescribe, there are plenty of reasons why disputing your doctor might be a smart idea. People often feel that they don’t have the right to speak up. They reason that they haven’t gone to medical school, and they don’t have a detailed knowledge of the medical field. Therefore, they simply agree with their doctor’s decisions, even if they aren’t totally comfortable with what those decisions are. Yet the fact is that it might be healthy and beneficial for your body if you dispute with your doctor. You know your body better than he or she does, and what that individual might think is good for you may end up being bad in the end.

Doctors know that they are intimidating to their patients. In fact, doctors are always photographed for work and ID photos in their white lab coats, simply because those coats are equated with authority. Yet just because your doctor is authoritative doesn’t mean that he or she is omnipotent. Doctors commit medical malpractice regularly. Sometimes their malpractice was intentional, but many times it was an error that could have been avoided had an intimated patient spoken up. According to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, most patients are scared to speak up because they think that they will come off as difficult. Then, they believe that they will receive a lower quality of care in the future because their doctor won’t like them. Instead, these patients will ignore a doctor’s advice if they don’t agree with it. This puts their health at risk.

There are five main topics that area worthy of dispute when you disagree with your physician. First of all, if your doctor prescribes a medication that you don’t want to take, tell him or her. Insist that you want to hear about other options that can improve your health. Usually doctors assume that you are coming into receive a doctor’s note and prescription and be on your way, so you need to vocalize that you want to explore other routes to health if that is the case.

Second, if you don’t want to have surgery, you may need to vocalize this as well. There are always risks associated with a surgery, and you may not want to take them. If this is true, then you may want to discuss other therapies, medications, or treatments that may be able to help you avoid a surgery that you don’t really want to undergo. Third, if your doctor keeps asking for follow-up appointments and you don’t think you can handle them all, then you need to discuss this. Tell your doctor that you need to cut out so many visits. You may be able to set up phone calls to update your doctor on your health instead. You can also take your blood pressure at home and transmit it digitally or arrange for blood tests at a lab that is close to your home or office and send in the results. All you have to do is ask in order to organize a better alternative that may be less time consuming and cheaper for you.

Fourth, if a drug is too expensive, inform the doctor. You don’t have to shell out the big bucks just because your doctor prescribes pricey meds. Instead, you may want to ask if there is a generic option out there. Your doctor may not even be thinking about your pocket book when he prescribes your medications, so you will want to remind him of the cost. Lastly, you will want to dispute your doctor if the information he is giving you doesn’t match up to what you have read online. You may feel silly challenging a doctor’s diagnosis, but the truth is that misdiagnosis does happen. You may want to explain that you looked up your symptoms and discovered that you matched the profile for a certain disease. This may be able to help your doctor target tests that can help you. As well, you may be able to almost diagnose yourself. If your doctor believes that your source online wasn’t reliable, then ask him or her for a more reliable URL to look into. Continue to research, even after the appointment, and tell you doctor any concerns you might still have.