Health Access for Independent Living (HAIL) Fact Sheet: Working with Your Health Care Provider

How Can You Overcome These Barriers to Work with Your Providers?

There are many things that a person with a disability can do to improve his or her quality of health care and break down the barriers that compromise care. The following suggestions will help you be in charge of your health care experience. 

Adjustable height examining tables improve the health care experience for people with physical disabiities [sic]. Providers can get tax credits for this type of equipment.

Physical Barriers

• Transportation and Access. Prepare yourself. Call your transportation provider and the health care office before your visit if you need to answer the following questions.

  • Will the transportation provider take you directly to the medical office?

  • How long will the driver wait for you if your visit runs over the expected time?

  • Does the building provide easy access to needed rooms, such as lab and X-ray rooms and bathrooms?

  • Are patient instructions and education materials provided in alternate formats if needed, such as large print or audio files?

  • Are the examining and diagnostic rooms user-friendly for your accessibility needs? For example, is there an adjustable height examining table?

• Equipment or aids. Does the health care provider have assistive equipment like wheelchairs, accessible weight scales and other tools that help you have a complete exam?

Attitudinal Barriers

People with disabilities need to be able to recognize health care providers’ unintentional yet unproductive attitudes towards them. 

• Educate your health care provider about your disability and your overall health. Be respectful yet firm in explaining what you know about your own body.

• Expect respect. If the health care provider is patronizing or disrespectful, address the issue and point out that you would like to be treated just like any other adult patient.

• Thank your doctor and show appreciation if he or she treats you well. Refer others to that doctor.

• Choose safety if you feel threatened, frightened, or coerced in any way. If you don’t feel safe, it may be time to change your provider.

• Explore other providers in your area if you aren’t satisfied. Talk with friends, support groups or your local center for independent living to find a doctor who has experience treating people with disabilities.

Communication Barriers

Effective communication helps to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment. Planning for your visit can improve communication.

• Write down all of your questions in order of importance to discuss with your doctor.

• Ask if you can bring your friend or aide, if you have one, to the appointment with you so he/she can take notes about what’s discussed. Some people like to record a doctor’s visit on their smart phone, but make sure you ask if this is okay. You could say, “I have memory problems, so is it alright if I record our session to listen to later?”

• Let the doctor know that all communication should be directed to you, even when you have a friend or aide assisting you. This may require a polite request, such as, “Please speak to me instead of her.”

• Tell the doctor if a certain communication strategy works best for you.

For example, you might need educational materials in an alternate format. Or you could say, “I need information presented in small chunks due to my brain injury. Do you mind speaking more slowly and repeating key points?”

• Ask if the doctor recommends certain websites that have reliable information about your condition and are written in plain language.

• Ask questions about follow-up treatment plans, if any, and the expected benefits or side-effects of medications. (See sample questions on our fact sheet “Managing Your Medications.”)

Social Policy Barriers

• Study your Medicaid/Medicare or private insurance coverage. Learn about which health care services are covered and which are not.

• Ask your doctor or the person in the office who handles insurance if a recommended treatment is covered by your plan. Also ask how your health care will be compromised by the limitations of Medicaid/Medicare coverage and what you can do about it.

• Visit your primary care doctor as soon as possible if you are having health issues. Most insurance plans cover preventive visits, and it’s always good practice to find a problem at a more treatable stage. Early detection can prevent complications that might result in a visit to the ER or even a hospital stay.