Many patients have had this experience (especially in big hospitals): they are a little nervous after seeing the doctor; they don’t know what to say or where to start when they see the doctor; they have a lot of questions in their mind and don’t know how to ask the doctor; worse, they don’t pay attention to the doctor when he or she is talking, and after that, they ask again and again; and, they just don’t have all the information they bring; etc. This is a common problem for many patients when they visit the doctor, often wasting their time and that of other patients for nothing. So, how to improve the efficiency of the doctor’s visit? That is to do some preparation before the doctor’s visit. 1. Prepare medical-related information. Rheumatism is a complex condition, involving a wide range of conditions, the condition is delayed, therefore, many patients are not the first time to see a doctor, to see other hospitals must have a lot of information on hand to see the doctor. Therefore, when you go to a higher level hospital, you should have the existing medical information (such as medical records, blood, urine and stool tests, X-ray photos, ultrasound, CT or MRI or surgery and puncture pathology results) ready and arranged in chronological order, which will help the doctor quickly and accurately understand the condition. This is very important. This is because a valuable piece of medical information is worth a thousand words from the patient. Currently, some patients use cameras or cell phones to take pictures of key patient conditions and information for the doctor to see is a good way to do this, such as rashes, swollen joints, red eyes, and prescriptions and medication packaging. Other patients, on the other hand, discard previous treatments, resulting not only in financial waste but also in the loss of precious information that is not reappearable and irreparable. For example, in 2013, there was a young male patient from Henan (Kong), who visited numerous big hospitals and saw numerous big specialists because of hypertension, hydronephrosis, uveitis, etc.. He also spent a lot of money, and finally, after being referred to our department for consultation and a definite diagnosis of aortitis. The most noteworthy thing is that our main diagnosis is based on the patient’s well-preserved CT film from several years ago. 2. Preparedness for medication. Many patients have taken medications (either herbal or western) after their illness. Since the higher-level doctors do not have the opportunity to see the previous period of time, the previous period of medication and its effect is very helpful for the higher-level doctors to judge the condition. The specifics of the medication taken should be recorded, such as the name of the medication, dosage, method of administration, effects, and side effects, and sometimes, information on the origin and manufacturer of the medication is also useful. Although there are more types of drugs commonly used for rheumatic diseases, they are not more than two major categories: hormones and immunosuppressants, as well as biologics or Chinese preparations that have been newly marketed. Some patients may have already taken or are taking them, so they should inform their doctors about the medication they are taking, such as the name, dosage, method of administration, effects and side effects. One treatment that can be used to verify the diagnosis is “experimental treatment”. Sometimes, a disease is considered more likely than others, but for various reasons, it is not possible to proceed to the next test. In this case, the doctor’s experience can be used to treat the disease, and if it is effective, the doctor’s judgment can be confirmed and the treatment can be continued. Therefore, the past treatment history and effect is a valuable reference material. For example, in 2012, a young female patient (Wang) from Henan province had her eye removed 20 years ago due to an eye disease. Several years later, she often had nasal congestion, headache and nasal deformation and obvious hoarseness, and was given multiple antibiotics as sinusitis, which was ineffective. He was referred to our hospital and was suspected of mycobacterial infection, but on the one hand, no clinical basis could be found to support the infection, and on the other hand, the infection could not explain the condition. Therefore, after multidisciplinary consultation and discussion, Wegener’s granulomatosis was diagnosed, and the headache was significantly relieved after appropriate treatment. Surprisingly, the patient sang a beautiful song when he was rechecked several months later! 3. Be prepared with a little knowledge of the disease. Rheumatic diseases can accumulate in all parts of the body. The vast majority of patients only go to the doctor based on the affected organs, such as joint swelling and pain to orthopedics, blood cell reduction to hematology, urine protein and blood to nephrology, eye and ear disease to the five senses. This is understandable, but it can also be misleading. The beginning stages of rheumatic disease can involve only a single organ; however, the possibility of rheumatic disease increases significantly when more than two organs are involved at the same time. A special note to patients reading this article. The benefit of knowing about the condition and the disease is not only before the visit, but also after the visit. A number of patients have been finally diagnosed by finding a rheumatologist on their own after seeing the propaganda. For example, there are a number of patients with eye diseases that are caused by rheumatic diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis and leukodystrophy. Although sometimes half-understood, those who have seen a doctor should know the names of some diseases. Seeing a doctor is actually a process of understanding the disease, and this should be even more important for the family member who is ill when the patient is elderly. After multiple visits, you should know something about your illness, even if it is a difficult one. In order to improve the efficiency of medical treatment, it is helpful to learn more about the disease before going to a higher level hospital, at least to better understand the doctor’s instructions and the issues that should be paid attention to, especially the instructions for medication and review. Rheumatic immune diseases require long-term medication, therefore, according to the changes in the disease, timely adjustment of drugs, the minimum dose of drugs to achieve the best therapeutic effect is its purpose. You should not stop taking medication for fear of side effects, and you should not stop taking medication because your condition is in remission. There are many examples of patients’ compliance with medical advice that led to different disease regressions. For example, a middle-aged male patient (Yan’s) from Anhui Province came to our hospital with chest congestion, red eyes and hearing loss for several months, and was diagnosed with recurrent polychondritis after examination. However, at the same time, a female patient (Zhang) suffering from the same disease in Zhangjiakou regretted that she failed to review regularly and adhere to treatment, resulting in an aggravation of her condition when she was reviewed 2 years later. 4. Be prepared to listen and ask questions. In general, after the visit, the doctor will explain to the patient about the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, such as what the diagnosis is, how to treat the medication, precautions and follow-up time. This is a critical time to see the doctor. Be sure to listen to what the doctor says, especially when it comes to medication and follow-ups. If you did not understand, of course, you need to ask again. Therefore, if you prepare your general knowledge of the disease in question beforehand, you can understand it better! Some patients, who do not pay attention to what the doctor says, much less know what to ask, and are not even sure how to take their medication at home, much less what to pay attention to after taking the medication, and when to follow up, do not get the best and most perfect result from their visit. It is a good idea to write down your questions beforehand. Outpatient clinics can often encounter patients who come in with a note and questions they are ready to ask, and it is a recommended method. Of course, it is okay to not know how to ask questions, but it is important to listen and remember what the doctor has told you to do next. For example, most of the rheumatology patients seen at our hospital have involvement of the eyes, nose, ears and upper part of the throat and trachea. In addition to local pain, these patients also face a variety of risks of disability; because of the strong specialization, diagnosis and treatment require multi-disciplinary collaboration, at this time the reference opinion of other specialists is very important, at this time the patient needs to go to other departments for consultation, and so on. At this time, for the patient, time is the first precious. If the patient does not understand the doctor’s advice and fails to complete the consultation in time, it is likely to delay the diagnosis and treatment, which will affect the outcome of treatment. There are many similar cases due to various reasons, which should be noted. We hope that the above suggestions will be useful for all types of patients.