Bring the question you want answered
Write down what brought you to the appointment. Make a list of your medicines, supplements and allergies. Note past treatments and the records you want discussed. Put pregnancy or breastfeeding on the discussion list if relevant. Bring this to the conversation rather than selecting a medicine yourself.
Colorado Medical Board guidance calls for an assessment and a review of the health history that matters to the treatment. It holds online prescribing to the standards used for a visit in person.
Ask how the proposed plan follows from the assessment
- What problem are we trying to address?
- Why this medicine rather than another option?
- When would you decide against this prescription?
- How would we tell a worthwhile change from no change?
- Who will answer questions between visits?
The doctor may need test results or to examine you in person. The advice linked here comes from a group representing state medical boards, which oversee doctors. It asks doctors to organise the extra step or direct you to someone who can. This is advice, not a Colorado law.
Before leaving, ask for the plan in writing, including what remains undecided. Ask what the next contact will involve and what it will cost. A decision to wait can be part of that conversation.
A useful next question
Which questions are worth taking with me?